Self-Examination in Daily Practice
PRACTICING YOUR FAITH
Mark Warner
2 min read
I want to share a simple way that you can add the discipline of self-examination to your daily life. It’s been incredibly helpful for me and it’s a wonderful way to invite God to search you and know your heart, test you and know your anxious thoughts, to see if there is any offensive way in you and lead you in the way everlasting. It’s called…
The Prayer of Examen
This is something you can do in as little as ten minutes a day. Let me walk you though it. First, begin with…
Silence and gratitude
Take a moment to settle into God’s presence. You are always and everywhere with God. Then ask him to remind you of all the good things you’ve experienced since your last Examen. As I said, a week ago, gratitude opens our hearts to receive from God. It opens space for the blessings of the kingdom to be realized in our lives. Then, ask him to…
Search your heart
…to reveal the truth about your thoughts, actions and behaviors, things that are hurtful to you and others, knowing that there’s no condemnation in God’s love. Then…
Review your life, interactions, thoughts, choices and circumstances and pray for awareness
Are you moving toward God or away from God? Did you notice God’s love for you? If so, how did you respond? What challenged you? When you say yes to God? When did you resist him? Then…
Talk with Jesus
…about what you notice. Attend to these things in prayer — ask for forgiveness, counsel, guidance, give thanks, knowing that you’re loved, accepted and forgiven in Christ. Then…
Abide with Jesus
Rest in his forgiveness, love, and faithfulness, asking for his power within. Then…
Close your time
…with the Lord’s Prayer or by asking him for more grace.
If you do this daily, the moment you get up or lay our head on the pillow at night, at your lunch break or some other time of day, you’ll walk in greater freedom. As Dallas Willard wrote,
“A disciple is a person who has decided that the most important thing in his or her life is to learn how to do what Jesus said to do…Disciples simply are people who are constantly revising their affairs to carry through on their decision to follow Jesus.” ~ Dallas Willard
A disciple is someone who is constantly revising their affairs, progressively and systematically rearranging the details of their lives so they can spend time with Jesus and learn to be like him. Are you willing to rearrange the details of your life to include a daily time of self-examination?
Get In Touch
