20(21) Days of Prayer: Guided Prayer to End the Day

For 500+ years Christians all over the world of made space at the end of the day to reflect and quiet themselves before the Lord in prayer. It is a simple way to reflect on the day and draw near to God, it easily answers the question of “What do I pray?”

This is a form of centering prayer and was popularized by St. Ignatius of Loyola.

There are just a few movements to this and can be five minutes or and hour. (10-15 minutes alone or done with a roommate or significant other is usually a good amount of time).

First, sit quietly, breath deeply and begin to reflect on the day, replay the day in your mind. What brought joy? Where was there grief or sorrow? What are you thankful for? Was there moments of happiness missed? Sadness to the day ignored because of busyness?

Offer these moments to the Lord, pray through them.

Next, ask yourself two big questions: Where was God near to me in the day that I may have missed it? Where did I miss the chance to live into the Gospel Narrative and instead lived out the narrative of my flesh and sin?

This leads to two responses, one we rejoice and express our gratitude to God in prayer. And, we also take this moment to confess and repent to God, and if need be make note of whom we may need to reconcile with in the coming days.

Another name for this practice is the prayer of Examen. It’s a way to use prayer to see how God is close to us in our everyday lives. A way of focusing our attention on how we have moved through the day, looking to see where God has been at work and with us in all of the mundane moments of daily life. And how often, when we feel distance from God it is our lack of attentiveness to Him and not that he left us or is far off, for we know that this is never true.