Veritas1

The Set Aside Prayer (or lay aside prayer)

Dear God,
please set aside everything I think I know
About myself,
this book,
my disease,
these steps,
and especially about you dear God
so that I might have an open mind And a new experience with all these things.
Please help me to see the truth.

The set aside prayer is said before we read the big book, at the beginning of step work and at the beginning of some meetings. The words are not important, so please don't get hung up on words. it my experience that what is important is my desire, humility and effort at seeking our creator.

The set aside prayer asks our creator to take away all I think I know so that I may learn something new. All through the book I am told that what I think I know will kill me. My personal experience confirms this.

The set aside prayer is built from directions in the big book regarding my preconceived beliefs and fears. Here are a few examples:

We Agnostics
"It meant I would have to throw several lifelong conceptions out of the window"

We Agnostics
"We found that as soon as we were able to lay aside prejudice and express even a willingness to believe in a power greater than ourselves. We commenced to get results even though it was impossible for any of us fully define or comprehend that power which is God."

We Agnostics
"Do not let any prejudice you may have against any spiritual terms deter you from honestly asking yourself what they mean to you."

We Agnostics
"Besides a seeming inability to accept much on faith, we often found ourselves handicapped by obstinacy, sensitiveness, and unreasoning prejudice."

"It finally beat us into a state of reasonableness. Sometimes this was a tedious process; we hope no one else will be prejudiced for as long as some of us were.:

We Agnostics
"We who have traveled this dubious path, beg you to lay aside prejudice, even against organized religion."

How It Works
"Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas and the result was nil until we let go absolutely."
__________________

FrothyJay

Thanks for posting. A great prayer that reminds me my reaction to ideas often feels "right," but it can limit me.

BP44

How do you know what you don't know? Beginning to work with the set aside prayer made me consider that maybe what I thought I knew was killing me. And in fact that there were places that God could take me that I had no idea about. Again, how do I know what I don't know? So, it begs me to be open minded and set aside all contempt. Which also means, to set aside my beliefs and convictions. Keep in mind, it doesn't mean that I have to throw them all out and discard them, just set them aside. I was instructed to set aside everything I thought I knew about anything, in particular spiritual matters. If anything I had been doing were working, I wouldn't be here. I was assured that if any of it was true, when were were done with the work, it would still be true. If not it was garbage and could be discarded. This is a real path to uncovering, discovering and discarding, but it must start with a open mind. The set aside prayer makes that possible.

Veritas1

Hello. I was just listening to Joe H. and Mark H. and their big book experience.

I learned something about the set aside prayer.

I had been saying..."God help me to set aside everything I know about AA, or the program...in my own words...for a new experience...etc.

They said...

Don't change the prayer...to God help ME set aside ....that we don't do it...

It's God set aside...Dear God, please set aside...for me....not me doing it...

I just caught this and wanted to share what I learned.

Hope it's helpful to someone.

If you would like to listen for yourself...it's part 2. of 8 about 3-5 minutes in to the talk of Joe H. and Mark H. Big Book Experience Weekend in Prescott, AZ. Scroll down.

http://www.ppglynbrook.net/speakers.htm

Shared from the primary purpose group of AA of Lynbrook, NY.

Thank you LGJ