3rd step prayer: turning my will and my life over to God
A Christian prayer of surrender for recovery and for anyone who needs to let go
Morning Prayer editorial team · Updated: November 2026
The third step of the Twelve Steps is a decision to turn one's will and life over to the care of God. The prayer used in recovery meetings belongs to Alcoholics Anonymous, so this page offers an original Christian prayer of surrender in the same spirit, for anyone in recovery and for anyone who simply needs to let go.
Let us pray
God, I have tried to run my own life, and I know where it has brought me. I have managed and controlled and bargained, and I am tired. Today I make a decision: I turn my will and my life over to Your care. Not because I understand You fully, but because I have finally understood myself.
Take what I am, all of it: the shame I carry, the people I have hurt, the lies I have told, and the thing I keep returning to even though it is destroying me. Take also whatever is good in me, which You put there. I give You permission to rebuild me from the ground up.
Free me from the prison I built around myself. I have spent years at the center of my own universe, and it is a lonely place. Move me out of the way so that Your love can reach the people around me, and so that they can see in my recovery that You are real.
Walk with me through the difficulties of this day, and give me the strength to pass through them without picking up what I have put down. Just for today, keep me sober, keep me honest, keep me close to You. Tomorrow I will ask again.
Lord Jesus, You said that whoever loses his life for Your sake will find it. I am losing the life I built on my own terms. Give me the one You have for me. Your will, not mine, be done. Amen.
Blessing
May the God who holds your life more gently than you ever could keep you today, one day at a time.
How to pray this prayer
- Find a quiet moment and breathe slowly.
- Read the prayer aloud or in your heart.
- Add your own intention before the Amen.
Frequently asked questions
What is the third step?
In the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and similar programs, Step Three reads: Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. It follows admitting powerlessness (Step One) and coming to believe that God can restore us (Step Two).
Is this the official AA Third Step prayer?
No. The prayer printed in the Big Book belongs to Alcoholics Anonymous and is not reproduced here. This is an original Christian prayer that expresses the same decision of surrender in the language of the Gospel.
Can I pray this if I am not in recovery?
Absolutely. Everyone has something they are trying to control that only God can heal: a relationship, a fear, a habit, a grief. The decision to hand over your will and your life is at the heart of every Christian conversion.
People also pray
Prayer of Jabez: asking God to bless and enlarge
A short scriptural prayer for God's blessing, presence, and protection
Read more →Monday morning prayer to hand the new week to God
Strength for the uphill road, a blessing on work and coworkers, protection for the family
Read more →Armor of God prayer to put on each morning
Dressing in truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, and the Word, piece by piece
Read more →Morning Prayer to Begin Your Day with God
Offering the whole day, its work and its surprises, into God's hands
Read more →Good Morning Prayer: Greeting God at the Start of the Day
A joyful, simple greeting to God as you open your eyes
Read more →Prayer for Healing and Strength During Illness
For the long road of recovery, when the body is weak and the spirit is tired
Read more →Do you need prayer?
Share your intention and our community will pray for you.