The Daily Examen: A Prayer to Help You Increase Self-Awareness and Draw Closer to God

Most Christians, like St. Ignatius, do not merely like to be called Christian but also to be a Christian. Many of us are unsure how to go about doing this. That is why St. Ignatius created the Examen Prayer. ILike this content on Facebook recently discovered the Examen Prayer and love the benefits of it. 

What is the Daily Examen Prayer?

In a nutshell, the Examen is a guided prayer framework that helps us find God in our everyday life and respond to his gifts and blessings more freely. The Examen,  developed by St. Ignatius of Loyola, is a technique of personal daily prayer in which the individual honestly thinks about  the difficult and beautiful events of the previous 24 hours.

For hundreds of years, men and women have used the Examen to detect God's presence in their lives and grow to be more like Christ. Since they originally developed it, individuals have applied the Examen to many other areas, including COVID-19, dealing with social media, and other areas. COVID-19; dealing with social media, and other areas. 

What Are the Five Steps of the Examen?

The original Examen was in five steps or points. The five steps have you reflect upon moments where you felt gratitude, alive, contentment and joy, as well as moments when you felt like you missed the mark in terms of living the life God is calling you to live. The thesis of the Examen is that in the honest pondering of our daily highs and lows, we develop the beautiful habit of finding God in all things. 

The five steps of the Examen Prayer are as follows:

First Point. The first is to give thanks to God our Lord for the benefits received.

Second Point. The second is to ask grace to know our sins and cast them out.

Third Point. The third is to ask account of our soul from the hour that we rose up to the present Examen, hour by hour, or period by period: and first as to thoughts, and then as to words, and then as to acts, in the same order as was mentioned in the Particular Examen.

Fourth Point. The fourth is to ask the pardon of God our Lord for the faults.

Fifth Point. The fifth is to purpose amendment with His grace.

Our Father.

Pin ItWho is St. Ignatius of Loyola?

Ignatius of Loyola, S.J., often known as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Spanish Catholic priest and theologian who formed the Society of Jesus with Peter Faber and Francis Xavier in 1541 and became its first Superior General.

Prior to becoming a Saint, he was a young Spanish soldier named Igo López de Loyola who was hit in the leg by a bullet during a fight in 1521. He went through excruciating suffering, several surgeries, and eventually amputation. His prior worldly existence as a military commander was over. He became a voracious reader while bedridden. He devoured book after book about Jesus and Christianity due to a dearth of books on other topics. St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) came to know Christ throughout his extended recovery.

He went on to help form the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits). Hundreds of years later, he is still changing the lives of women and men worldwide. His personal journals served as the basis for his most famous book, The Spiritual Exercises, which featured the Examen.

Benefits of the Daily Examen

While the Examen is not the only way to pray, it does have several benefits: 

• You relinquish control to God and acknowledge Him as Lord over your life. 
• It increases your self-awareness to examine your day in terms of thoughts, feelings, and actions. 
• The Examen forces you to focus on the realities of each day. As a result, it causes you to find God daily. 
• You know exactly what to pray about. . . everything that has happened to you in the last 24 hours and what you anticipate in the next 24 hours. 
• It included gratitude which increases mental wellness. 
• It allows your feelings to surface and allows us to get acquainted with them/address them in prayerful openness to God.
• The Examen allows your life and your decisions to become more intentional. 

When Should you Pray the Examen Prayer? 

While St. Ignatius intended for his community to complete the Examen twice a day, once in the middle of the day and once at the end of the day, there is no right or wrong time to pray to the Examen. Since it reflects your day, you should pray about it every 24 hours. Currently, my goal is to pray before I go to bed each night. However, on nights when I am too tired, I pray in the morning. 

While you can go through the Examen in your head/heart, I recommend you journal the Examen prayer. You can use any notebook.  You can shop our collection of blank journals by visiting amazon or checking out our TeePublic store.  I have also developed a journal page specifically for praying the Examen.   You can download this Daily Examen Prayer printable for a donation of any amount, including $0.00.   

 Since learning about the Examen Prayer, I have been using the Daily Examen Prayer Script and questions below to pray through the Fruit of the Spirit. However, I can also see using it to pray scripture back to God, praying through the names of God or even when you are praying to increase your self-awareness. 

The Daily Examen Prayer I Use

Before you begin, be still and know - take several deep breaths and as much time as you need to quiet your mind and connect with God. 

Step 1: Relish the good. - What gifts from God are there in your day for which you can give thanks?

Step 2: Request the Spirit. Ask for the light of the Holy Spirit to guide you through your examen.

Step 3: Review the day. Walk through your day and reflect on the moments that God was present. What are one or two ways God has worked through you in the last 24 hours? Take a few additional deep breaths and notice the feelings in your body. What emotions did you feel? How did you see God working?  

Step 4: Repent from any wrongdoing. What ways have you sinned or failed to love up to God's standards? Confess your sins not to bring shame and condemnations but to bring you into the right relationship with God. 

Step 5: Resolve to live well tomorrow. Where will you need God in the day to come? Think particularly about yourself, family, friends, community, and enemies. Pray for God’s grace where you need it and His mercy as well. Think specifically about how God has been ministering to you and others. 

Close in prayer as you normally would. 

There are many ways to pray and the Examen is only one of them. I recommend given the Examen at try if you are stagnating in your prayer life, need a way to pray when you cannot, or only looking to change your prayer life. If you do try, be warned it may feel weird at first. However, I encourage you to stay with it for about 30 days. Thirty days is long enough for the novelty to wear off, as well as find ways to incorporate it into your life. 

Also, I find that praying the Examen usually requires at least fifteen minutes but do not be surprised if you end up spending longer and losing track of time. I am personally journaling my responses to the Examen. 

About the Author: 
 Corine Williams, Ph.D. is Clinical Psychologist that is currently seeing clients in the States of Maryland, New Jersey, and New York. You can find out more about her practice by visiting www.therapyforchristians.com/corinewilliams. In addition to providing individual therapy, Dr. Williams is also passionate about writing books and designing merchandise that educate, uplift, and normalize mental health subject in the Christian community. You can find out more about her at  www.booksbycorine.com or by visiting her amazon profile here:  https://www.amazon.com/Corine-Hyman/e/B00AWZ5FL2

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