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The Prayer of Examen

a devotional prayer that employs the help of Holy Spirit for self-reflection, self-examination, and awareness of God's presence, based on a day's experience.

Prayer • Devotional Prayers

The Prayer of Examen is a classic spiritual practice developed by Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556). It is a prayerful reflection of your experience with Jesus over a specific time period, most often a review of the day or of the day before.

What Happens In The Prayer Of Examen?

The Daily Examen is meant to be a short 5-15 minutes prayer exercise and something you can do before you retire for the night (as a review of that day) or as soon as you wake up in the morning (as a review of the prior day).

"Here, we take time to let the whole day come before us in order to be exposed to what has been happening within us... [The reality is] so many of the things that happen to us, we don't even notice. We don't see where God is working in the day. We don't see how we are responding. We're insensitive. The examen is a kind of sensitivity session where I come to quiet, and in that quiet I force myself to go back and look over the day at leisure and evaluate, ...with God's light, to see where He has been speaking in the day, to see how I responded to the way He was speaking... The examen should be a review not only of my failures but of God's communication... —both of God's speaking and of my responding. When I review my failures... they should be seen, not as failures measured against the law, but as failures to respond to the word God was speaking to me today (or the prior day)." - Thomas H. Green S. J.

What Is The Goal Of The Prayer Of Examen?

"[The goal of this prayer is] increased awareness and attentiveness to the presence of God in your daily life." - Pete Scazzero
"The consistent reflection on your daily life overtime will birth a deeper sense of peace inside you (a sense that you are not alone—God is with you) and nurture a more discerning heart for God’s presence in your life." - Pete Scazzero
"The purpose of the Prayer of Examen is not [ultimately] to review the day. The purpose is so that tomorrow I will be more spontaneously sensitive when important things happen." - Thomas H. Green S.J.

NOTE: Keep in mind that we are not trying to change ourselves through our own self-effort. That is not the Gospel! In the Prayer of Examen, we are instead positioning ourselves in reliance of Holy Spirit to accomplish, with His help, what we cannot do for ourselves—true transformational change.

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life." - Psalm 139:23-24 NLT

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you." - Psalm 32:8 NIV

Steps in The Prayer of Examen

Quiet Down > Ask for Light & Understanding > Review the Day > Look Forward to Tomorrow > Close with a Grace & Thanksgiving Prayer

1. QUIET DOWN

Quiet down and become aware of God’s presence.

PRAYER: "Lord, I know You love me and that You are with me right now."

To help you center yourself in prayer, recall that you are in the holy presence of God.

2. ASK FOR LIGHT & UNDERSTANDING

Ask for the gift of light and understanding, from Holy Spirit, as you review your day.

SAMPLE PRAYER: "Lord, I want to look at my day through God's eyes, not merely my own."

Invite the Holy Spirit to guide you as you review your day (or the day before).

3. REVIEW YOUR DAY (or the day before)

Ask Holy Spirit: • Where was I sensitive to Your Presence? (Give Thanks) • Where was I drawing close to You? (Celebrate!) • Where was I pulling away from You? (Confess and Recommit)

Retrace the steps of your day with the help of Holy Spirit—what you did, whom you encountered, and thoughts and feelings you experienced. "Imagine yourself watching your day on fast-forward [video] with Jesus. Let Jesus stop the [video] at any part of the day so you might reflect on it." - Pete Scazzero

GENERAL Prayer of Examen Questions* for the "Review Your Day" Section

Ask Holy Spirit...

Where I was sensitive to Your Presence? (Help me re-experience the delight) - Relish in these experiences. As a response, give thanks to God for these times.
Where was I drawing close to You? (Show me the nature of the interaction) - How did you feel when you were open and responsive to God's guidance? Delight in the steps you took to embrace His presence, help, and guidance. Sense how He helped you draw close—how He wooed you to Himself. Celebrate these instances.
Where was I pulling away from You? (Show me my dullness and hardness of heart) - In what ways did you step away from His leadership and guidance? Confess your weaknesses, struggles, failures, and sin, and recommit to following Him. - One way to discern this will be when you didn't experience faith, hope & love, or the fruit of the Spirit. Ask God for forgiveness/healing, and also for understanding what pulls your heart and attention away from Him. Only look at the moment(s) God brings up. Don’t try to search for all the possible times you feel you have moved away from God. Let the Spirit show you the moment(s) He wants to speak to you about.

