What’s your experience of the daily Examen been like lately? If you’re a regular to this podcast you’ve probably found that the Examen helps you to notice God in your everyday life.

You may be able to notice God right as things are happening, not only as you look back. You might be more at peace and more confident about God’s presence in your life. Maybe the focus on gratitude has helped to make you a more grateful person or at least a person who wants to be more grateful, which is an important step. By the same token, you might also struggle with some aspects of the Daily Examen. Maybe your mind wanders. Maybe you have a hard time finding things to be grateful for. Maybe you forget different parts of your day. Maybe you fall asleep.

I’d like to say something to you about all that: It’s all natural and nothing to be frightened about. Prayer can be easy or difficult, seemingly rich or dry, and everyone has trouble with distractions and focus and everybody, at some point, falls asleep in the middle of a prayer. The key is to keep at it. To show up and shut up, as a friend of mine likes to say. To be faithful to your relationship with God. So your Examen isn’t perfect? Of course not. Because you’re not. And neither am I! But keep trying. Trust that God is with you. And be faithful to prayer.

The Rev. James Martin, S.J., is a Jesuit priest, author, editor at large at America and founder of Outreach.