Liturgy for Remembering My Identity

I want to talk a little bit about our free resource, "Liturgy for Remembering My Identity". (If you haven't gotten your copy, you can download it by signing up for our email list here.) I developed this resource from my personal prayer life, and I hope it can help everyone else.

For many years, I've struggled with really believing God loved or even liked me. Sure, I didn't think I needed to earn my salvation, but I didn't think that meant God was pleased with me. I've often pictured meeting God face to face where He shakes His head and says, "Well, you got here by the skin of your teeth on a technicality, but I can't say I'm glad to see you." I'm really grateful that in the last year or so I've made a lot of progress in this area and no longer have this same image of God. 

Yet I still so often think of my identity as connected to what I do. I am a husband, father, teacher, and church member. I attach my sense of self-worth to how well I perform in each of these areas. This is such an easy temptation to fall into as our society determines our value, identity, and worth in our careers, income, social status, and achievements. When I sense I have failed in any of these areas, it crushes me. When I picture seeing God face to face, I now picture Him as kind and gracious, but sad, saying something like, "Scott, I love you and made you so good. I'm sorry you missed out on the life I wanted you for." Neither scenario matches what the Bible says about being made in God's image (Gen. 1:26-28) or what Jesus has accomplished for us (Romans 8). 

To combat these false understandings of my identity, both of which are based primarily on what I do and achieve, and to recenter my sense of identity on what Jesus has done for me, I have turned to a few sections in the Book of Common Prayer, specifically the liturgies for Baptism, Eucharist, and the Daily Office. (If you aren't used to using pre-written prayers, I recommend exploring my previous article, Can We Use Written Prayers?).

I begin with the Baptism liturgy, which includes a series of renunciations, saying "No" to the ways of Satan, the world, and the flesh. Then it affirms reliance on Christ, including summarizing core Christian beliefs with the Apostles' Creed, and a commitment to Jesus' way of life. Then there are prayers asking for God's help as the person being baptized begins their life with Christ. Finally, there are affirmations on who the person is now that they are connected to Christ. There are additional affirmations of the Holy Spirit's active role in a person's life that are for Confirmation. I adapt these prayers to remind me who I am in Jesus and pray for His help in living out His life.

I then turn to the prayer used every week after communion. This prayer reminds me how I just experienced Jesus through the sacrament earlier in the week. Jesus has given Himself to me and strengthened me. I pray this prayer of gratitude for what He has given me and how He fed me on Sunday, nourishment which is still being digested by my body. I close by reciting to myself a blessing from the Daily Office, reminding me of God's presence with me.

This practice has centered me and constantly reminds me of God's love for me, combating my natural inclination to think that my worth comes from what I do, a metric I constantly fall short of. It tethers me to who I really am. I still find it adaily struggle against judging myself against my own standards of who I think I should be and how I fall short of God's commands, but this practice has been an indispensable tool to help me in that struggle.

I adapt all these prayers to refer to me as an individual when they were written for corporate use. I also adapt the words the clergy declare into affirmations I can say for myself. These prayers are scattered throughout the prayer book and require some adaptation and simplification to work for my private devotions, but since I have found it so helpful, I wanted to pass them on. I have written these prayers in one place with all the adaptations I make mentally so you can easily use them for yourself. You don't have to flip around in the Book of Common Prayer or paraphrase the phrasing while you are praying. You can focus on praying right from it without any distraction.

I typically use this resource at the beginning of my prayer time, but you can place it anywhere in the flow of your personal devotions that makes the most sense to you. To use it, simply read it and pray the words for yourself as you go. I find saying it out loud helps it from becoming rote.

I am excited to have this printed off for myself, and I hope it helps you as much as it has helped me. If you want a copy, simply sign up for our email list here, and you will receive "Liturgy for Remembering My Identity" as an easy PDF download. I pray it regularly reminds you how much God loves you, roots your identity in what Christ has done for you, and frees you from the temptation to have to prove your identity by what you do and achieve.