Prayer of Examine: Return to Jesus, Part 1
This is the first part of a two-week Prayer of Examen to reflect on the past three months, as we come to the close of the year. The Examen is an opportunity to return to Jesus, inviting His presence to guide us through our experiences and attune our hearts, souls, minds, and bodies to Him. Part one will cover recalling the Father’s love, reviewing your heart, and reflecting on your soul.
Return to Jesus is a posture of repentance and metanoia, a continual turning back to Him in humble dependence. It has become a core practice for the Kansas City Underground, a way of pausing—whether individually or as a community—to listen to the Spirit of God, allowing Him to search our hearts and lead us in the steps of repentance.
This intentional practice creates space for us to intentionally attune and attach ourselves to Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit, making His presence and leadership practical in our daily lives. In this Prayer of Examen, we will return to Jesus by reflecting on how we love Him with all our heart (emotions), soul (spiritual life), mind (intellect), and strength (will and physical body). As Mark 12:30 commands,
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.
These four dimensions are not separate from one another but are intertwined capacities of the soul and body, working together as a unified whole. Let us invite the Holy Spirit to guide us as we reflect on each of these areas, seeking to return to Jesus with all that we are.
Recall the Father’s Love
As you sit in silence, take a moment to focus on the deep, abiding love of the Father. You are always in the presence of God. Become aware of His nearness in this moment and ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart, mind, and soul to experience His love more deeply. Allow His love to settle in your spirit as you prepare to review this last season through the lens of the Great Commandment.
Pause.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. Mark 12:30
Pause.
Review of Heart, Soul, Mind and Strength
As you prepare to review the last season of your life (consider the last three months), ask the Holy Spirit to guide you. Ask for the ability to reflect with clarity on the different dimensions of your life—heart, soul, mind, and strength. Allow the Spirit to help you notice where you’ve been aligned with Jesus and where you’ve strayed. Ask for the grace to return to Him in all things. Don’t let yourself become overwhelmed. Ask the Spirit to lead you to one headline in each of these four dimensions.
Review One: Heart—Attuned to Jesus and Ourselves
Reflect on your emotions. Our feelings are not merely reactions—they are powerful guides, like passwords unlocking the deeper chambers of our soul, lanterns illuminating our inner needs, and keys that open doors to past experiences. Each emotion points us to what we long for, and when we bring these feelings to Jesus, they reveal areas in need of His healing and presence.
Awareness:
Ask yourself: What am I feeling right now? Consider the gift of feelings chart. Identify the emotions you have experienced predominantly in the last season. Each feeling is an invitation to understand your heart more deeply.
Attunement:
Bring these emotions to Jesus. Ask: How does Jesus want to meet me in these feelings? How can I return to Him by letting Him address my deepest need associated with those feelings? Consider how you can join Him in receiving the need your heart longs for.
Pause.
Record the headline for this dimension.
Review two: soul—transformed by Jesus
Now reflect on the state of your soul. Have you remained connected to Jesus throughout this last season? Have you been aware of His presence and surrendered to His leading?
Return:
Conduct a soul-searching assessment: Where do I not look, act, and feel like Jesus? Where have I allowed idolatry or distractions to pull me away from my first love of Jesus? Take a moment to let the Spirit highlight one major headline when it comes to your soul.
Renew:
Ask: How can I change to become more like Jesus? What steps can I take to revive my attachment and abiding in Him? What is the specific idolatry behind my headline? What lies am I believing about God’s identity and/or my identity? Ask the Holy Spirit to help you conform your soul to the ways of Jesus, cultivating Christlike character through confession, community, and spiritual habits.
Pause.
Record the headline for this dimension.
Reconcile with Jesus
Picture yourself sitting with Jesus, speaking with Him as you would a close friend. Share with Him the moments from this time that weigh heavily on your heart. Hold your two headlines in front of Him. As you sit with Him, allow yourself to feel the love, forgiveness, and grace that Jesus pours out to you.
Thank Him for the ways He was present with you today, for the good moments you experienced during this examen. Ask Jesus to help you be more aware of His presence in this next season, and to help you love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
End with the Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
For yours is the kingdom,
and the power,
and the glory forever.
Amen.