The Examen Origin
More evangelical churches and websites are embracing the Ignatius Prayer of Examen (often just called the Examen). This prayer was developed by Ignatius of Loyola in the sixteenth century for the Jesuits. The Jesuits (the Society of Jesus) are an order of priests who were instrumental in leading the Counter-Reformation, as was Ignatius. That is, they wanted to overturn the teachings of the Reformation, and this was done very aggressively.
It is supremely ironic that 500 years later, evangelicals are adopting prayer teachings and techniques from an Order that battled the Reformation. In this podcast, two evangelical women explain the Examen Prayer and why they do it. The only information I could find on their beliefs is the Nicene Creed posted as their Statement of Faith. A broader tent and less specifics of doctrine is typical of those promoting Contemplative practices.
Ignatian Spirituality
Looking at a site on Ignatian Spirituality is a good way to see the context of the Examen. On this Ignatian Spirituality site, it states:
“At the heart of Ignatian prayer are the Spiritual Exercises and the Daily Examen”
and offers information on these areas:
The Spiritual Exercises
The Daily Examen
Ignatian Retreats
Prayers by St. Ignatius and Others
Prayer Online
The What-How-Why of Prayer
The spiritual exercises are based on the mystical concept of purgation, illumination, and union, along similar lines to those set out in the obtuse fourteenth century book, The Cloud of Unknowing, written anonymously. Historians believe it was written by a monk. (I have read the book).
The Examen Prayer comes from this nest of mysticism, which is rooted in pagan teachings and false gospels, such as salvation by works.
The Pitch
Churches embracing Contemplative teachers and practices are adopting the Examen and sometimes tweaking it. One website (used by at least one church) is recommending the Examen with the title, “5 Steps in to Noticing God in Your Day: A Examen Prayer” (Please note that the discussion below includes excerpts and not the full statements; please go to the link to see the entire content).
Like all contemplative teachings, the target is those who feel they are failing in their prayer life, or are not “connecting” to God. The site demonstrates this technique:
“Maybe you feel your prayer life dwindling. It feels like too much to offer anything other than a quick, obligatory, ‘thank you…’ before trying to drift off to sleep.
Or, maybe, you’re afraid of digging deeper and taking time to actually connect with God. What about all of the things that went wrong? That you did wrong?
This isn’t an easy cycle to break… but it can be helped by discovering a rhythm of the right things to focus on from your day– the ways in which God came alongside you and was present, or the times he felt far away.”
The Contemplatives define a problem and then offer a solution. The response to this proposed solution should be: Is there really such a problem? And if so, is this the solution? And on what biblical principles is this solution based?
On the surface, it is not wrong to reflect on your day and see where you might have not been seeking God in situations where you should have. But the Examen is much more than that and is only one of the many goods offered by the present mysticism flooding the church.
Once a person thinks a website like this has discerned the problem, then one is more likely to trust their solution. This is true for anything being promoted, and has been working well for Contemplative advocates.
The Five Steps
The five steps of the Examen offered are: Connect, Review, Reflect, Respond, and Anticipate.
Connect
Under Connect it states:
“Ask God to meet you in this moment to reflect on the day.
Try to find a quiet place, where you’ll be able to think about the day with few interruptions. Ask the Spirit to guide your reflection– not to let you get caught up in your own expectations of the day, but to come alongside you and to reveal where God has been with you and where he is calling out to you.”
There should be an issue with asking the Lord something and expecting to get an immediate answer. Yet this method, even outside the Examen with other Contemplative practices, has become all too common. One can ask but one should wait for any guidance in God’s timing — not ours.
The instructions state to ask where God “had been with you.” Isn’t God with a Christian all the time? Will we think of a time today that he wasn’t?
This appears to be the technique of the quieting of the mind to get into a contemplative state with the expectation of getting an answer within.
Review, Reflect
The next two steps are to think back on the day – every part of it – and then reflect on your emotions.
“What brought you joy? What experiences made you feel fully alive– at peace and connected with God? The types of moments you wish could be repeated.”
The main problem is that this is very subjective. It also seems tedious going over one’s whole day in detail.
Bad things could bring joy or make one feel “fully alive” without one possibly recognizing they are bad, so going by this as a standard is very shaky. This idea seems to assume that feeling joyful, fully alive, or at peace means one is “connected” to God.
In fact, the idea of being “connected” to God, a big selling point of Contemplative teachings, is faulty. All who place trust in the true Jesus Christ as their Redeemer are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and are thus “connected” to God by being adopted as children of God (John 1:12, 13; Rom. 8:14-17, 9:8; Gal. 3:26, 4:3-7; 1 John 3:1) and are sealed by the Spirit.
“In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of the promise, who is a first installment of our inheritance, in regard to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.” Eph. 1:13-14
Furthermore, often when being “connected to God” is used as a selling point, it is referring to an emotional response in the context of an experience. Feeling connected to God does not necessarily mean one is connected, or that one is closer to God.
Faith for a Christian is actually more likely to increase when one is not “feeling” anything, but rather, in the midst of suffering, anxiety, or loneliness, one is trusting in God based on faith, knowing who God is and what he has done. This faith comes from knowing Scripture and practicing prayer as modeled in Scripture, which is verbal and thoughtful (not a wordless state of mind which is what is deemed to be a superior form of “prayer” in Contemplative teachings).
Respond
The fourth step is:
“Respond to the emotion stirring in your heart– perhaps repentance, gratitude, lamentation, or intercession.
Remember that God was near to you in all of these moments. His presence was perhaps clearer in the positive moments, but he is just as near to you in the difficult. Give thanks for the moments where this was evident, and ask for grace in the experiences of trials.”
Respond to “emotion stirring in your heart?” One should be responding to the Holy Spirit and God’s word, not to emotions. Emotions are not a bad thing but should not be a guide to anything spiritual. Repentance, gratitude to God, and lamentation may involve emotion but go beyond it. (See section below under Video where the instructor tells viewers that God speaks through our emotions).
Anticipate
The 5th step is “anticipate:”
“Think about tomorrow and ask for God’s guidance.
Imagine the things you’ll be doing, the people you will see, and the places you may go.
What are you anticipating that fills you with stress? Ask God to go before you and with you into these moments– to begin preparing your heart and filling you with peace now.
How are you hoping to draw closer to God tomorrow? What are ways you can prepare to notice his presence in each moment?
What are you looking forward to tomorrow? Thank God for the grace of having this hope.”
Trying to notice “God’s presence each moment” seems legalistic. If one is reading and studying Scripture, praying, and worshiping – all of which are in the New Testament as actions that lead to maturity in Christ – then being aware of the Lord is a natural result of that. This is also how to draw “closer” to God based on instructions from God himself in Scripture.
A Christian’s “hope” about tomorrow, and every tomorrow, is in Christ, who is our hope. I do not pin hopes on something I am looking forward to though I may be glad about it. It seems that sentence would have been a good opprtunity to remind the reader of the Christian’s hope in Christ.
Note how these steps are self-oriented and are not about God or Christ. There is no focus on God, only on self. This is the fatal error of this method, along with the mysticism.
God Speaks Through Emotions
There seem to be countless websites on the Examen, which appears to be more popular — at least online — than the Lord’s Prayer. This video teaches the Examen. In the first minutes, the speaker states that
“St. Ignatius taught that God speaks through our emotions, and by becoming aware of them, we become aware of the Spirit’s movements in us.”
This is not in Scripture. There are no grounds for believing that God speaks to us in our emotions or that our feelings reflect the Holy Spirit’s “movements in us.” It is just plain false.
At around 3’30”, the instructor tells viewers to take slow breaths. There is zero need to do this. It does not make any prayer better nor does it have anything to do with prayer. It has to do with Eastern spiritual meditation (to get into an altered state).
Around 7’16”, he advises to reflect on your emotions from the day and then asks, “trusting that God speaks through our emotions, what do you think God would say?”
Emotions come and go and can be a wrong response to something. Emotions are not reliable guides. Wisdom from God does not come through emotions or speculating about what God would say through them. This falls into the category of what could be called “vain imaginations.”
How ironic and sadly revealing that instead of seeking wisdom and guidance in God’s word, which God has graciously provided, Examen advocates point to changing and shallow human emotions as a way to “hear” God.
Prayer God’s Way
Although some of the suggestions are not obviously wrong, there is a strong undercurrent of seeking a private experience, and/or the idea that being closer to God is something should be felt. It is also very self-focused.
So why are churches promoting or teaching this and other forms of the Examen when Scripture is so rich in all that a Christian needs to know God, be close to God, to pray, and for reflection?
Jesus gave his teaching on prayer, found in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. So why are Christians using a prayer from a counter-Reformation founder of the Jesuits, a prayer that has nothing to do with God’s word?
ADDENDUM
A Word on Biblical Meditation
God’s word talks about meditating (reflecting on) God’s word and on God. This meditation is to ponder and reflect, it uses the mind. The contemplative practices taught in Contemplative Spirituality are about putting the mind in neutral, not using the context of Scripture, and seeking silence, not verbal prayer.
“I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways.” Psalm 119:15
“I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done.” Psalm 143:5
“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” John 6:63
The guide to prayer is God’s word, the 66 books of the canon:
“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, (equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (Also see Romans 4:23-Romans 4:25, Romans 15:4, 2 Peter 1:20-2 Peter 1:21).
Short link: https://tinyurl.com/2p9wabj9