21 Days of Prayer & Fasting 2021: Day 1

DAY 1: I AM IN CHRIST
Monday, February 8

READ
Ephesians 1:1-14

REFLECT
There are over 2,500 personality tests on the market. You’ve probably taken one or two or more of them. Businesses, schools, churches, and other organizations use these to form good teams. While the intent may be noble, the end result of many of these tests can place people in categories from which they can’t escape. They often define people’s identities in the workplace and influence how they are perceived by others. We want to define our own identities instead of letting other people or things do it for us. We don’t want to be placed in a box.

Still, modern culture views people through labels. We are known by the “tribes” with which we associate: our demographics, our wealth, our race, our past, etc. Modern culture in America tends to enforce the idea we are individuals who are free to roam as we please without any consequences. At the same time, it has us looking to others for affirmation about who we are. No wonder so many people are confused about their identities.

God does not intend for us to be confused about our identities. In the first 14 verses of Ephesians, we are told we are “in Christ” ten times!

• “To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ” (v. 1)
• “with every spiritual blessing in Christ” (v. 3)
• “For He chose us in Him” (v. 4)
• “to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves” (v. 6)
• “In Him we have redemption through His blood” (v. 7)
• “He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ” (v. 9)
• “In Him we were also chosen” (v. 11)
• “In order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ might be for the praise of His glory” (v. 12).
• “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation” (v. 13)
• “When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit” (v. 13).

While there may be social realities that try to steal our identities, God’s Word functions as our identity theft protection. When we are tempted to believe the lies about our identities, we can remember and lean into God’s promises concerning our new identities in Christ.

RESPOND
Spend time in prayer, following the Upward, Inward, Outward, Upward format.

Upward: Who God is; What God has done, is doing, will do
Inward: Who you are; How you live
Outward: Intercession for others; unified prayer focus with Pathway

TODAY’S PRAYER: God, make us aware of how we’ve believed lies about who we are. Help us to lean into our identities as your children who are accepted, redeemed, adopted, and covered in your grace. May we as a church not believe the lies that are often shouted by modern culture about your children. May we truly believe that our identities in Christ rise above all other “tribes” with which we are associated.

Upward: Thanksgiving and Worship

VIDEO DEVOTIONAL
As part of our 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting, we will have bi-weekly devotionals with some of our own PCC family members. Today Jake Husted is sharing some thoughts about our identities in Christ, and leading us in a prayer. View the video HERE.