PRAYER RESOURCE – THE EXAMEN PRAYER
The Examen prayer is a method of reviewing your day in the presence of God. It’s actually an attitude more than a method, a time set aside for thankful reflection on where God is in your everyday life. It has five steps, which most people take more or less in order, and it usually takes around 15 to 20 minutes per day.
1. Still yourself in silence for a few minutes. Let go of the day, relax your body and mind, and your breathing, slowly. Remember that you are in God’s presence. Ask him that this time with him, and all your life, might be directed solely to his service and praise.
2. Ask God for light and wisdom, pray that you may receive the light of Christ, so that you can look at your day with God’s eyes, not just your own, see the day you have experienced, and remember it clearly. Pray also for wisdom, so you can fully understand what you are seeing, and be able to walk in God’s light.
3. Give thanks for the day that you have just lived, which is a gift from God. Express your gratitude for the day.
4. Review the day – Let your mind drift back over the events of the day, and the moods and feelings they invoked in you. You might want to remember them ‘quietly’, on your own, or you might want to talk to Jesus about your day in your own words, whichever seems better and more natural to you at the time.
This remembering of your moods and feelings might well stir up feelings within you, both of thanksgiving and of sorrow, and a need for healing.
(i) What events and feelings are you drawn to, what particularly gave you life today? What did you feel good about? These times are sometimes called consolation moments. Thank God for these events and feelings that have brought you joy, relish and enjoy them. Thank God again for the gifts He has given you, and for the times that you have let His glory shine through, when God has worked through you today.
(ii) What events and feelings made you feel driven? What has drained you of life today? Your biggest struggle, perhaps, or when you felt sad, helpless or angry? These times are sometimes called desolation moments. Look at these uncomfortable experiences in the Lord’s presence. Express your sorrow to Him, and ask Him to help you make sense of those experiences. Resist the temptation to judge yourself! Allow Christ Himself to help you understand the moods, feelings and needs that these events have aroused. Remember that Jesus never refuses forgiveness. With total confidence, ask Him to forgive you for the times when you have obstructed or distorted the light of his glory. (Remember, sin is simply ‘getting in God’s way’).
5. Look forward to tomorrow, ask the Lord to be with you in every detail of the following day. If there is an attribute (‘grace’) you desire, e.g. to become more patient, or more trusting, or if you need help with a person or situation you find difficult or trying, which you will have to face tomorrow, then ask the Lord to help you in these ways, especially tomorrow.
Bible texts which may prove helpful:-
Ps. 51:6,7 – ‘You desire truth in the inward being, therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Luke 6:36, 37 – ‘Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged’.
Ps. 103:8, 10 – ‘The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love … He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities’.
Matthew 18:21, 22 – ‘Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.”’
The Examen prayer can be used privately by individuals, usually in the evening. It can also be used in small groups, with a leader guiding the prayers, particularly when people are inexperienced in using it.