END OF YEAR EXAMEN

Download your free year-end examen resource here! If you have issues with the download, the text can also be found below.

End of Year Examen
Written by Jessika Hernando & Michelle Brock

Examen is a meaningful way to review a period of time (day/month/season/year) through the presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit. These questions attempt to help us slow down and walk with God through the many things a year can bring.

Don’t feel pressure to answer every question, but ask God to draw your mind to what he wants you to explore. Feel free to use this resource to practice examen on your own, or with a few close friends.

Take time, going section by section, and ponder these categories. Journal about things that come to mind as you pray to God and sit in His presence. If you’re doing this with a group, once enough time for reflection has passed (you can set a timer if you’d like), come back together as a group and go through some key points, share stories, and listen to one another. Take time to pray for one another as needed.

To Begin

Read Ecclesiastes 3:1-15. Reflect on how God has made a time for everything and how this might comfort or encourage you as you look back through the year. If worries, anxieties, or distractions come to mind, pray, and then wade into the questions below.

Look Back

1. What have been the most important events in my life this year?

• Greatest breakthrough(s)
• Greatest struggle
• Deepest loss
• The area that has consumed my thoughts and attention
• The area I feel most exposed/vulnerable
• Happiest moment
• Saddest moment

2. What has this year been to me/for me?

• Where have I experienced the presence of God this year?
• Words to sum up this year
• 5 feelings that dominated this year
• An area that has brought desolation

3. How have I attended to my health this year?

• 5 words to describe my physical state this year
• Hours of sleep per night
• Habits that have brought me life
• Habits that have brought me pain or to recognise change is needed
• The greatest cause of internal stress
• 5 words to describe my spiritual health
• 3 words to describe my prayer life

4. How has this year caused me to look ahead/around myself?

• 5 words describing my career, vocation, or school
• People who have been life-giving this year
• My overall sense of community or relational health
• Greatest discoveries
• People/places I have felt led to invest in

5. How has my view of God been this year?

• What is lacking in my relationship with God?
• Has my image of God changed?
• 5 words to describe God
• 3 spiritual takeaways