Twelve Steps with Scripture

Step 1

We admitted we were powerless - that our lives had become unmanageable.

For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. - Romans 7:18-20

Ephesians 2:1-2
You were dead in your transgressions and sins 3 2 in which you once lived following the age of this world, 4 following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the disobedient.

Mark 4:35-41
On that day, as evening drew on, he said to them, "Let us cross to the other side." 36 Leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up. 38 Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" 39 He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Quiet! Be still!" 9 The wind ceased and there was great calm. 40 Then he asked them, "Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?" 41 They were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?"

Psalm 72:12-13
For he rescues the poor when they cry out, the oppressed who have no one to help. 13 He shows pity to the needy and the poor and saves the lives of the poor.

Matthew 9:36
At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, 22 like sheep without a shepherd.

2 Peter 2:19
They promise them freedom, though they themselves are slaves of corruption, for a person is a slave of whatever overcomes him.

Psalm 5:1
Do not reprove me in your anger, LORD, nor punish me in your wrath. 3 Have pity on me, LORD, for I am weak; heal me, LORD, for my bones are trembling. 3 In utter terror is my soul-- and you, LORD, how long...?

Psalm 6:2-4
Do not reprove me in your anger, LORD, nor punish me in your wrath. 3 Have pity on me, LORD, for I am weak; heal me, LORD, for my bones are trembling.

Psalm 6:6-7
For who among the dead remembers you? Who praises you in Sheol? 7 I am wearied with sighing; all night long tears drench my bed; my couch is soaked with weeping.

Psalm 10:14
But you do see; you do observe this misery and sorrow; you take the matter in hand. To you the helpless can entrust their cause; you are the defender of orphans.

Psalm 12:5
Those who say, "By our tongues we prevail; when our lips speak, who can lord it over us?"

Psalm 13:1
For the leader. A psalm of David. 2 How long, LORD? Will you utterly forget me? How long will you hide your face from me? 3 How long must I carry sorrow in my soul, grief in my heart day after day? How long will my enemy triumph over me? 4 Look upon me, answer me, LORD, my God! Give light to my eyes lest I sleep in death,

Psalm 16:4a
They multiply their sorrows who court other gods. Blood libations to them I will not pour out, nor will I take their names upon my lips.

Psalm 18:6
The cords of Sheol tightened; the snares of death lay in wait for me.

Psalm 18:26-28
Toward the faithful you are faithful; to the honest you are honest; 27 Toward the sincere, sincere; but to the perverse you are devious. 28 Humble people you save; haughty eyes you bring low.

Psalm 22:2-6
My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why so far from my call for help, from my cries of anguish? 3 My God, I call by day, but you do not answer; by night, but I have no relief. 4 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the glory of Israel. 5 In you our ancestors trusted; they trusted and you rescued them. 6 To you they cried out and they escaped; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.

Psalm 22:7-12
But I am a worm, hardly human, scorned by everyone, despised by the people. 8 All who see me mock me; they curl their lips and jeer; they shake their heads at me: 9 "You relied on the LORD--let him deliver you; if he loves you, let him rescue you." 10 Yet you drew me forth from the womb, made me safe at my mother's breast. 11 Upon you I was thrust from the womb; since birth you are my God. 12 Do not stay far from me, for trouble is near, and there is no one to help.

Psalm 25:16-18
Look upon me, have pity on me, for I am alone and afflicted. 17 Relieve the troubles of my heart; bring me out of my distress. Put an end to my affliction and suffering; take away all my sins.

Psalm 28:1-2
Of David. To you, LORD, I call; my Rock, do not be deaf to me. If you fail to answer me, I will join those who go down to the pit. 2 Hear the sound of my pleading when I cry to you, lifting my hands toward your holy place.

Psalm 30:9-11

To you, LORD, I cried out; with the Lord I pleaded for mercy: 10 "What gain is there from my lifeblood, from my going down to the grave? Does dust give you thanks or declare your faithfulness? 11 Hear, O LORD, have mercy on me; LORD, be my helper."

