Night · 4 min read
The Examen: a five-step prayer for the end of the day
A ten-minute way to look back over your day with God, give thanks, ask forgiveness and get ready for tomorrow.
The Examen is a short prayer for the end of the day. You look back over the last several hours with God, notice where he was present, admit where you went wrong, and ask for help with tomorrow. It takes ten minutes or less, and it needs nothing but a quiet place and an honest memory.
The practice is most closely associated with Ignatius of Loyola, who set out a daily examination in five points in his Spiritual Exercises in the sixteenth century. Christians were reviewing their days in prayer long before him, and people from many churches use versions of it now. You do not need any particular background to pray it.
How it differs from replaying your day
Most of us already go over the day at night, usually in bed, and usually the worst parts. The Examen differs in two ways. It begins with thanks, so the first things you look for are gifts. And it is done in God’s company, as a conversation, which keeps the review from turning into a private trial with you as both prosecutor and accused.
Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.
Psalm 139:23-24 (WEB)
Notice who does the searching in this psalm. David asks God to look, and then to lead. The Examen starts from the same request.
The five steps
The wording varies from one guide to another, but the order is usually close to this.
- Give thanks. Go back over the day and name two or three specific things you are grateful for. Small is fine: a meal, a text from a friend, ten minutes of sun.
- Ask for light. Ask God to help you see the day as it really was, without excuses and without exaggeration.
- Review the day. Walk through it from waking until now, one scene at a time. Notice where you felt alive, at peace, or drawn toward God and other people. Notice where you felt anxious, resentful or closed.
- Ask forgiveness. Where you did wrong or left good undone, say so plainly and ask God to forgive you. Then accept that he has, and stop circling.
- Look to tomorrow. Think about what is coming. Ask for the specific help you will need, and choose one small thing you will do differently.
Many people close with the Lord’s Prayer.
How to pray it tonight
Pick a time before you are too tired to think. For many people that is right after the dishes, or just before getting ready for bed. Sit up, keep the lights low, and leave your phone in another room.
Give each step about two minutes. In the review, do not try to remember everything. Let the day pass in front of you in scenes: the morning at home, the commute, the conversation at lunch, the afternoon, the evening. Two or three moments will stand out. Stay with those and ask simple questions. What was going on in me there? Where were you, Lord, in that?
If a single moment takes up all your time, let it. The steps are there to guide an honest conversation, and you are free to linger.
Common difficulties
- You fall asleep. Pray it earlier, sitting in a chair instead of lying in bed.
- You only see failures. Spend longer on the first step, and do not move on until you have named three concrete gifts. Once you have asked forgiveness in step four, leave the matter with God.
- Nothing seems to have happened. Most days are ordinary. Look for small things: a moment of patience you did not expect, a sharp word you regret, a task done well.
- You miss days. Come back without trying to cover the gap. Review today only.
What to expect over time
One evening of the Examen will not show you much. Over a few weeks you may begin to notice patterns: the situation that reliably brings out your impatience, the kind of moment in which gratitude comes easily, the person you keep meaning to call. You may also find that you start noticing these things during the day itself, while there is still time to respond differently.
Search your own heart on your bed, and be still.
Psalm 4:4 (WEB)
The psalm joins searching the heart with being still, and the Examen is meant to end the same way. When you have finished, stop. The day has been looked at, given thanks for and handed over, and you can go to sleep. If you want a shorter form to begin with, the two questions that close each night in Human Hope Daily follow this pattern.