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Examine Yourself
Examine YourselfExamine Yourself
“Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test? But I trust that you will realize that we ourselves do not fail the test.”
— 2 Corinthians 13.5-6
With the new year upon us, it is the season for personal resolutions. Physical resolutions tend to be the most common because it is easy to realize when we need improvement physically. When put to the test of an uphill hike, we often find ourselves out of breath quicker than we would like to be. In physical tests when we determine we have failed we want to do something about it. This leads us to pursue physical resolutions so that we can pass the test.
Paul instructs us to test ourselves regarding our faith. When we are out of breath on a small hill, we know we have failed the physical test, but how do we know if we failed the test of our faith? If Jesus Christ is not in us, then we have certainly failed the test. Perhaps we find ourselves making more physical resolutions than spiritual resolutions because it is easier to examine ourselves physically. How do we examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith? Here are three practical ways we can examine ourselves spiritually every day.
Pray Specifically
Praying specifically can be daunting, which is why we may often find ourselves instead praying vaguely. In Psalm 139, a Psalm of David, he bravely prays “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me and lead me in the everlasting way” (Psalm 139.23-24). Although this is a scary request to make initially, making a habit of asking God to know your heart will lead to more careful thought next time you are tempted to let your heart be defiled. The first time you pray a specific prayer like this it might feel shameful or embarrassing to think about the heart you are presenting to God, but David’s prayer does not end with just this request. He also asks to be led in the everlasting way. We are able to approach God in prayer not because we are perfect but because He is perfect. Our access to Him through prayer is what leads us closer to Him. God does not expect us to be perfect, but He does expect us to want to know Him and want to be known by Him. Examining ourselves to see if Christ is in us means we should ask to be known by Him and to be led by Him.
Pray Frequently
Sin often grows exponentially. There are many ways sin can grow. One way that sin grows with speed is by disrupting our prayer lives. When sin starts to entangle, prayer is needed more than ever. However, can easily happen is the proximity of sin causes us to avoid prayer. Take Adam and Eve, for example. “They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden” (Genesis 3.8). When we know we are in defiance to what God has told us to do, He is the last person we want to be close to. Avoiding our problems almost always makes them worse. Avoiding prayer because there is sin in our lives will certainly make our lives worse. In the garden Satan deceives Eve by telling her lies about who God is. Sin is separation from God, so it makes sense that in our sin we can forget who our God is. When sin has separated us from God, the best thing we can do is immediately come back to God in prayer, asking for forgiveness and closing the gap of the separation of sin.
Pray Genuinely
Finally, seek to pray more genuinely. There are common phrases we hear often in public prayers, as well as types of prayers that we are probably used to saying in our personal prayers. There is nothing wrong with any of this, but I would encourage you to be careful that your prayer life does not become disingenuous because your prayers are only at mealtimes and quickly before bed. If we truly want to examine and test ourselves, then praying on autopilot will not work. Examining ourselves requires a genuine attitude when approaching God in prayer.
In 2024, pray specifically, pray frequently, and pray genuinely. An improved prayer life will certainly help us to examine our faith more deeply. In doing so, I trust that we will realize that we ourselves do not fail the test.
– William Speer
