Tag: Step 11

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THE TWELVE STEPS TO VICTORY™ || Step Eleven || Deepening Our Connection with God

In The Twelve Steps to Victory column, we’re reframing the traditional 12 Steps with a focus on victory vs continually looking back at our missteps and failures. Each Step aligns with the months on the yearly calendar. This series publishes on the first Friday of each month in 2025.

We sought through prayer and Spirit-led meditation to grow in our relationship with God, seeking to know His will and receive His power to walk in victory. —Step 11

“Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and incomprehensible things you do not know.”
—Jeremiah 33:3 (HCSB)

After walking through confession, repentance, and making amends, Step 11 invites us into something even more intimate—daily communion with the Living God. This is where the journey shifts from repair to relationship, from surviving to thriving. It’s one thing to admit our need for God; it’s another to walk with Him closely, every single day.

Deepening our connection with God doesn’t mean striving harder or doing more. It’s about slowing down and becoming more aware of His presence. The world constantly calls for our attention—but in the stillness, God speaks. Through quiet prayer and Spirit-led reflection on His Word, we learn to recognize His voice and respond in obedience.

This step is less about petitioning and more about positioning—placing ourselves before Him with a yielded heart, ready to listen. We’re not praying for our will to be done; we’re praying to know His will and to receive the strength to carry it out.

When we seek Him daily, He begins to shape our desires to align with His. Old habits lose their grip. Clarity replaces confusion. Power rises where there was once weakness. Victory becomes more than a moment—it becomes our way of life.

Take a Step Toward Victory
Set aside some time today to be still before God. No agenda. No list. Just invite Him to speak. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you grow in your awareness of His presence. Then listen. You might enjoy playing the instrumental worship video “Draw Near to God” by DappyTKeys in the background—it’s over four hours long, but don’t let that overwhelm you. Even a few quiet moments with peaceful worship can open your heart to God’s voice. Keep a small journal nearby to write down any thoughts, scriptures, or impressions you sense. This is how we deepen our connection with Him—one quiet moment at a time.

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SPEAK MODESTLY

In observance of my Benedictine Monastic practices, on the last Friday of each month in 2019 we’re walking Saint Benedict’s 12 Steps of Humility. With each step we come closer to our spiritual transformation and the perfect love of God.

 

The eleventh step of humility is that a monk speaks gently, with modesty, briefly and reasonably without raising their voice.  ~ The Rule of Benedict

Speak concisely, say much in few words; be one who knows and yet holds their tongue. ~ Sirach 32:8

 

Healthy communication within a community is vital. Benedict thought it was so important that he devoted three of his 12 Steps of Humility  to communication.

In Humility Step 9 Benedict advises us to actually listen more than we speak. Step 10 cautions us against making jokes at the expense of others feelings.

Now in Humility Step 11 Benedict describes the appropriate way that we should converse with others. We are to be generous and sincere in our listening. And when it’s our time to speak we are to brief and gentle with our words, not loud or boisterous.

This is definitely unlike our modern culture where people are blasting out opinions while ignoring anything that goes against their thoughts.  Certainly not the kind of behavior that can build community. Rarely do we see actual conversation that allows both sides to gently share their views while listening kindly in return.

Participation in a community requires that we speak and also that we listen. In speech we must be candid, in listening we must be accessible. ~John McQuiston II

The one thing I find most appealing about Saint Benedict and his 12 Steps of Humility is that they are practical for use in any environment. They are timeless tools for running the home, office or a community of any size.

While speaking modestly comes naturally to some, it’s often more common among those who have gained some wisdom with years of life behind them. Elders are are usually more sparing with words than young people.

We can’t expect the youth to come by this virtue so quickly, but by walking in Benedict’s example we can help them put these lessons into practice.

Enjoy this sweet song sung by Casting Crowns helping us have a humble heart of praise that God will listen to.