How Prophetic Promises Transform Lives

At the 2024 Pure Desire Summit, Lawrence Kim, a Pure Desire Clinician, shared powerful insights on the role of prophetic promises in healing and transformation. Drawing from the work of Dr. Ted Roberts and Robert Vander Meer, he highlighted how God’s promises in Scripture can reshape our beliefs, break negative patterns, and restore our true identity in Christ. I’ve learned so much through my personal experience with prophetic promises—how they’ve helped challenge my fears, renew my mind, strengthen my faith, and why it's essential for us as parents to know, live out, and model these truths.

Prophetic promises are declarations from God about who we are—our identity and worth. These promises address our struggles and traumas, replacing lies with truth. For example, when feeling afraid, God reminds us, through verses like Deuteronomy 31:6, that we are strong and courageous, not defined by fear.

The process of transformation looks like this:

• Whacks/Lacks: Recognize struggles or painful moments.
• Limbic Lies/Core Beliefs: Identify the negative beliefs those experiences created.
• God’s Declaration: Embrace God’s truth about who we are.
• Experiences: Notice how these truths show up in our lives.
• Prophetic Promises: Let God’s Word affirm our worth.

When dealing with fear, guilt, rejection, insecurity, anger, hopelessness, addiction, or shame, it’s vital to confront the pain and claim God’s promises about who you really are. Instead of believing the lie that says, "I’m worthless," God’s Word calls us beloved (Colossians 3:12, Romans 1:7, 1 Thessalonians 1:4). When embraced, these truths set us free from the grip of negativity.

Many of us struggle to see how God's promises can change our core beliefs. But these promises have the power to shift our identity from the inside out. It takes active participation to let God’s truth redefine who we are.

Our early experiences shape our core beliefs and identity. Positive experiences build worthiness and courage, while negative experiences, like neglect or abuse, leave us with feelings of unworthiness. These beliefs affect how we see ourselves and interact with others.

By embracing prophetic promises, we can root our identity in God’s unchanging love instead of the fleeting approval of others. These promises give us the strength to confront our fears and rewire our beliefs. Through new experiences grounded in God’s truth, we can break free and live out the identity He’s always meant for us.

Let me walk you through a few personal examples to bring this concept to life.

Whacks/Lacks: Recognize struggles or painful moments.

In first grade, on a rainy recess day, I slipped on the asphalt and scraped my thigh pretty badly. No one seemed to notice, and when I went to a teacher for help, she gave me a dismissive look, like I was bothering her. In that moment, I felt invisible and uncared for. It might seem like a small thing, but even at 40, this day sticks with me—not because of the physical pain, but because it fed a lie in my heart that I was insignificant.

When I was around 12, I asked my dad if he’d ever move back to California to be with his family. He said, “No, honey, you are my family.” But shortly after, he told me, my younger brother, and sister that it was our last weekend with him—he was moving back to California. That goodbye turned into almost a decade of silence. I felt replaceable, unloved, and worthless. Meanwhile, my mom was juggling school and work, and while she took care of us, I often felt more like a responsibility than her beloved child.

Limbic Lies/Core Beliefs: Identify the negative beliefs those experiences created.

These early experiences created a deep belief that I was unseen and uncared for. Every new situation seemed to reinforce this feeling. I remember being left outside with a bowl of chips and a Coke while my dad shut the curtains and watched porn. After years of trying to mend a marriage that, through its lack of self-awareness, had slowly eroded any sense of connection, safety, or intimacy—and with no real tools for restoration, only well-meaning but ultimately hollow spiritual bypass advice—the marriage finally succumbed to its toxic decay and ended in divorce. All of this led to and reinforced a deep uncertainty about my identity and a lack of confidence in my worth, value, and uniqueness. I didn’t trust myself, and I didn’t trust men. When it came to my relationship with God, I often felt like a burden, not a blessing.

God’s Declaration: Embrace God’s truth about who we are.

My then-husband and I were separated, and I was desperate for guidance. I kept hearing God tell me to “stand firm,” but I wasn’t sure in what—my marriage, my boundaries? For months, I wrestled with this, all while this verse kept jumping out at me:

“Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.” 

Colossians 1:22 (NLT)

It wasn’t until a month later that the next verse hit me like a ton of bricks:

“BUT you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it.” 

Colossians 1:23 (NLT)

I realized I was called to stand firm in the truth that I am in His presence, holy, blameless, and without a single fault.

Experiences: Notice how these truths show up in our lives.

When we moved in 2012, I prayed for friends—not just fun friends, but godly friends who would lift me up. Today, I’m blessed with a close circle of friends I do life with, who love me for who I am, not what I can do for them. They respect my introverted nature and enjoy my extroverted seasons. They don’t guilt me for not responding quickly and understand if I can’t spend as much time with them as they would like. They encourage me to stop apologizing for being me, love me as I am, all while supporting and pushing me to pursue Jesus and grow.

When we needed a place to stay, we chose to wait on God’s guidance instead of forcing a solution. Just weeks before we had to leave, a couple from church offered us their house next door, asking for nothing in return. They just wanted someone home during the day while the husband worked and his wife, who was blind, stayed home.

When I gave up my career to stay home as God asked, we struggled to buy a house. One day, after Bible study, someone handed me a $10,000 check, saying, “I’ve been looking for a way to invest in this community, please accept this.”

I didn’t need to be perfect for God to love, accept, see, and care for me. After nearly 40 years of being a Christian, this truth moved from head knowledge to heart knowledge. How often do we know what the Bible says but still don’t fully believe it in our hearts?

Prophetic Promises: Let God’s Word affirm our worth.

The truth is, God knows me intimately. As it says in John 1:48,

“How do you know me?” Nathaniel asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

In Genesis 16:13, Hagar acknowledges, “You are the God who sees me.” 

Isaiah 43:1 reminds me, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.” 

Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News…

Colossians 1:22-23 (NLT)

This process has helped me reshape my beliefs and uncover my true identity in Christ, but it’s not a quick fix or a one-and-done type of process. It is a lifelong, intentional process. While significant change can be experienced in a few years, true transformation requires a long-term commitment to spiritual practices, community, and discipleship.

This journey isn’t just for adults—you can model this lifestyle for your kids as well. By living out the process of uncovering your core beliefs, understanding where they come from, and discovering what God truly thinks of you, you can lead by example, making this process the norm for them as they grow in their own understanding of their true identity.

As we begin to uncover the deeply rooted lies we've unknowingly believed, we gain clarity on why we feel and behave the way we do. This awareness opens the door to recognizing the areas where we need to invite God to speak and transform our beliefs. This process reflects the essence of John 10:10: 

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Ultimately, the act of renewing our minds isn’t just about healing past wounds or improving relationships; it’s about living fully in the truth of who God says we are. This journey of transformation will inevitably affect the way we interact with others, especially those closest to us, but it starts with believing that we are seen, known, and deeply loved by God. As we continue to walk in this renewed identity, we not only experience healing for ourselves but also become instruments of healing and hope for those we love.

The views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are those of the author alone and do not reflect an official position of Pure Desire Ministries, except where expressly stated.