Welcome to The Examine, your daily prayer hosted by Father James Martin and brought to you by America Media, a Jesuit ministry.

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I'm Father Jim Martin. I'm about to lead you through a traditional Jesuit prayer that will help you notice where God has been in your day.

But first, let's begin with our weekly reflection, which is released every Sunday.

One of the most common experiences in prayer is thinking of a particular image.

This is yet another of the prayer experiences that we've been discussing over the past few weeks.

God sometimes offers you an image in prayer when you most need it.

Imagine, for example, that you're going through a stressful time in your life and you're asking God for help.

Suddenly, into your mind

pops a comforting image, the seashore, the mountains, the interior of a church, and you feel a sense

of calm. Where do you think this image is coming from? It's most likely coming from God.

Images are just one of the variety of ways that God

can speak to us in prayer. And especially for those of us who may be less verbal and more visual,

images are one of the primary ways that God has of connecting with us. I once knew a Jesuit artist who told me that colors were very important in his prayer.

You mean the colors of the things you might see as you imagine a gospel story? I asked him.

No, he said just pure color. Sometimes I just pray with the colors that God gives me.

So be open to everything that God might want to give you in prayer.

Now, let's enter into the examin and review the past day.

If you're listening to this in the daytime, we'll look back at yesterday.

If it's in the evening, when most people pray the examin, we'll look back at yesterday. If it's in the evening, when most people pray the examin,

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