A Prayer for the Examen
A prayer for reviewing the day with God, noticing moments of gratitude and connection, acknowledging resistance and failure, and receiving the grace to begin again.
Gracious God,
As this day unfolds behind me, help me resist the impulse to hurry past it. Slow me long enough to remember—to notice where you were present, how I responded, and what the movements of my heart may reveal.
Bring to mind the moments for which I am grateful: kindness received, beauty noticed, work completed, laughter shared, strength provided, and grace that arrived quietly. Keep me from dismissing these as ordinary or insignificant. Teach me to recognize them as gifts and to return them to you with thanksgiving.
Show me where I was attentive to your presence. Help me remember the conversation in which I listened well, the interruption I received with patience, the decision shaped by love, or the moment I trusted you rather than my fear. Let these recollections deepen my awareness of how your Spirit is forming me within the ordinary circumstances of life.
And, Lord, show me where I resisted you.
Reveal the moments when anxiety governed my response, impatience sharpened my words, self-interest narrowed my vision, or distraction kept me from seeing the person before me. Bring these things into the light—not so that I might condemn myself, but so that I may become honest before you.
Where I have caused harm, lead me toward repentance and repair. Where I have withheld compassion, enlarge my heart. Where I have grasped for control, teach me again to trust. Where I have failed, remind me that your mercy is greater than my failure and that confession opens the way toward freedom.
Help me also notice what stirred beneath the surface today: the longing I could not explain, the resentment I tried to ignore, the weariness I concealed, or the joy that made me feel more fully alive. Give me wisdom to receive these movements without fear and to discern what they may be teaching me.
Thank you for remaining present throughout the whole of this day—even when I did not recognize you. You were with me in what felt sacred and what seemed mundane, in the moments I welcomed and those I wish had unfolded differently.
I now place the day into your hands. I release what cannot be changed, receive the mercy I need, and carry forward what you are teaching me. Let gratitude, repentance, and trust prepare my heart to begin again.
In the name of Jesus, who meets me in truth and receives me with grace.
Amen.