Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home by Richard J. Foster
Week 3: Moving Inward — Prayer of Examen & Prayer of Relinquishment
Read Chapters 3–4 of Prayer by Richard Foster ("Prayer of Examen" and "Prayer of Relinquishment").
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These two chapters press us toward radical honesty — with ourselves before God, and with God about the things we most desperately hold on to. Come ready to be searched.
Discussion Questions
8 questions1.Foster describes the Prayer of Examen as a daily practice of reviewing the day with God — noticing moments of consolation (when we felt drawn toward God) and desolation (when we felt pulled away). Have you ever tried anything like this? What happened?
2.Foster draws on Ignatius of Loyola's tradition of the Examen. What strikes you about the idea of examining not just your actions but your desires and interior movements throughout the day? Does that level of self-scrutiny feel healthy or obsessive?
3.Foster distinguishes the Examen from introspective self-condemnation. He says we examine ourselves in the context of God's grace, not God's wrath. How does that framing change the practice for you?
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