… I did come to the conclusion that I was willing to put everything I had into it, with God’s power, and that I wanted to do just that. As soon as I had done that, I did feel a great release. I knew that I had a helper whom I could rely upon, who wouldn’t fail me. If I could stick to Him and listen, I would make it. I remember when the boys came back, I told them, “I have gone to this Higher Power, and I have told Him that I am willing to put His world first, above everything.” … Of course, we had talked over quite a number of the failings that I had and made a sort of an inventory, which wasn’t too difficult, because I had an awful lot of things wrong that were very apparent to me. Then they said, “There is one other thing. You should go out and take this program to somebody else who needs it and wants it.”(Pages 189–190 of Alcoholics Anonymous)
What is so interesting about this story from the early days of AA is that building a relationship with God is the core of the programme: relying on God, seeking power from God, seeking help from God, staying close to God, listening to God, putting God's world first (ahead of the material world). As a footnote, the inventory is mentioned, and then helping others is introduced as an immediate measure.
In AA today, we can get very bogged down in lengthy inventory, and in some parts of AA people are told they can't sponsor until they are sober one year. Assuming, that is, they can get that far without sponsoring others.
The core of AA is very simple, and the relationship with God can start now.