Psalm 31:6-12
Into your hands I commend my spirit; you will redeem me, LORD, faithful God. 7 You hate those who serve worthless idols, but I trust in the LORD. 8 I will rejoice and be glad in your love, once you have seen my misery, observed my distress. 9 You will not abandon me into enemy hands, but will set my feet in a free and open space. 10 Be gracious to me, LORD, for I am in distress; with grief my eyes are wasted, my soul and body spent. 11 My life is worn out by sorrow, my years by sighing. My strength fails in affliction; my bones are consumed. 12 To all my foes I am a thing of scorn, to my neighbors, a dreaded sight, a horror to my friends. When they see me in the street, they quickly shy away.

Psalm 31:22-23
Blessed be the LORD, who has shown me wondrous love, and been for me a city most secure. 23 Once I said in my anguish, "I am shut out from your sight." Yet you heard my plea, when I cried out to you.

Psalm 34:18-20
When the just cry out, the LORD hears and rescues them from all distress. 19 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted, saves those whose spirit is crushed. 20 Many are the troubles of the just, but the LORD delivers from them all.

Psalm 38:2-12
LORD, punish me no more in your anger; in your wrath do not chastise me! 3 Your arrows have sunk deep in me; your hand has come down upon me. 4 My flesh is afflicted because of your anger; my frame aches because of my sin. 5 My iniquities overwhelm me, a burden beyond my strength. 6 Foul and festering are my sores because of my folly. 7 I am stooped and deeply bowed; all day I go about mourning. 8 My loins burn with fever; my flesh is afflicted. 9 I am numb and utterly crushed; I wail with anguish of heart. 10 My Lord, my deepest yearning is before you; my groaning is not hidden from you. 11 My heart shudders, my strength forsakes me; the very light of my eyes has failed. 12 Friends and companions shun my pain; my neighbors stand far off.

Psalm 40:18
Though I am afflicted and poor, the Lord keeps me in mind. You are my help and deliverer; my God, do not delay!

Psalm 42:6-9
Why are you downcast, my soul; why do you groan within me? Wait for God, whom I shall praise again, my savior and my God. 7 4 My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you From the land of the Jordan and Hermon, from the land of Mount Mizar. 8 5 Here deep calls to deep in the roar of your torrents. All your waves and breakers sweep over me. 9 At dawn may the LORD bestow faithful love that I may sing praise through the night, praise to the God of my life.

Psalm 44:15-16
You make us a byword among the nations; the peoples shake their heads at us. 16 All day long my disgrace is before me; shame has covered my face

Psalm 55:5-9
My heart pounds within me; death's terrors fall upon me. 6 Fear and trembling overwhelm me; shuddering sweeps over me. 7 I say, "If only I had wings like a dove that I might fly away and find rest. 8 Far away I would flee; I would stay in the desert. Selah 9 I would soon find a shelter from the raging wind and storm."

Psalm 69:2-3
Save me, God, for the waters have reached my neck. 3 I have sunk into the mire of the deep, where there is no foothold. I have gone down to the watery depths; the flood overwhelms me.

Psalm 69:20
You know my reproach, my shame, my disgrace; before you stand all my foes.

Psalm 69:33-34
"See, you lowly ones, and be glad; you who seek God, take heart! 34 For the LORD hears the poor, does not spurn those in bondage.

Psalm 88:2-5
LORD, my God, I call out by day; at night I cry aloud in your presence. 3 Let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry. 2 For my soul is filled with troubles; my life draws near to Sheol. 5 I am reckoned with those who go down to the pit; I am weak, without strength.

Psalm 102:1-8
The prayer of one afflicted and wasting away whose anguish is poured out before the LORD. 2 LORD, hear my prayer; let my cry come to you. 3 Do not hide your face from me now that I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly. 4 For my days vanish like smoke; my bones burn away as in a furnace. 5 I am withered, dried up like grass, too wasted to eat my food. 6 From my loud groaning I become just skin and bones. 7 I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins. 8 I lie awake and moan, like a lone sparrow on the roof.

Proverbs 14:12-13
Sometimes a way seems right to a man, but the end of it leads to death! 13 Even in laughter the heart may be sad, and the end of joy may be sorrow.

Proverbs 18:14
A man's spirit sustains him in infirmity-- but a broken spirit who can bear?

Proverbs 26:11-12
As the dog returns to his vomit, so the fool repeats his folly. 12 You see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.