At Step 7 of a 12-step program, we move from admitting our problem and taking a hard look at ourselves to actually changing the way we live. The seventh step asks us to do something quiet but powerful.
Step 7 of the steps of Alcoholics Anonymous reads, “Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.” This is the point in the program where we humble ourselves and ask our Higher Power, as we understand that Higher Power, to remove our defects of character.
There is a worksheet for this step too. It is a simple page, yet its importance is hard to overstate. In this post, we look at the Step 7 AA worksheet, what it is for, how to fill it in, and the spiritual growth that follows.
Download the Step 7 Worksheet
What the Step 7 AA Worksheet Is For
By the time you reach the seventh step, you have already done a lot of work. You have admitted you were powerless, come to believe a Higher Power could help, made a conscious decision to turn your will over, and faced your character flaws in writing.
The worksheet does one thing, and it does it well. It gives you a single, focused place to name each defect of character and offer it up for removal.
That focus matters. When the whole list sits in front of you, the seventh step stops being an abstract idea and becomes a concrete act of letting go, one item at a time.
A simple page does not mean a small step. The plainness of the worksheet is the point, because it keeps nothing between you and the honest act of asking for help.
How to Use the Step 7 Worksheet to Release Your Character Defects
The worksheet is a short table and contains only one real task: the list itself. Look back over your previous steps where you reviewed your character defects, and transfer every single defect of character you found onto this page.
In the left column, write down the issue. In the middle, write a brief line of prayer in your own words, such as “My Creator, take this please” or “Higher Power, I hand this one over.”
Make the line a little different for each item. That small effort keeps the worksheet from becoming a meaningless repetition and keeps your heart in it.
Finally, tick the released column to affirm that you have handed this part of yourself over to the care of God. The tick is the amen to each prayer, a quiet record that you offered up that negative feeling and asked for it to go.
Pulling From Your Fearless Moral Inventory and 4th Step
You took a searching personal inventory during your 4th step. With the guidance of a sponsor, that work should have been a fearless moral inventory, an honest moral inventory of your conduct, your fears, and your resentments.
The Step 7 worksheet draws straight from that inventory. Every shortcoming, all the negative feelings, and every defect of character you listed in earlier steps gets named here so you can release each one to your Higher Power.
If your inventory pages are detailed, this step flows easily. The honesty you already practiced in the previous steps becomes the raw material for the seventh step.
Do not rush this transfer. Taking each line one at a time turns a long list into a series of small, honest releases rather than one overwhelming task.
The Seventh Step Prayer and the Care of God
Many people mark this step with the Seventh Step Prayer. In the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, on page 76, that prayer asks our Creator to remove every defect of character that stands “in the way of my usefulness” to others and to our fellows.
You do not have to use those exact words. The 7th step prayer is a model, not a rule, and the line of prayer you write on the worksheet can be just as sincere. You can find the full text of the Seventh Step Prayer in the Big Book or in your meeting materials.
The phrase about usefulness matters. Step 7 is not about scrubbing ourselves clean for its own sake. It is about clearing away what blocks us from being useful to others.
This is also where conscious contact with a Higher Power deepens. Just as the Third Step Prayer marked the decision to turn our will over, the seventh step prayer marks our willingness to be changed.
Handing each shortcoming over is one of the main ways we build that conscious contact. The good news is that when we ask in earnest, change really does begin.
Humility: The Foundation of Spiritual Growth in the 12-Step Program
Notice the word humbly in this step. By turning to the God of our understanding and humbly asking that our flaws be addressed, we begin to experience greater humility.
Spiritual growth cannot take root in the presence of arrogance. The pursuit of humility is what makes the seventh step work, because a willing heart is what lets a Higher Power do the removing.
In the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, the fellowship makes a strong claim on page 70. It describes greater humility as the foundation principle of every one of the Twelve Steps, and warns that without some measure of it, lasting sobriety is out of reach.
Think about that for a moment. The founders of this program tie the whole spiritual awakening of recovery to this one quality of humility, which is exactly why the seventh step asks us to come humbly.
Some people confuse humility with humiliation, and that is worth clearing up for a reasonable perspective. Humility simply means being humble, not proud or arrogant, while humiliation means being made to feel small or ashamed.
The opposite of humiliation is arrogance, and the opposite of humility is false pride. There is nothing wrong with honest pride. Becoming sober is something to be genuinely proud of, yet thinking it makes us better than the person who still struggles is arrogance.
What Step 7 Makes Possible: New Choices and a Better Life
In completing this step, we make a conscious decision to close the door on who we used to be. Recovery is about a better life, not only for us but for our family, friends, and everyone we meet in everyday life.
Letting go of old attitudes opens the door to new choices. We get an ongoing opportunity to choose each day differently, and that freedom is part of learning to live life on life’s terms.
You have already stopped drinking, but the goal is not only to give up addictive behaviors. The goal is to be changed enough on the inside that staying free becomes natural rather than a daily battle.
That is the heart of addiction recovery. The steps extend beyond the drink itself and into the spiritual principles that help a person stay free and grow.
There is something remarkable in this seventh step too. For a long time our addiction disabled our own lives and the lives of the people around us, yet as we are renewed we become able to help others find their footing, and that turn is genuinely beautiful.
Moving Toward Step 8, Step 9, and Direct Amends
Step 7 adds a great deal to the two steps that follow. Step 8 asks us to make a list of all the people we have harmed and to become willing to make amends to each of them.
Step 9 then asks us to make direct amends wherever we can, except where doing so would cause more harm. Both steps are far harder without humility, because it is difficult to own our harm if we still believe we were right.
Humility becomes the enabler of repair. It also prepares us for Step 12, where, after a spiritual awakening, we carry this message to others and practice these principles in all our affairs.
Seen this way, the seventh step is a hinge. The inward work of the earlier steps starts to turn outward, toward the people we will meet, help, and make things right with.
Getting Extra Support in Addiction Recovery
The steps of AA are a spiritual path, and they often work best alongside other support. For some people, addiction treatment, drug rehab, or other additional treatment options give the body and mind a stable place to begin the step work.
Evidence-based treatment practices, a counselor, or a treatment provider can sit comfortably next to the spiritual side of recovery. None of this competes with the seventh step. It simply supports the same goal of a better life.
Wherever you are, draw on your own experience and the experience of the people around you. The steps of Alcoholics Anonymous have helped millions, and the good news is that the same door is open to you.
Like many a 12-step member before you, you will likely find that the work grows lighter as you go. The first time through the seventh step can feel heavy, yet each shortcoming you release makes the next one easier to let go of.
Download the Free Step 7 Worksheet
To make this step easier, we created a printable Step 7 AA worksheet you can fill in by hand. It lays out the defect, your personal line of prayer, and a released column to tick as you hand each shortcoming over.
Print it, work it slowly with your sponsor, and keep it with the rest of your step worksheets. Reading it again months from now can show you how far you have come.
Conclusion
If it seems like we have leaned hard on humility here, that is on purpose. The whole program rests on it, and the seventh step is where the quality of humility becomes real and personal.
So as you complete the worksheet, come to it with your whole heart. Be humble, name each character defect honestly, and let your Higher Power remove your shortcomings one at a time.
Note: This worksheet and article are for personal reflection and education only and are not medical advice. If you are struggling with alcohol or other drugs, please reach out to a qualified professional or a local recovery group. Except where noted, the step wording is from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, published by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services.