Your Identity Is Secure in Christ - Your Nightly Prayer - May 8th

Your Identity Is Secure in Christ
Your Nightly Prayer
by Alisha Headley

TONIGHT’S SCRIPTURE

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” - 1 John 3:1

SOMETHING TO PONDER

There have been seasons in my life when my identity felt fragile and shaken up. Not because I didn’t know God, but because sometimes in life, we tend to tie our identity to what we are achieving or not achieving in certain seasons. 

I didn’t always realize how much I measured myself by what I could achieve, produce, or become. But for the past 4 years, I was struggling with maintaining my pregnancies. It was something completely out of my control, but I kept experiencing loss after loss. This really rattled my identity. Who was I if I couldn’t produce children for my husband and I? I realized I found my worth and security in the outcome of whether I could have children. And when those things were delayed, lost, or didn’t unfold the way I expected, I felt the shift. Not just emotionally, but internally—like I was unsure where to stand.

Loss has a way of exposing where your identity actually lies. 

There were moments when I wondered who I was in the middle of waiting. When prayers went unanswered, and timelines stretched longer than I thought they would, I felt tempted to question my value. And while everyone around me could seemingly get pregnant, I questioned my worth, thinking they were worthy of this, and I must not be. The kind of questioning that sounds like, “Am I still enough here?”1 John 3:1 gently interrupts this narrative. It does not point to what I have done. It does not highlight what I have achieved. It points to what has been given.

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us…”

Lavished. Lavish means to pour out generously, meaning it’s not measured. Not earned. Not dependent on performance. No measured on what we can achieve or not achieve. That word alone reshapes everything. My identity is not something I build—it is something I receive. God doesn’t love me based on my performance. I am not less than just because I can or cannot bear children. God doesn’t wait to love us based on what we achieved that day. My identity is secure in Him, no matter what. He had already chosen me long before I was born. 

Tonight’s Scripture is saying God loves me, period. His love isn’t tied to my timeline or outcomes. I am called a child of God not because I have reached a certain milestone, proven my worth, or fulfilled a specific role, but because He chose me. Because He loves me. His love is lavished. That means my identity remains secure in seasons of gain and loss.

It’s important to remind myself of this daily so I don’t tie my worth to anything else but what God says about me. When I forget this, I drift back into striving. I start measuring again. I begin attaching my worth to things that were never meant to carry it. But Scripture calls me back to remember who I already am. Identity rooted in achievement will always feel unstable because achievement can be lost, delayed, or redefined. But identity rooted in belonging is unshakable, because it is anchored in God’s love, not my performance.

Tonight is an invitation to release every place where I have been trying to prove myself. To lay down the pressure to become enough. To rest in the truth that I already belong. I am His. And that is enough.

YOUR NIGHTLY PRAYER

Dear God,
Tonight, I come to You aware of how easily I tie my identity to what I do, what I achieve, and how my life looks from the outside. I ask for your forgiveness for tying my worth to whether or not I can bear children. You love me no matter what, and you remind me that my identity is not in something I can produce – it is something I receive lavishly from you.
Help me rest in the truth that I am Your child, no matter what. And someone else’s story of gain does not shake my identity. When I feel the pressure to prove myself, quiet that striving in me. When I question my worth, anchor me in Your truth by bringing Scripture to mind. When I am tempted to measure my identity by outcomes, redirect me back to You. Remind me that nothing I lose or gain can change who I am in You.
Tonight, I release every false identity I have been carrying. I release every lie I have attached to my identity. I choose to rest in your lavish love for me tonight.
In your loving name I pray,
Amen.

THREE THINGS TO MEDITATE UPON

1. Where have I been tying my identity to achievement, roles, or outcomes rather than to God’s love?
2. Do I truly believe I am already accepted and chosen by God, or am I still trying to prove it or earn it?
3. What would change in my life if I fully lived from a place of being fully loved instead of striving?

Photo Credit: ©Unsplash/ Maeghan Smulders

Alisha Headley is a writer + speaker who has a desire to meet the everyday woman in her everyday life with biblical truth. Stepping into her true calling, she left the corporate world behind as a former-financial VP to love on her family as a stay-at-home wifey + dog mama, while also being able to pursue her passion as a writer. Healing from a chapter of life consumed with lies she once believed about herself, she is inspired to point women to Christ to experience the freedom + power to overcome those lies with the truth written in God’s word. In her free time, Alisha enjoys road trips around the country, working out so she can eat her favorite foods, and creatively styling her outfits with a craft for fashion. Alisha is a proud wifey and dog mama living in Scottsdale, Arizona.

You can follow her blog by visiting her website alishaheadley.com or connect with her on facebook + instagram.

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