You may recall the Socratic dictum, “The unexamined life isn’t worth living.” As much as we may agree with his sentiment, there’s something in us that resists personal scrutiny. Perhaps we’re afraid of what we might find. We’d rather deceive ourselves into thinking we are better, smarter, and more ethical than we really are.
Self-examination is a time-honored practice in Scripture. Consider the words of Psalm 139, “Search me, O God, and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts, see if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Ps. 139.23-24)
Nearly five hundred years ago, Ignatius of Loyola made the “Prayer of Examen” an essential part of his manual of Spiritual Exercises. He identified five essential elements of Examen Prayer as a way to review the day in prayer and prepare for the next twenty-four hours:
1. Place yourself in God’s presence and give thanks for God’s love for you. 2. Pray for the grace to understand how God is acting in your life. 3. Review your day, recalling specific moments and feelings at the time. 4. Reflect on what you did, said or thought. Did it draw you closer to God or farther away? 5. Look ahead to tomorrow. How might you collaborate more effectively with God’s plan for your life?
Richard Foster (1942-) is a Quaker pastor and theologian who encourages Christians in our day to recover this Prayer of Examen. Of the twenty-one types of prayer enumerated in his book Prayer: The Heart’s True Home, he devotes an entire chapter to this Examen Prayer. I urge you to make use of Ignatius’ five steps in examen as part of your morning or evening prayer. The way Richard begins his examen resonates with me: