Saturday – Ep: 594 – How it Works – Pages 67-8 – Step 4 – Fear Inventory – Freedom with Fear!Saturday – Ep: 594 – How it Works – Pages 67-8 – Step 4 – Fear Inventory – Freedom with Fear!
Experience The Big Book
Dr. Mike explains the Big Book’s approach to Step 4 fear and resentment inventories, linking self-reliance, fear and faith in practical, down-to-earth terms. The session focuses on using prayer and structured written work to move from self-centred fear towards a more peaceful, God-centred sobriety.
31:29•14 Feb 2025
Freedom from Fear: Step 4, the Big Book and Letting God Run the Show
Episode Overview
- Resentments arise when someone is "writing the script for the world and playing God", and the inventory helps expose this self-centred thinking.
- Fourth Step work can be completed efficiently by using clear columns for causes, effects, mistakes, defects and harms, rather than stretching it out for months.
- Fear is described as an "evil and corroding thread" through life, and many harmful decisions come from acting on fear while relying on self.
- The Big Book’s fear prayer—"God, remove my fear and direct my attention to what you would have me be"—is presented as a practical tool to shift from self to God.
- Living on a basis of trusting and relying on God, and practising love, patience and tolerance, allows a person to "match calamity with serenity" and stay spiritually fit.
“This short word, four-letter word, somehow touches about every aspect of my life… it was an evil and corroding thread through the whole fabric of my life.”
What drives someone to seek a life free from fear as well as alcohol? This Big Book study session with Dr. Mike digs into Step 4’s fear inventory, showing how fear and resentment can quietly run the show for many alcoholics. Dr.
Mike walks through the classic AA column inventory, stressing that resentments don’t appear out of nowhere: “You won’t have a resentment unless you’re the actor writing the script for the world and playing God.” Once resentment work is done, he shifts to fear, explaining how the Big Book links the two. Whenever someone is centred on self, fear is almost guaranteed, and he shares how fear has been an “evil and corroding thread” through the fabric of his life.
The episode is practical rather than theoretical. You’ll hear how he sponsors people through the resentment and fear inventories, why a Fourth Step doesn’t have to take months, and how to spot where self-reliance has failed. He unpacks the fear prayer line by line: “God, remove my fear and direct my attention to what you would have me be,” making clear that AA is about who you are with God, not just what you do.
There’s also a strong spiritual emphasis, with repeated references to trusting and relying on God instead of self. Dr. Mike shares personal examples—from everyday irritations in supermarket queues to devastating loss—to show how these tools help match “calamity with serenity”. The tone is honest, warm and occasionally funny, aimed at people who want a clear, line-by-line application of the Big Book to their own recovery.
If fear, anger and self-reliance still dominate your days, this session offers a concrete way to put them on paper, hand them to God, and start building a calmer, more spiritually grounded sobriety. Where might fear be stealing your peace today?
Do you want to link to this podcast?
Get the buttons here!
More From This Show
The latest episodes from the same podcast.