Intro

Do you ever get through your day and realize that you probably couldn’t remember what you’ve done for the last 12 hours?

Like, maybe you know you went to school and know that you had some classes, but if someone was to ask you what you did exactly, could you tell them?

How do you think that affects our walk with Jesus?

We are trying to be Jesus people, but I don’t even know what I’ve done for the last day!

We, over the past few weeks, have talked about a few different types of prayer.

We’ve talked about praying for other people, about praying through the Bible, and about being thankful in prayers.

Now, we’re going to start getting kind of weird.

The prayer that we’re going to do today is called the Daily Examen

It was officially made by a guy named Ignatius of Loyola, who was a Spanish theologian in the 1500’s

It’s not technically found in the Bible, although all of the concepts of the prayer are in the Bible, and Ignatius just kind of put them all together.

So, we are going to start our time in a Psalm, I’ll explain what the daily examen is, and then we’ll do it together.

Psalm 139: 1-24.

Throughout this Psalm, there are a few ideas that run throughout it.

God is always present in our lives.

There is no part of our lives which God does not touch, and He is eternally present.

vs. 1-3

My days belong to God.

vs. 16

I must be aware of my life.

Vs. 23-24

And so, this practice of prayer called the Daily Examen that you can do in your day is an opportunity for you to acknowledge how God is present, to know that our days belong to God fully, and to learn to be aware of our lives, our place in them, and God moving in them.

The Daily Examen

Here is the breakdown of what this might look like. There are other ways to do it, but this is maybe the simplest form that we have.

Be Still

This doesn’t just mean to stop moving (it does mean that, just not only that)

In order for us to truly be still we have to get the incessant brain noise out and to let our distractions fall and to focus on God.

This should allow us to begin to be aware of God in the moment.

He’s always present, but we’re not always paying attention, and so this is our opportunity for us to start paying attention to God instead of everything else we spend our focus on.

Give Thanks

Because this is a “Daily” not yearly or infinity exam, this is the time to look into the last few hours and thank God for every detail that you can think of.

Give specifics! It’s always helpful

It doesn’t have to be majestic, it could be thanking God for a good song you heard or thanking Him that breakfast was good

Reflect

This is where, at least for me, things get more difficult

This is our time to go through our day and ask how are we coming to today.

What are the thoughts, feelings, and emotions that we’ve felt today?

What have I done today, and how did I feel about that?

What emotions and thoughts am I feeling as I am coming into this prayer time?

Then, we move on into investigating our day

How did I react in the situations I was thinking about?

Did I act like Jesus?

If I didn’t, what happened?

Ask for forgiveness

Pray

Now that we’ve thought about what’s happened so far, this is our opportunity to pray for one of those things.

It’s only as God communicates to you

Maybe you feel like God’s telling you to pray about something you were thankful for, or about someone that you’ve hurt, or about something that you did that was good.

Let God have all of that, and be able to let Him speak to you.

Hope

Now that we’ve thought through our time, we look forward to the coming hours and seek to put God first in them.

So, we notice that we’ve got a test tomorrow: think on the test, know what’s coming , and ask that God’s will would be done in your study time and test taking

Or, maybe you’re going to hang out with your friends after this or tomorrow: reflect on that, ask that you’d be a light for Christ to them

And then, we end it with a prayer

So, that is the daily examen! You can do this anywhere from once a day to 5 times a day if you want. It can take anywhere from 3 minutes to 20 minutes.

So, let’s practice it!

Be Still

Give Thanks

Reflect

Pray

Hope

Questions

iPhone or Android?

What is the daily examen?

What was one aspect of the examen that stood out to you? (Be still, give thanks, reflect, pray, hope)

How could you add this to your life?

Those who would understand and practice spiritual formation in the way of Jesus Christ should not deny the power of thought just because some people make a religion of it, and would use it as a basis for helping healing with no reference to Christ. Breakfast is a good idea, and I do not plan To give it up because Hindus practice it. Willard