The Prayer of Examen
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The Prayer of Examen
I’ve long been aware of the practice of a daily examen. An examen is a practice of reflective prayer that looks back over a specific period of time – a day, a season, or a year - to see where God may be at work. It can be a tool to help discern where God is leading. Or it may be a look back to see an opportunity for growth.
The Prayer of Examen is a spiritual exercise attributed to Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) who taught this way to become more aware of God’s presence and more responsive to the moving of the Holy Spirit. I first became acquainted with the practice through the little book, Sleeping with Bread: Holding What Gives You Life by Dennis Linn, Sheila Fabricant Linn, and Matthew Linn.1
Basically, the practice is the asking of two questions:
For what am I most grateful?
For what am I least grateful?
Ignatius called these consolations and desolations.
Let me give you the setting for the practice and then some thoughts on the questions.
Find a quiet place and make yourself comfortable. You may want to light a candle to signify the light of God or God’s presence.
Rest in silence for a few moments.
Ask God’s Spirit to lead you through your day (or season or year or whatever time feels right)
The heart of the prayer is devoted to observing where you felt connected with God (consolations) and where you felt disconnected (desolations).
Review your day. Maybe have a journal and pen handy if that is helpful for you.
Here are some variations of the gratitude questions:
When did I give and receive the most love today?
When did I give and receive the least love today?
When did I feel the most alive today?
When did I most feel life draining out of me?
When today did I have the greatest sense of belonging to myself, others, and God?
When did I have the least sense of belonging?
When was I happiest today?
When was I saddest?
What was today’s high point?
What was today’s low point?
The questions above came from Sleeping with Bread.
Here are new prompts I recently discovered from minister and spiritual director Teresa Blythe:
If you could relive any one moment that brought you joy, which would it be? What happened in that moment that made it so life-giving? Sit with that moment and allow it to give you life again. Offer your gratitude to God for that moment.
If you could go back and change any one moment in your day, which would it be? What made that moment so difficult? Sit with that moment in the light of God’s love and allow yourself to feel whatever emotion you have. Offer that moment to God for healing.
Blythe says to make note of these two moments in your day. Then end by giving thanks to God for all the ways God has been with you – through the joy and the pain.2
So what are you going to do with what you discovered? How are you to go forth to live in light of the discoveries you’ve made?
Go make peace, my friends.
Pastor Leanne
1 - Dennis Linn, Sheila Fabricant Linn, and Matthew Linn. Sleeping with Bread: Holding What Gives You Life. (Mahwah, NY: Paulist Press, 1995), 7.
2 - Teresa A. Blythe, 50 Ways to Pray: Practices from Many Traditions and Times (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2006), 60.
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