How to Pray for My School - a Guide for Students (Teens)Sample

Devotion

Who am I? Whom do I want to be? These are all very important questions. Even though they might sound cliché, they are good to ask because we make so many decisions based on our understanding of our identity. We have come to hotly debate this topic in this age (and throughout all ages). We live in a generation that has seen vast changes in the understanding of identity. We have witnessed legislation where homosexual marriage has been deemed legal; we live in an age where transgenderism isn’t seen as a mental illness but as “an expression of identity. Other crises are with regards to conforming to a certain stereotype (bully, rugby guy, nerd, etc.) so that we feel we have an identity.

When someone in ancient times “named” someone, they were establishing that person’s identity. So, when God named you, He established your identity. Take Genesis 1:26, for instance; we first need to know that every human being has been made in the image and likeness of God. That means we are His representatives on earth. We also resemble Him in our being, as we can reason, feel emotions, have dreams and desires, and have a conscience. We are set apart from the rest of creation. To be a bearer of the image of God is a massive honor that no one can take from you! You don’t grow into the image of God; it is something that you have from the moment of conception. You don’t lose the ‘image and likeness of God’ status; you retain it until death (‘likeness’ does not mean being ‘equal’ to God). God’s Breath is in us, and it animates us. We live because He wills it.

But an important distinction does come in Isaiah 43. Though all of us are made in His image and likeness, not all of us are His children. Unless we have come to repentance (confession of sin) and given our hearts to Christ, everything we do will be in opposition to God! But if you have accepted Christ’s invitation to become a child of God, you are no longer a spiritual orphan. You have come into the Light and have been adopted into the household of God. Isaiah 43 clearly shows that the children of God have been ‘named’ and ‘called by His name’; these are His children. We must pray for the lost in our generation, especially in our schools. The mission field you are in is the school environment. If you want to see a generation discover their identity in Christ and transform them into God-honoring people who live for the kingdom, we need to intercede on their behalf! Pray for those struggling with identity confusion and pray for those still seeking to establish their God-given identity.

When you pray:

-Pray for those with identity confusion (homosexuality, transgenderism, etc.) that they will find joy and satisfaction in God’s design for their sexual identity.

Pray for those still searching to establish their identity, that they will embrace the Truth and not the lies being peddled by the world.