"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should becalled children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him."
1 John 3:1
Kids and students these days are bombarded with messages throughout their day telling them how they don't measure up or fit in. Through social media and the world being available through the device in their hand they are exposed to an overwhelming amount of information that leads them to feel powerless, insignificant, unseen. In contrast to this feeling God says something completely different. God saw each human and decided that we were worth Him coming to earth and dying for that we might be restored. So, according to God the identity that is deeply true of every person is, they are loved! As we come to know Jesus as our savior, the one who restores our brokenness, then we become Children of God. So when the world doesn't understand or value us, we can stand in confidence anyway knowing we are loved by God and we can believe what He says is true of us.
Let's take time and pray for our kids and students to feel the God's love and believe what He says is true of them.
Practice: Make this your own
Spend time praying for kids who are students Pre-K through college by name (if you don’t know any school-age kids, ask friends, family, neighbors). Below is a list of things that are true of those who know Jesus. Pray that students would believe these things about themselves and live differently as a result.
| Your past mistakes define you | You are a New Creation (2 Cor. 5:17) |
| You aren’t lovable or worthy | Nothing separates us from God’s love (Romans 8:38-39) |
| You’re powerless | You are strengthened by God’s power (Eph. 3:16) |
| You’re not seen | You are a child of God (John 1:12) |
| You’re too far gone | You aren’t condemned by God (Romans 8:1) |
| You are lost in this dark world | We don’t walk in darkness (John 8:12) |
| You can’t do anything meaningful | You are God’s co-worker (2 Corinthians 6:1) |
| You have to do it yourself | I can do things in God’s strength (Phil 4:13) |
| You’re unforgiveable | I’m forgiven (Eph 1:7) |
| You can’t change | God is at work in us (Phil 1:6) |
| You’ll always be anxious & afraid | God gives you peace (John 14:27) |
| You can only be happy when life is perfect & things are good | God gives you His joy overflowing (John 15:11) |
| You are worthless | You are worth it (John 3:16) |
| You’re not special | You are wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14) |