Sermon for November 12, 2000
Andrew T. Barton
On Your Knees: The Prayer of Examen
Psalm 139:23-24
Last week the admonition was to sit still. Our subject was Centering Prayer. Centering Prayer takes the attention away from ourselves and turns our hearts and minds to God who is our Center.
Today the posture of prayer is kneeling. Our subject is the Prayer of Examen. The Prayer of Examen keeps the focus on God as we review our self in the light of God’s presence.
Not many Presbyterians kneel in prayer. The tight pews in this sanctuary do not lend themselves to kneeling. The Big Spring Presbyterian Church where I served my first pastorate had low kneeling benches in some of the pews. It is unusual for a Presbyterian Church to have them, and I never learned why they were there. What I do know, is that no one ever used them. We rarely kneel in prayer.
Maybe it is because we don’t want to do as the Catholics do, which is an indictment of our smugness and lack of love. Perhaps a deeper reason is what the posture conveys—humility and homage, contrition and penitence. We are not prone to any of these in this age of bravado and disclaimers. Plus, kneeling is a vulnerable position. We feel defenseless. Yet the psalmist invites us to "kneel before the Lord our Maker." (95:6) It is a poignant posture of prayer, and today I’m relating it specifically the Prayer of Examen.
We often hear sermons and slogans that tell us, "Prayer changes things." Typically we think of prayer changing situations and circumstances—a sickness is cured, a job found, a problem resolved. God certainly changes things through our prayers, but what can change most through prayer is ourselves. "To come near to God is to change." And the most open way to "come near to God" is prayer.
D. Steere, Dimensions of Prayer p.33"Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me, and know my thoughts.
See if there is any wicked way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting."
In prayer, God reveals the parts of us that need changing. Here’s how one writer describes the experience:
"If my prayer is real, my surface self, my ego, my persona, must decrease and God must increase in me. I dare not stay as I am and come near to such love as God’s. I could not bear it. The many hucksters in me—the mean, demanding deceivers—are put to confusion by such love." IBID.
The Prayer of Examen is a prayer of examination, of testing. It’s more than musing over our perceived misdeeds and offering up a meek, "I’m sorry." It is allowing God to reveal himself to us and to see ourselves in the light of his radiant love and holiness. Listen to Quaker, Douglas Steere:
"In the moment that we sense in prayer the sweep of God’s love, a light is cast upon our own condition revealing us to ourselves as no amount of introspection can do. No amount of considering what we think of ourselves, what our friends think of us, or what our enemies say of us is even faintly comparable to this self-revelation that comes from prayer."
Again this may sound disconcerting—
like someone catching us in the act of sneaking a midnight snack or worse,
like being caught in the act of adultery.
We fear what God may show us about ourselves and we fear his reaction.
But let us remember the one before whom we kneel—the God of love.
We bow in the "Light of God’s loving presence," so that the revelation of what must be put right comes with the strength to put it right; and the one who shows us our sin is the same one who takes it away.
The purpose of the prayer is not punishment but wholeness.
Just as the surgeon knows that healing will come from the pain of invasive surgery;
just as the blacksmith heats and hammers iron to fashion a strong implement;
so do we experience inner healing and find inner strength through this invasive and incendiary prayer.
Knowing God and God’s purposes in this prayerful examination helps relieve our hesitancy. It also helps to know that the prayer is not solely on the negative. The Prayer of Examen is more than just facing our failures. We also examine God’s gracious, giving Presence in our lives. That sets the tone for the prayer. It reminds us to view ourselves in the light of God’s gifts to us.
So, let’s look at the Prayer of Examen.
The Prayer of Examen
Sit relaxed and quiet. Or Kneel. Or Bow
God’s Gifts—Our Thanks
These graces may have been small or large, pleasant or painful.
You may think of a meaningful conversation with one of your children.
It may have noticed the wonderful palette of colors on the autumn trees.
Perhaps you had an unexpected visitor.
Give thanks for the gifts received.
Our Confession—God’s Pardon
Note the occasions in the past day (or week) when you have been faithful and obedient.
Note the times you have failed to obey God.
Allow time for God to reveal your true feelings, motivations, and attitudes hidden in your unconscious. Ask God to keep you from self-deception and denial.
Douglas Steere uses the imagery of closed rooms. We have rooms in our inner being that we have locked—rooms of fears, anxieties that affect and infect our well-being.
a closed room of stubborn ambition; a room of bitterness between spouses;
a space of unbridled lust or greed; a door closed on shame.
As God reveals these rooms to us, we open the door to them,
allowing God to transform them.
Confess your sins to God. Ask for God’s forgiveness in the name of Jesus Christ.
Or ask God to heal old wounds and to erase the scars.
God’s Invitation—Our Resolve
It might be an invitation to change a particular behavior or attitude.
It could be a particular act for you to perform,
a person to whom you might minister,
or a plan for your day.
The key is to listen for God’s response to your Examen and confession.
As you move from prayer to practice, remember to take it "one day at a time."
Do not try to change your whole life,
but to focus on one change for that day and ask for God’s help to do it.
Do you see the pattern of the Examen?
It is not to get mired down in sin.
Is it not to get depressed with morbid self-criticism.
Rather it is to come into the light of God’s loving Presence—
noticing God in the details of your daily life,
allowing God to reveal an area of your life he can change for the better,
and receiving God’s invitation to newness and life.
