Throughout Lent, we’ve been inviting you to pray the Examen. Here is the Examen for the 3rd week in Lent. More information can be found in the Lenten devotional, From Ashes to Glory. We have printed the full guide, and it is available in the Fireside Room or by email (let me know if you want me to send one to you).
The practice goes like this:
· Start your time of reflection and prayer by skimming the five questions so you’re familiar with them.
· Next, do something that helps you feel prayerful – light a candle, close your eyes while you breathe deeply, or put your hand on your heart to show your intention to be open to the Spirit.
· When you are ready, pray through the five steps.
· Close your time by saying the Lord’s Prayer or offering a brief expression of gratitude for anything that might have been revealed to you.
Daily Examen for the 4th Week in Lent
The Word – He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax-collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14)
Reflect – The Examen asks us to pinpoint our failings and turn to God. What God wants of us is not sacrifice and oblation, a big religious deal. God doesn’t want a heart satisfied with itself like the Pharisee’s, closed and tight; but one that cries out because of what it does wrong, open to God, like the tax collector’s. Looking holy rarely helps anyone know God. The presence of an honestly repentant sinner helps everyone know who God really is.
The Examen
- Give Thanks. I thank God for this day, for my life, for all I am and have, and for God’s Word.
- Pray for Light. I ask God to let me see my day as the Holy Spirit sees it, and to show me what I need to see.
- Find God. I look at my day in the light of the Spirit. I look at what I have done and not done. Am I putting up with a bad habit? Have I found God in the quiet?
- Anything Wrong? Have I ignored God? Have I neglected God’s gifts? Where have I pleased others instead of pleasing God? Where I have fallen short, I repent and offer thanks.
- What Now? I look forward in hope. What am I to do now? What do I have to avoid?
Close – with the Lord’s Prayer, this prayer, or something of your own.
How you can love me, loving God—you who are all good—
how you can love me, a stack of flaws and failings, I struggle to know.
Yet in all my days, you have run to hug me.
You are there every time I turn away from my selfishness and even when I can’t.
Patient God, I beg that my sin be like dirt on my skin,
washed away with clean forgiveness.
Never let sin harden my heart, which I hold out to you in the bright hope
that you have loved it from the start and all along. Amen.
May the blessings of the Season of Lent be with you!
– Pastor Karen