FOUR WAYS TO REFLECT ON YOUR YEAR
The Prayer of Examen
We encourage you to take time to reflect on the year just gone and to look forward to the new year ahead. My favorite prayer app adapts an ancient Christian method of prayer, known as the Examen, which was developed by Ignatius of Loyola in the sixteenth century. There are four simple stages we encourage you to do over the next couples days:
Stage 1: Approach
Stage 2: Gratitude
Stage 3: Emotional Awareness
Stage 4: Spirit-led Encounter
We begin today with stages one and two, and tomorrow we will send stages three and four. Now let's start by recognizing where God has been present with us this year.
First Stage of Examen: Prayer of Approach
Loving Father, please help me to be still. I open my ears to hear You now and I quietly prepare my heart for all that You have for me as I approach the new year.
The Examen involves remembering the events and the experiences, the places where I’ve been and the people that I’ve been with, and it involves inviting the Holy Spirit to help me become aware of God’s presence in, and over, and through it all.
And so, I take a few moments to think back over 2022.
What were the memorable moments?
What were the highlights and the encouragements?
What were the challenges?
What did I find difficult?
Loving Father, show me where You were present with me this year,
particularly when things were difficult.
Pause and pray
Turning my prayers outwards, I think about my close friends and family, those who I have shared this past year with:
Loving Father, whatever they remember of this past year,
I pray that they become aware that You have been with them.
Perhaps I could find a time to pray with them before the end of the year?
‘Learning to find God in all things comes with practice and spiritual attentiveness, but it also comes with discernment. This brings us back to the crucial role of the examen … Any experience can be examined to discover the presence of God. Learning to become aware of God’s presence in the midst of our daily experience is to know that we are not alone.’* -David Brenner
Second Stage of Examen: Gratitude
Psalm 105 is an example of the second stage of the Examen, which is all about cultivating an attitude of gratitude.
And so, we take a few moments to think back over 2022:
What, or who, am I thankful for? (Flicking through the photos on my phone might trigger a few memories.)
I pray a few of my own simple, ‘Thank You God for…’ prayers right now.
I think particularly of the people who encouraged me this year.
Who was there when I needed help?
Whose words or actions inspired me to become a better me this year?
I take a few moments to give thanks to God for these people.
Is there some way that I could express my thanks to them today?
For the full prayer practice, go here.
For stages 3 and 4, plus a BONUS stage on looking forward in faith to 2023, go here!
Love to all!
Reminder!
No Service, Sunday January 1!
See you back at PIHOP on January 8!
Considering a year-end gift before end of 2022? Go here: