God's Presence

New Year is a time of transition. An opportunity to reflect on the past and imagine the future with intentionality, re-centring, and re-committing to the things we value. Throughout this plan, we’re going to be reflecting on the year just gone and looking forward to the new year ahead, by reflecting on the Bible and adapting an ancient Christian method of prayer, known as the Examen, which was developed by Ignatius of Loyola in the sixteenth century. Together, we will think back through the year, noticing God’s presence with us, practicing gratitude, reflecting on the emotions the year provokes, and listening for God’s word to us. As we begin today, you might find it helpful to take notes or use a journal as we think about when God has been particularly present with us.

Loving Father, please help me to be still. I open my ears to hear You now, and I quietly prepare my heart for all that You have for me as I approach the new year.

Read: Psalm 16:11 (NLT)

Pause and pray

Today, I am reflecting on one of David’s most well-known and well-loved Psalms...

Read: Psalm 139:7-12 (MSG)

Not only did God create everything, but God created me. Not only does God know everything, but God knows me. And not only is God everywhere, but God is with me.

The Examen involves remembering the events and the experiences, the places where I’ve been and the people that I’ve been with, and it involves inviting the Holy Spirit to help me become aware of God’s presence in and over and through it all.

And so, I take a few moments to think back over the year...

What were the memorable moments?

What were the highlights and the encouragements?

What were the challenges?

What did I find difficult?

Loving Father, show me where You were present with me this year, particularly when things were difficult.

Pause and pray

Turning my prayers outwards, I think about my close friends and family, those whom I have shared this past year with.

Loving Father, whatever they remember of this past year, I pray that they become aware that You have been with them.

Perhaps I could find time to pray with them before the end of the year?

Pause and pray

‘Learning to find God in all things comes with practice and spiritual attentiveness, but it also comes with discernment,’ writes David Benner. ‘This brings us back to the crucial role of the examen… Any experience can be examined to discover the presence of God. Learning to become aware of God’s presence in the midst of our daily experience is to know that we are not alone.’*

Loving Father, I yield myself to Your presence today. You have been with me, You are with me, and You promise to be with me forever. Help me to become more aware of Your presence in the midst of my daily experience.

Amen.

* David G. Benner, Opening To God, (Westmont, IL: IVP USA, 2010), pp. 152-153.