Like all the remaining Steps, Step Three calls for affirmative action, for it is only by action that we can cut away the self-will which has always blocked the entry of God—or, if you like, a Higher Power—into our lives.

Faith, to be sure, is necessary, but faith alone can avail nothing. We can have faith, yet keep God out of our lives. Therefore, our problem now becomes just how and by what specific means shall we be able to let Him in?

Step Three represents our first attempt to do this. In fact, the effectiveness of the whole A.A. program will rest upon how well and earnestly we have tried to come to a “decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.” 
 

Practicing step three is like the opening of a door which to all appearances is still closed and locked. All we need is a key, and the decision to swing the door open. There is only one key, and it is called willingness. Once unlocked by willingness, the door opens almost of itself…

 
It is when we try to make our will conform with God's that we begin to use it rightly. To all of us, this was a most wonderful revelation. Our whole trouble had been the misuse of willpower. We had tried to bombard our problems with it instead of attempting to bring it into agreement with God's intention for us.

In all times of emotional disturbance or indecision, we can pause, ask for quiet, and in the stillness simply say: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference. Thy will, not mine, be done.”
-The Twelve Steps and the Twelve Traditions 

Remember that you're dealing with an ego/alcoholic/self-identity. You're dealing with the necessity to sedate yourself, to give yourself credit for your associations, to justify the resentment and fear that you feel in your own mind. Jesus would say of the ego, "It's cunning, it's baffling, and it's powerful, and without help, it's way too much for you to ever do. You need the Holy Spirit to bring you to the attention that you cannot solve the problem. But there is One who has all power, that One is God. May you find Him now!" That's a high prayer. May you find Him. It's a request that you find Him through your determination not to solve this. May you find Him now! Remember, He is not lost, you are!
-Master Teacher, The 12 Step Program and A Course in Miracles booklet

My joy and happiness, guys, those of you who want to hear this, you can make this academic if you want to, you can study all the reasons and the reassociations you want to; the fact of the matter is that my peace and joy are my complete dependence on God or a higher power, a certainty that of and by myself I am nothing. It has nothing to do with what I am dependent on. What is that? That's complete abandon. Notice that the joy is in the abandon . You can direct it to God but only if you understand Him anyway. Abandonment in that sense is giving, isn't it? I'm going to abandon my need. I'm going to only give. I will not be possessed by the necessity to hold on and to retain. I will abandon that and I will say, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.”
-Master Teacher