Many people have never heard of the Examen prayer until they are introduced to Catholic theology.
Examining prayer is an important part of daily life for Catholics and they consider it essential to their faith. In this article, we are going to talk about exam prayer.
The Prayer of Examination, also known as the Prayer of Examination of St. Ignatius Loyola, gives one an opportunity to be alone with God through prayer and contemplation.
The examination prayer consists of five main parts:
Gratitude: At the beginning of the prayer, one expresses gratitude for the things one is grateful for in one’s life. It can include gratitude for God’s love, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, or the joy of faith. One can also be thankful for good events and everyday blessings, such as getting to the bus on time, having enough food, or overcoming temptation.
Request: After giving thanks, a person asks God to help him in reviewing his day. An example of such a request would be, “God, I want to review my day. In order to know you and to know myself as you see me, I ask for the light. At this point, the person asks the Holy Spirit to enlighten him so that he can understand what God wants him to see.
Review: The main part of the exam prayer is the review of the day. A person mentally thinks about his events, thoughts, feelings and actions throughout the day. The goal is to look at the day as a whole and see what went well and what could have been better.
Answer: After reviewing the day, one thinks about how one wants to respond to what one has discovered. This might include asking for forgiveness for mistakes, committing to do better in the future, or expressing more gratitude.
Looking to the future: Finally, one prays with an eye to the future. He may ask God for strength in the face of challenges or for opportunities to live up to his values.
Before beginning the examination prayer, Catholics typically take a few deep calming breaths to prepare themselves to enter the presence of God. This prayer does not have a specific structure and is done personally. It is important that one prays with sincerity and an open heart.
Browse:
The third stage of prayer is to review the day. In this stage, the person thinks about his events, thoughts, feelings and actions during the day. Some questions you can ask when reviewing are:
“Where did I feel true happiness today?”
“What challenged me today?”
The time of review in prayer of examination also includes examining the main experiences of your day and how your experiences or thoughts throughout the day have brought you closer to God or away from Him.
Response:
The fourth stage of prayer is the answer. In the prayer answer section of the exam, one should ask himself, “What is my answer to the God of my life, based on the review I have made?”
During the response time in the examination prayer, one must ask for forgiveness for any sin committed. Also, during this time, people are encouraged to pray for any feelings of hopelessness.
Looking ahead:
The fifth and last stage of prayer is to look into the future. In the phase of looking to the future, one should ask the following questions:
“Looking ahead, what comes to mind? In what spirit do I want to enter tomorrow?”
While looking to the future, one should think about his future and how he can better serve Christ by his actions and avoid sin.
Also, while looking into the future, one should think about future situations that might cause one to be tempted and develop a plan of action to avoid sinful behavior.
For example, a person can look ahead and realize that if a colleague likes to annoy him, he can be kind and model kindness to a misguided world.
Today in the article : What Is the Purpose of a Prayer of Examen? We reviewed useful information about the Bible and the way of Jesus. If you wish, you can view other articles of Ali Vahidi about Christianity
