The Prayer of Examen
Learning to Listen - The Prayer of Examen
One of my favorite things about spending a few days at my brothers farm is just how quiet it is. You don’t even realize just how noisy the city is until the white noise of traffic is finally gone. No obnoxiously loud mufflers, honking horns or garbage truck brakes… just quiet.
Like any good farm house, my brother’s large front porch sports a couple of rocking chairs and a large porch swing. With the sprawling hills surrounding you, it’s the perfect spot to sip a cup of piping hot coffee, watch the sun warm the countryside and to just listen.
If there’s one thing many of us deeply desire, it’s to hear God’s voice in our lives; to see him move and recognize his fingerprints throughout our day. So how do we do this?
Ignatius of Loyola spoke often of seeing and experiencing God in all things and he developed The Prayer of Examen as a way to help us listen for the ways God has been speaking throughout our day. The Prayer of Examen often takes 10 to 15 minutes and can be done at anytime throughout your day:
Begin by acknowledging God’s loving presence with you right now as you are still and try to quiet your mind.
Ask God for the grace to see and understand all the ways He has been at work in your life
Prayerfully walk back through the events of your day.
Where do you see God at work? Give thanks for those things that were good. How can you continue to embrace those things that draw you closer to the Lord?
Own any mistakes or failures that come to mind. Ask for forgiveness and ask God to show you how to change. If there are patterns or habits that are inhibiting you from loving the Lord, what would it look like to release those things?
Looking forward: Where do you need God today? Where do you sense an invitation to living differently going forward?
God is with us throughout our day… a conversation with a friend, grocery shopping, the drive to and from work; He is in all things. The Examen invites us to look at our experiences and our emotions and to see the ways God is at work. As we begin to listen, to quiet the noise and pay attention to the subtle movements throughout our day, we begin to notice God’s presence that has been there all along.
