The Examen - A Prayer Pattern

The Examen

Tonight we are going to pray. What does it mean to pray? Yes, it is a conversation with God. He invites it.

Philippians 4:6 (NRSV) 6 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Sometimes our prayers are quick and as you go type conversations. When that is the regular form of prayer for us, we can begin to take God for granted. It is less of an encounter and more of a I will call you when I need to relationship.

Tonight I want to give you a pattern that might help you spend a little bit of relationship time with God. God has some ambitions for you, as I see the story of Scripture unfold.

He is seeking your peace.
He is seeking your transformation into the image of Jesus.
He is seeking you.
His power is for you. His love is for you. Your life is for Him.

So, let’s work through this pattern.

1. Recall that you are in the presence of God. God is not far off. He has drawn near in Jesus. He has sent his Holy Spirit to live in each of us. Close your eyes and think. Wherever you are; walking on the beach and the ocean ripples or roars. You are in the mountains, and the wind comes blowing through the valley. You are in the city and the traffic is crazy. Everywhere…., in a crowd or alone, you are God’s beloved and sought after child. As you quiet yourself, become aware that God is present within you, and in the creation that surrounds you, in your body, in these people around you. The Creator, the one who knits you together in your mother’s womb, is concerned for you. The Spirit of God, sent by Christ, right now reminds you that you are useful, able. You make the world complete. Your relationships are important. Your work is important. God is working through your love, through your relationships, through your participation, to bring creation to its fullness. Ask the Holy Spirit to let you look on all you see with love. 1 Corinthians 13:4-6 (NRSV) 4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.
You Are In God’s Presence. (Song)

2. Spend a moment looking over your day with gratitude for this day’s gifts. Remember today with gratitude. Warm water in the shower. Clean clothes to wear. A job to go to. People to talk with. Recall the smell of your morning coffee, the taste of something good that you ate, the laugh of a child, the fragrance of a flower, the smile that broke upon your face when you saw something wonderful…the clouds…a friend, or a kind word spoken to you, a lesson that you learned. What did you give today? What have you received? Say to God, “Thank you!” Thank you for love. Thank you for challenges. Thank you for opportunities. Thank you for the tools (books, wrenches, transportation). What about the gifts that are more permanent? Talents. Abilities. Your family. All of those gifts were at work in this day. Thank God for the gift of the hope for a better day. Every day is another chance. Thank God for your sense of humor, if you have one! Thank you, God, for faith. Thank you for the gifts of thinking and feeling. Thank you for breath and vision…and flavor! Thank you, God, for friends. Thank you for the friends that are still coming into our lives! Thank you for boundaries. God the Father gives you these to draw you into the fullness of life. As you move through the details of your day, give thanks to God for His presence in the big and the small things.
God has been with you today. Praise Him! (Song)

3. Invite God to send His Holy Spirit to help you look at your actions and attitudes and motives with honesty and patience. Hebrews 4:12 (NRSV) 12 Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. The Spirit of God knows the truth about you. So we come in this moment with humility. Remember that God really does love you, knowing you. Let that love and that truth flow in you. Lord, I am sorry when my actions bring harm, or drive people away, or diminish them. Thank you for the actions that were good and right and helpful. Lord, forgive me when my attitudes are poor, when my faith is small, when I forget that you are able. Help me be joyful. Father, you know how often I am prone to selfish motives. Help me to act without taking care of my own needs all the time. Lord, I know that you are patient with me. Help me to be patient with others and with myself. You know me! You know the intentions of my heart. Have mercy. Help me.
Come, Holy Spirit.

4. Deeper in your day. With your eyes closed. Recall the events of your day; explore the context of your actions, even if you were at home with little to do. Search for the internal movements of your heart and your interaction with what was before you. What were you thinking about? Were you happy? Where you anxious? Who was you with? Were you helpful or discouraging? Did you listen? Whom did you ignore? What did you leave undone? Did you forgive anyone? Did you encourage? This is not a time to be hard on yourself, but to see the opportunities of the day. God was at work and you were His partner. And you could do more! Notice where you acted freely—picking a particular course of action from the possibilities you saw. See where you were swept along without freedom. See where the Spirit of Jesus entered your decisions and where you might have paused to receive His influence. 2 Corinthians 13:5 (NRSV) 5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless, indeed, you fail to meet the test!
His influence comes through His people, the Body of Christ.
His influence comes through Scripture, the Word of God.
Now, as you pray, Christ’s spirit will help you know His presence and concern.
God, help us to see how we might act in concert with you. Help us to pay attention to those around us. Give us the will to speak, to encourage, and to bless. Guide me. Prompt me to speak and to act. Help me to be still enough to cooperate with you. Challenge me. Speak to me. Encourage me. Teach me your ways. Help me to love my neighbor. At work. In the mall. Next door.
God I am Yours. Here am I. Use me.

5. A heart-to-heart talk with Jesus. Do you talk to Jesus in your prayers? (See Stephen Acts 7:59.) Just a little talk. I don’t think that makes it right. But it sure helps. “Jesus you know my day. You know the good that I did today. You know the temptations that I have faced. You know the moments that I was not very much like you. Thank you for coming. You knew that I needed you. Thank you for compassion. Thank you for not giving up on me. Thank you for such amazing love. Maybe you need to express sorrow for sin, the obscuring darkness that surrounds us all, and especially ask forgiveness for the times you resisted God’s light today. “Yes, I am sorry for obscuring the light, Jesus. May your glory shine in me.” I know you’re your steadfast love is new every morning. It never comes to an end. Help me rest. And tomorrow, we will do more.

Our Father, who is in heaven. Hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day, our daily bread.
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

The View from Mt Nebo

Moses, like most of the heroes of the Bible, was subject to substantial mistakes. The people he was leading into the wilderness had been complaining. They were afraid that God could not meet their needs, even though God had been with them all through the wilderness journey. At a place called Kadesh, there was a rock. Moses was supposed to speak to the rock and water would flow for the people. Instead, Moses took his staff and struck the rock (Num 20:8ff). He was irritated. He was reacting out of frustration. “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?”

It was this moment that kept Moses out of the Promised Land! He was to climb the mountain and God would show him the whole land. From the top of the mountain he could see from Dan to the Negev. He could see all the way to the Mediterranean Sea. He could see it, but he could not cross over into it.

What do you think of that? Does that seem fair to you? Kay Bessler Northcutt comments, “What if fairness is not the ultimate issue to be wrestled with on Nebo? What if the view from Mount Nebo is ultimately found in the quest for the unattainable? And what of the definition of a great life is one that consciously lives (and dies) with the attainable for which one has worked one’s entire life just beyond one’s grasp? Surely this is the good news of Mount Nebo.”

God is gracious. In every story, we see a lesson. Perhaps the lesson here is: One life-time is not enough. Moses had a long and eventful life. If we could do so much in cooperation with God, would that not be enough? Yes, we want to finish. However, I think there is a reason for life after life. Accomplishing what God has in mind with a life, or within a community, is more than one life can attain.

So what? As I look for a cure for dissatisfaction, I find this to be a peaceful truth. The goals remain and are fiercely sought. However, our dreams are not what really matter. We work hard, making ourselves available to the Divine Design. One day, on the other side of what we can see in our lives, or in our community, there will be more. The ‘more’ will be better than our ambitions, dreams, or imagination. Reinhold Niebuhr said, “Anything worth doing cannot be accomplished in one lifetime.”

Maybe we will have the gift of standing on Nebo, looking into the future, seeing the fruit of our labor with God. If we can catch a glimpse, that will be enough.