Prayers for Parents

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” —Galatians 2:20

People find their identity in many things: physical appearance, intelligence, talent, social status, material possessions, or family prominence, to name a few. The problem is, those things could change and are only temporal. What happens to the man who found his identity in his job, and then gets laid off? Or the teen who finds her identity in her talent as a ballerina, until one day she suffers an injury and is told she can never dance again? They may feel completely lost, as if their lives have fallen apart.

The truth is, identity is rooted in so much more than how we look, what we do, or what we have. It’s more than who we think we are, or who the world says that we are. True identity is rooted in who God, our creator, says we are. He says that we are created in His image (Genesis 1:27) and that we have all sinned and are in desperate need of the Savior (Romans 3:23-24). But He made a way to justify us and give us a new identity in Christ (v. 24). Second Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

The Bible tells us, in Ephesians 1:3-13 about our new identity—those who are in Christ are blessed “with every spiritual blessing” (v. 3), chosen (v. 4), predestined and adopted (v. 5), have redemption through His blood and forgiveness for sins (v. 7), have wisdom and insight (v. 8), are knowledgeable about His will (v. 9), have been given an inheritance (v. 11), and are sealed in Him by the Holy Spirit (v. 13). Nothing can change who we are or take away from what we have in Christ. Our identity in Him is eternal. Help your child find their true identity in Christ so that life won’t fall apart even when things go wrong.

Prayers for parents

• Thank God that the moment you placed your faith in Christ, He gave you a new identity in Him—an identity that is solid, secure, complete with abundant blessings, and can never change or be taken away.
• Pray that God would help you guide your children in finding their identity in Christ rather than in family, friends, grades, talent, material possessions, or anything else earthly or temporal.
• Ask God to help you nurture your child’s identity in Christ by taking every opportunity to teach him or her who they are and what they have in Him.