{"id":477,"date":"2014-04-28T15:10:42","date_gmt":"2014-04-28T15:10:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/?p=477"},"modified":"2014-04-28T15:10:42","modified_gmt":"2014-04-28T15:10:42","slug":"prayer-of-examen-being-still","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/2014\/04\/prayer-of-examen-being-still.html","title":{"rendered":"Prayer of Examen &#8211; Being Still"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We have had a more than a week to worship the risen Savior! We were attuned to the sorrow of the Savior during Lent and more so during Holy Week. We celebrated the Resurrection with joy in our hearts. We had Easter egg hunts, feasts, family get-togethers&#8230;now it&#8217;s over.<\/p>\n<p>We are back to the everyday grind. Our calendars keep us focused forward rather than inward. Our schedules keep us too busy to spend much time in \u00a0contemplation. We rush from thing to thing. At least I do!<\/p>\n<p>God would have us &#8220;Be still and know I am God.&#8221; We have talked about this before. It \u00a0is \u00a0battle to be still. But this morning as I was feeling a bit frantic due to an over-filled schedule this week, I realized that I cannot really know God while rushing through life. His place is a place of stillness.<\/p>\n<p>What does &#8220;still&#8221; mean? &#8220;remaining in place; free from noise; hushed; calm&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>I have so little of that in my life. But I am trying to practice it more and more through &#8220;centering payer&#8221; or &#8220;prayer of Examen&#8221;. It&#8217;s just really a way to be more mindful of God throughout the day&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>First I quiet myself by breathing deeply several times and remember I am in God&#8217;s presence. \u00a02.) I ask the Holy Spirit to guide my thoughts and imagination and begin to imagine Him being with me where I am. \u00a03.) I think though my day &#8211; the good things, His grace and care. \u00a0Be thankful. 4.) Anything troubling me, I ask Him to hold it, keep it. 5.) Then I ask myself some questions: Where did I experience God the most today?, Where did I experience Him the least?, What am I most thankful for? 6.) Thank God for being with me and bless Him.<\/p>\n<p>It is in practicing this that I am able to be still &#8211; I am a work in progress with a long way to go. But as I go back to the well to draw from Him, I am refreshed for the day ahead.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We have had a more than a week to worship the risen Savior! We were attuned to the sorrow of the Savior during Lent and more so during Holy Week. We celebrated the Resurrection with joy in our hearts. We had Easter egg hunts, feasts, family get-togethers&#8230;now it&#8217;s over. We are back to the everyday&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":466,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prayer"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Prayer of Examen - Being Still - Safe Place with Ruth Graham<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/2014\/04\/prayer-of-examen-being-still.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Prayer of Examen - Being Still - Safe Place with Ruth Graham\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We have had a more than a week to worship the risen Savior! We were attuned to the sorrow of the Savior during Lent and more so during Holy Week. We celebrated the Resurrection with joy in our hearts. We had Easter egg hunts, feasts, family get-togethers&#8230;now it&#8217;s over. We are back to the everyday&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/2014\/04\/prayer-of-examen-being-still.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Safe Place with Ruth Graham\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-04-28T15:10:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ruth Graham\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Prayer of Examen - Being Still - Safe Place with Ruth Graham","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/2014\/04\/prayer-of-examen-being-still.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Prayer of Examen - Being Still - Safe Place with Ruth Graham","og_description":"We have had a more than a week to worship the risen Savior! 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No stranger to heartache, she seeks to provide a Biblical perspective to her journey of faith. She is warm and talks openly about her own need for a safe place as she journeyed through her husband\u2019s infidelities, her subsequent depression, her divorces, her teenage daughter\u2019s two unplanned pregnancies, another daughter\u2019s bulimia, her son\u2019s battle with drugs, grandson's special needs and returning to school at age 40. Although born into the \"famous\" Graham family Ruth did not feel she had a safe place to unburden the secrets of her life. She felt she had to project and image and wear a mask that she \"had it all together\". She had to meet others' expectations of her. It was not until a mid-life crisis did that she fully discover the unconditional love and grace of God. Her life's passion is to connect people to that same grace and love she found, no matter who they are or what sin. Ruth is an experienced conference speaker and Bible teacher. She has appeared on a variety of radio and television shows including: Good Morning, America, The Hour of Power, Focus on the Family, Moody Broadcasting, Fox &amp; Friends, CBN, Life Today and CNN. She has worked in publishing for over 14 years and is the founder of the Ruth Graham &amp; Friends Ministry. Ruth has three grown children and nine grandchildren. She lives in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. 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