_______________________

* Keep in mind that there are other helpful focuses one can have in the daily "review your day" section of the Prayer of Examen. Below is another set of very applicable set of questions to everyday life.

GENERAL Prayer of Examen Questions for the "Review Your Day" Section

Topic: Loving Like Jesus (Mature Love)

Ask Jesus/Holy Spirit...

Did I love well today (God, people, and myself)?
Where/How did I choose to love well?
Where/How did I withhold this mature love?
What was going on inside my heart that I chose to withhold this love?
How do you want me to respond?

_______________________

SITUATIONAL Prayer of Examen Questions for the "Review Your Day" Section

But with this prayer of examen, I could also formulate other more direct, situationally-applicable questions to reflect on, based either on an individual's particular circumstances or a church-wide focus. My own church recently came up with some of these other possibilities:

Topic: Feeling Pressed or Squeezed

Ask Jesus/Holy Spirit...

Where I was sensitive to Your Presence? (Give Thanks)
Where could I have felt pressed or squeezed, but didn't? (Celebrate!)
Where did I feel pressed or squeezed? (Confess and Recommit)

Topic: Fear and/or Anxiety

Ask Jesus/Holy Spirit...

Where I was sensitive to Your Presence? (Give Thanks)
Where did fear and anxiety grip my heart and/or occupied my mind? (Confess and Recommit)

Topic: God's Word and Work in My Daily Life

Ask Jesus/Holy Spirit...

Where I was sensitive to Your Presence? (Give Thanks)
Where I did I notice and respond to Your word and work in and through me? (Celebrate)
Where was I distracted from Your invitation to live out Your word and work in and through me? (Confess and Recommit)

5. LOOK FORWARD TO TOMORROW (or to the rest of the day)

Think ahead to tomorrow and ask for specific help.

SAMPLE PRAYER: "Lord, I ask you for the grace to face whatever comes and help for me to be choose to live in Your ways."

Allow the focus to be on either:

A situation you foresee might be difficult to live out with faith, hope and love.
Not being pulled away the same way you did today. The help you request may shift what you notice and celebrate in your next day’s Prayer of Examen.
Maintaining the awareness of God's presence and recognizing and celebrating His work.

6. CLOSE WITH PRAYER (on grace and thanksgiving)

End with a prayer for grace, to be more aware of God's presence, giving thanks for this time.

3 Kinds of Prayer of Examen

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Key Question: How aware have I been of Your Presence, today?

Key Question: How well did I love, today?

Key Question: Was I finding satisfaction and delight in You, today?

Noticing God's Movement, In The Prayer Of Examen

In this excerpt from a webpage, Brad Watson, shares how the prayer of Examen, developed in a missional environment, is key to helping us to pay attention and stay attentive to Jesus throughout each of our days:

This [spiritual] practice was birthed out of the Ignatian movement started by St. Ignatius of Loyola, which saw monks travel the world to share the power and purpose of the gospel. These missionaries traveled in community and embedded themselves in cultures where they sought to integrate into the rhythms of the people they were on mission to (instead of trying to change the culture to the missionaries’ own culture of origin). They asked questions, learned customs and language, and changed their clothing, all in an attempt to do two things: clearly and carefully articulate the good news of Jesus to their new friends and discover ways they could meet the needs and help cultivate the culture they were in.

However, St. Ignatius feared that as this missional movement and his fellow missionary-priests were sent around the world, they would lose sight of how to notice and see God’s movement in their lives.

He knew it would be easy to shift away from participating in the mission with the Father, in communion with Jesus, and empowered by the Spirit. Ignatius felt that, if not carefully pursued, a missionary could begin to operate within the mindset they were doing things for the Father, separate from Jesus, and empowered by their own skills and strategies.

The Ignatians believed and taught that discernment (what to do and how to live within God’s mission) came out of an awareness of how God moved uniquely through their days, relationships, chores, and daily routines.

The problem is, we get too busy doing things for God and forget how to listen to God.

The examen provides a practice to help us notice where (or really how) God is present throughout our days. It’s a practice to help us pay attention and be attentive to Jesus’ presence in areas we might otherwise miss.

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