Lord, Jesus Christ, teach me to pray.
Prepare yourself for the reading of the Psalm by quieting yourself and becoming aware of God's presence. Ask God to speak to you through the scripture. Read the scripture through two times, slowly and prayerfully.
A Reading from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah [31:33-34]
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest”, says the Lord; “for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.”
Many of us look outside of ourselves to hear God’s will for our lives or to tell us how to live the Christian life. We look to the pastor, to teachers and authors, to friends or people that seem particularly advanced to show us the way. We are very gifted to have these people in our lives to help mentor and guide us, but sometimes we forget to look inside, inside of ourselves, where God is. It is our tendency to not look directly to God, but to look to God through these other people in our lives.
I believe that our passage today tells us that God has placed what we need to know inside of ourselves. He has written it on our hearts. The Spirit will make it known to us.
There is a very ancient form of prayer called the Examen of Consciousness. It was originally developed as a spiritual practice for the followers of St. Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuit order. It is a prayer that is generally practiced at bedtime, but can be used at any time of the day and is based on reviewing the day that we have just lived with the desire of seeing the places where God is at work in our lives and how we are responding to God.
(1) Place yourself in God’s presence and ask for God’s light as you enter into this time of prayer. Quiet your mind and body by taking a few deep breaths and allowing yourself to relax. Allow yourself to be comfortable and comforted with God. Let this be a sweet time and a loving place to be.
(2) Begin by being grateful for the day that you have been given. I know that it may have been a very difficult day, but allow yourself to bring a spirit of gratitude to the prayer. Say thank you. Now, review your day. Ask God to look at your day with you. Try to look without judgment upon all the happenings of this day. Begin with your waking in the morning and proceed through each time of the day as well as you can remember. If you come to things that were difficult, things that you had wished you had done differently or things for which you might be ashamed, try not to look away. Don’t get caught up in any bad feelings, you are simply being an observer. The same is true for the joyful or easy parts of your day. Don’t get caught up in them. Just observe.
(3)Now choose and ask yourself ONE of the following questions:
- For what am I most grateful? Least grateful?
- When did I give and receive the most love? The least love?
- When did I feel most alive? Most drained of life?
- When did I have the greatest sense of belonging? Least sense of belonging?
- When was I most free? Least free?
- When was I most creative? Least creative?
- When did I feel most connected? Least connected?
- When did I feel most fully myself? Least myself?
- When did I feel most whole? Most fragmented?
(4) Spend a few moments talking to God about the experiences that arise from your question. You may feel the need to ask forgiveness. You may want to say thank you. You may want to ask for God’s help or for change in your life.
(5) Now offer both of these experiences to God. Imagine that God or Jesus is standing in front of you, holding a woven basket. God extends the basket to you. You then place the experiences in the basket and allow God to have them. No taking them back. If there is an experience or behavior that you place in the basket that you feel needs to be better or changed, you might simply say to God, “I trust you with this part of me”, knowing that God desires our conversion and transformation.
(6) Briefly record the two experiences in your journal.
The goal of this prayer is not to cause you to beat yourself up about your shortcomings, nor is the goal to pat yourself on the back for your successes. The goal is to look for the places in your life where you were coming closest to God and the places that you were being pulled away from God. In the list above, the first question on each line (ex. When did I feel the most whole?) will show you the experiences where you are being drawn toward God and to love. The second question (Ex: Most fragmented?) shows the places where you are going away from God and toward negative emotions like fear, anger, worry. The goal is to help you to know where God is acting in your life and how you are responding. The prayer helps you to know yourself and to read your own heart.
This method of prayer is meant to be practiced daily, not simply once in awhile. Using this method, we are drawn into a deeper trust and faith in God. We are drawn into deeper communion with God where God is able to transform us.
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