It's been a long day and you're tired. But before you hit your pillow and fall into dreamland, why not take a few minutes and reflect on your day? What have you been up to? Who have you spent your time with? How did you act around others? How did you involve God in your choices and behaviours? These are all questions that Ignatius of Loyola encouraged Christians to ask themselves 500 years ago.
Ignatius of Loyola
Ignatius was born to a wealthy Spanish family in 1491. In his rowdy youthful years, he loved fighting, gambling and women, but at age 30, was seriously injured by a cannonball in a battle with the French. While recuperating in hospital, Ignatius began to read religious books about Jesus Christ and His followers and soon realized that he needed to dedicate his life to serving God. Over the course of his lifetime, Ignatius prepared a book of spiritual exercises still used today and developed the Examen, a daily prayer practice.
The Prayer Method
The Examen stresses the importance of taking time to reflect and pray in order to find out how God wants us to live out our lives. This commitment to seeking God's leadership is called discernment. It's simple to do but can have a powerful affect on our lives and spiritual growth. Through this prayer exercise, we can come to understand and appreciate the ways that God has been present in our daily activities and move beyond our self-centredness so that we begin to think more about the needs of others.
Five Steps
Here's how it works. The Examen traditionally has five steps, but feel free to adapt it to meet your specific needs.
Step One: Recognize that you are in the presence of God. If it helps to light a candle or play some soft music, go ahead. The important thing is to focus on God and dedicate this time to Him.
Give thanks to God for all that He's done for you and the world. Think about what it means to have a God who loves and cares for you. Speak words of gratitude for the privilege of knowing Him.
Step Two: Ask for the awareness and guidance of the Holy Spirit so that you can look at your actions and motives with honesty and patience. It's important to be led by the Spirit, or you can become too judgmental about your behaviour and thoughts. Beating yourself up over your failures will not help you to grow or mature. Ask God to reveal what He wants you to see and understand.
Step Three: The Examen provides us with an opportunity to focus on our consolations (whatever helps us connect with ourselves, others, God, and creation) and our desolations (whatever disconnects us). Reflect on the past day (or few days) and review what happened. What were you involved in? Who were you with? What were your hopes or concerns? What caused you to behave the way you did? What are the implications of your actions or inactions? If you could relive one moment, what would it be and why? How aware of God's presence and direction were you?
Step Four: After reviewing your day, ask God for forgiveness for the times you messed up. Be sincere and open about your failures, but allow God to use this time of reflection as an opportunity to show you how much you need His presence in your life. Just as God is compassionate and forgiving, be kind with yourself as well. Learn from your mistakes, but don't live in a spirit of condemnation.
Remember to praise God for the moments where He helped you make good choices. An important part of this exercise is recognizing the times in our day when God reveals Himself to us or offers us glimpses of His Kingdom.
Step Five: Ask God to provide you with what you require for the following day. Perhaps you need His Spirit to help you be more loving, peaceful, humble, patient, forgiving or confident. Maybe you want a greater awareness that Christ is real and present in your life. These prayers for hope and guidance should come out of your examination of the past day(s). As you become more aware of your strengths and weaknesses (make sure you allow the Holy Spirit to lead you in this journey), you will have a clearer idea of what you should pray to God for.
The Examen doesn't need to take a long time—only a few minutes before going to sleep. As you begin to practice it regularly (once a day or every couple of days), you will come to recognize some common themes and issues popping up. Allow God to work through them and to show you His presence in your life.
John McAlister is senior editor for The Salvation Army's Editorial Department. From 2006-2008, he served in Zimbabwe with his wife, Rochelle. John and Rochelle have a baby boy named Kieran Tinashe.
Ignatius of Loyola
Ignatius was born to a wealthy Spanish family in 1491. In his rowdy youthful years, he loved fighting, gambling and women, but at age 30, was seriously injured by a cannonball in a battle with the French. While recuperating in hospital, Ignatius began to read religious books about Jesus Christ and His followers and soon realized that he needed to dedicate his life to serving God. Over the course of his lifetime, Ignatius prepared a book of spiritual exercises still used today and developed the Examen, a daily prayer practice.
The Prayer Method
The Examen stresses the importance of taking time to reflect and pray in order to find out how God wants us to live out our lives. This commitment to seeking God's leadership is called discernment. It's simple to do but can have a powerful affect on our lives and spiritual growth. Through this prayer exercise, we can come to understand and appreciate the ways that God has been present in our daily activities and move beyond our self-centredness so that we begin to think more about the needs of others.
Five Steps
Here's how it works. The Examen traditionally has five steps, but feel free to adapt it to meet your specific needs.
Step One: Recognize that you are in the presence of God. If it helps to light a candle or play some soft music, go ahead. The important thing is to focus on God and dedicate this time to Him.
Give thanks to God for all that He's done for you and the world. Think about what it means to have a God who loves and cares for you. Speak words of gratitude for the privilege of knowing Him.
Step Two: Ask for the awareness and guidance of the Holy Spirit so that you can look at your actions and motives with honesty and patience. It's important to be led by the Spirit, or you can become too judgmental about your behaviour and thoughts. Beating yourself up over your failures will not help you to grow or mature. Ask God to reveal what He wants you to see and understand.
Step Three: The Examen provides us with an opportunity to focus on our consolations (whatever helps us connect with ourselves, others, God, and creation) and our desolations (whatever disconnects us). Reflect on the past day (or few days) and review what happened. What were you involved in? Who were you with? What were your hopes or concerns? What caused you to behave the way you did? What are the implications of your actions or inactions? If you could relive one moment, what would it be and why? How aware of God's presence and direction were you?
Step Four: After reviewing your day, ask God for forgiveness for the times you messed up. Be sincere and open about your failures, but allow God to use this time of reflection as an opportunity to show you how much you need His presence in your life. Just as God is compassionate and forgiving, be kind with yourself as well. Learn from your mistakes, but don't live in a spirit of condemnation.
Remember to praise God for the moments where He helped you make good choices. An important part of this exercise is recognizing the times in our day when God reveals Himself to us or offers us glimpses of His Kingdom.
Step Five: Ask God to provide you with what you require for the following day. Perhaps you need His Spirit to help you be more loving, peaceful, humble, patient, forgiving or confident. Maybe you want a greater awareness that Christ is real and present in your life. These prayers for hope and guidance should come out of your examination of the past day(s). As you become more aware of your strengths and weaknesses (make sure you allow the Holy Spirit to lead you in this journey), you will have a clearer idea of what you should pray to God for.
The Examen doesn't need to take a long time—only a few minutes before going to sleep. As you begin to practice it regularly (once a day or every couple of days), you will come to recognize some common themes and issues popping up. Allow God to work through them and to show you His presence in your life.
John McAlister is senior editor for The Salvation Army's Editorial Department. From 2006-2008, he served in Zimbabwe with his wife, Rochelle. John and Rochelle have a baby boy named Kieran Tinashe.
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