Step Four:

“Made a searching and fearless
moral inventory of ourselves.”

CREATION gave us instincts for a purpose. Without them
we wouldn’t be complete human beings. If men and women
didn’t exert themselves to be secure in their persons,
made no effort to harvest food or construct shelter, there
would be no survival. If they didn’t reproduce, the earth
wouldn’t be populated. If there were no social instinct, if
men cared nothing for the society of one another, there
would be no society. So these desires — for the sex relation,
for material and emotional security, and for companionship
— are perfectly necessary and right, and surely God-given.

Yet these instincts, so necessary for our existence, often
far exceed their proper functions.

Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions, page 42. Copyright © 1981
Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

Fourth Step Prayer
Dear God, it is I who has made my life a mess. I have
done it, but I cannot undo it. My mistakes are mine and I
will begin a searching and fearless moral inventory. I will
write down my wrongs, but I will also include that which
is good. I pray for the strength to complete the task.