Awareness Examen

This short prayer exercise is to help increase one's sensitivity to the Spirit working in one's life and to provide one with the enlightenment needed to co-operate and respond to this presence.  If you use this daily you should find it helpful in noticing spiritual movements.

 Thanksgiving

 Begin by looking over the day and asking to see where you need to be thankful.  Allow gratitude to take hold of you and express this to the Holy One who at this moment beholds you.

 Ask For Light

 Ask for enlightenment from God.  Ask the Spirit to show you what God wants you to see.

 Finding God In All Things

 Again look over the events of the day. This time ask the Spirit to show you where God's presence has been in your life, either in you or in others, and in the events of the day:

  • Where was God present in your life today?

  • What events were most significant for you? (What stands out even slightly: joy, pain, turmoil, love, anger, harmony, anxiety, freedom, enchainment, presence of God, isolation…)

  • Where do you sense you were being drawn by God's Spirit? How well did you handle it?

 Respond To God In Dialogue

 Is there any one area you are being nudged to focus your attention on, to pray more seriously over, to take action on? This is where your energy needs focus instead of on the many other things you think are important.

 Help And Guidance For Tomorrow

 Ask God for your needs for tomorrow.  For example:

  • you may need to pray to overcome something

  • to be more sensitive to God's activity in your life

  • to celebrate in some way

  • to let go

  • to deal with some issue

  • to be open to conversion in some area

  • to make some decisions

 Ask for God’s grace and guidance for your journey tomorrow:

 God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;  courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time;  Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it;  Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next.   Amen.       --Reinhold Niebuhr