Weekly Examen
Weekly Examen
Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139
An examen prayer invites us to prayerfully reflect on our days in the presence of God. It allows us to take time to, “Be still and know that I am God” Psalm 46:10. Notice the celebrations and struggles of the week. Be honest, humble, and forgiving. Open your heart to hear God speak. The examen is not a prayer of shame or guilt; it is honesty before a God who knows you and loves you completely.
Practice this prayer as you can, not as you can’t. You may not wish to journal. You have permission to journal or not as you see fit in your own walk with the Lord. You may wish to create art (paint, draw, doodle), or you may take a walk as you reflect on the week. This journey is your own – not a prescription, but an invitation.
Richard Foster provides the following suggestions for an examen prayer:
Ask God For Enlightenment. Renew your awareness of God’s presence and loving knowledge of you. Ask our Father for the spiritual discernment needed to look at the week past through His eyes and not merely your own.
Give Thanks. Recognize the week past—in its struggles and its joys—as a gift from God, being thankful for God’s ever-present leading.
Review Your Week. Review your week from beginning to end, identifying God’s presence and provision throughout. Take note especially of those encounters and experiences where you were most aware of God’s nearness, most responsive to the Spirit’s leading, most like Jesus in your actions and attitudes, and your soul was most at peace.
Face Your Shortcomings. Ask the Spirit to search your heart and bring to your memory those moments in the week when you were least aware or even ignoring God’s presence, least responsive or out-right rejecting the Spirit’s leading, least like Jesus in your actions and attitudes, and those encounters and experiences when your soul was anxious or unsettled. Remember, the psalmist asks our Father for this self-knowledge with joy, knowing that this is a part of the transformation process to become like Jesus.
Look Forward to the Week Ahead. This is where you get to use the journal! Reflecting on your conversation with the Father thus far, and what the Spirit has revealed, write down where you need God in the coming week, what he is inviting you to believe or do, or stop believing and stop doing. Then, write out “the Lord’s Prayer” as your prayer for the week ahead.
In preparation for the sermon tomorrow, you may wish to read the text of Isaiah 1 again.
And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139
An examen prayer invites us to prayerfully reflect on our days in the presence of God. It allows us to take time to, “Be still and know that I am God” Psalm 46:10. Notice the celebrations and struggles of the week. Be honest, humble, and forgiving. Open your heart to hear God speak. The examen is not a prayer of shame or guilt; it is honesty before a God who knows you and loves you completely.
Practice this prayer as you can, not as you can’t. You may not wish to journal. You have permission to journal or not as you see fit in your own walk with the Lord. You may wish to create art (paint, draw, doodle), or you may take a walk as you reflect on the week. This journey is your own – not a prescription, but an invitation.
Richard Foster provides the following suggestions for an examen prayer:
Ask God For Enlightenment. Renew your awareness of God’s presence and loving knowledge of you. Ask our Father for the spiritual discernment needed to look at the week past through His eyes and not merely your own.
Give Thanks. Recognize the week past—in its struggles and its joys—as a gift from God, being thankful for God’s ever-present leading.
Review Your Week. Review your week from beginning to end, identifying God’s presence and provision throughout. Take note especially of those encounters and experiences where you were most aware of God’s nearness, most responsive to the Spirit’s leading, most like Jesus in your actions and attitudes, and your soul was most at peace.
Face Your Shortcomings. Ask the Spirit to search your heart and bring to your memory those moments in the week when you were least aware or even ignoring God’s presence, least responsive or out-right rejecting the Spirit’s leading, least like Jesus in your actions and attitudes, and those encounters and experiences when your soul was anxious or unsettled. Remember, the psalmist asks our Father for this self-knowledge with joy, knowing that this is a part of the transformation process to become like Jesus.
Look Forward to the Week Ahead. This is where you get to use the journal! Reflecting on your conversation with the Father thus far, and what the Spirit has revealed, write down where you need God in the coming week, what he is inviting you to believe or do, or stop believing and stop doing. Then, write out “the Lord’s Prayer” as your prayer for the week ahead.
In preparation for the sermon tomorrow, you may wish to read the text of Isaiah 1 again.
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