They move in to the dorm this weekend and will bring their bags filled with clothes and their boxes filled with books. But you see what they bring in their hearts – anticipation, adventure, love, regret, anxiety, motivation, and hope.
They are a mix of excited, ready, terrified, and wide-eyed freedom.
As he looks for a fresh start, remind him of your faithfulness every morning no matter where he calls home.
As she looks for community, remind her you are always with her no matter where she may go.
As he looks for adventure, remind him how you walk on water, turn water to wine, feed thousands from just a few pieces of bread. Remind him how you bring life straight up out of death, beauty straight out of ashes.
May she have the patience to believe even when she doesn’t see results.
May he know the greatest adventures are found in your presence, the greatest love comes from your heart, the greatest hope is that you’ve made his heart your home.
When insecurity, comparison, disappointment and failure knock on her dorm room door, may she turn to you with her questions rather than run the other way.
Weave your wisdom into the fibers of his soul, bearing the fruit of confidence, clarity, contentment and a light heart.
May he not despise his humanity, rather may he embrace it.
May she not despise her body, rather may she learn to receive and respect her shape as a gift.
May he not despise his weakness, rather may he see how weakness brings a daily reminder to trust.
May they not fear failure, rather may they thrive in the midst of it.
May they not be quick to judge, rather may they be patient and curious.
Help them to find true friends and be a true friend in turn.
Help them find their voice and to use it to be an advocate for themselves and for others.
Replace her shame with courage.
Replace his confusion with peace.
Replace her fear with a love that moves within her beyond her ability to understand.
May your grace surprise them kindly.
Amen.
This sending prayer for students inspired a second post for mamas: A Staying Prayer for Mothers of College Freshmen. May you find peace and joy in this season of transition.
emilypfreeman.com
“‘… so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.'” Isaiah 55:11 (ESV)
There is something I’ve come to realize I need to guard against as a mom. I sometimes want to be God in my kids’ lives.
I want to write their stories.
I want to set the course for their futures.
I want to determine what’s best for them.
I want to prevent them from ever being hurt.
I want to be their provider and protector.
And I want to be the one to set anyone straight who messes with my kids.
Can you relate on any level? I think most moms can. We love these people God has entrusted to us more than we ever knew possible. And despite all the infant-stage sleepless nights, toddler tantrums, tween eye rolling, and the teen decisions that break our hearts slap in two … they are ours. To love. To lead. To launch.
And we want to make it all good.
But then things happen so beyond our control we eventually have to face the reality that we aren’t God. And we can’t operate as if we are.
So what do we do with that gap where our mommy capabilities end and trusting God begins? Where my kids are concerned, I want to trust God with everything beyond my control. But it’s so scary. It feels so risky.
And scary and risky are two words we moms don’t want as part of our kids’ lives.
So, how do we deepen our trust in God? How do we make peace with the limits of what we can and cannot protect our children from? What do we do with the risky and scary feelings that can make a mom lose sleep at best and feel crazed with fear at worst?
We must fill that gap with the only thing that bridges the space between our limitations and our trust in God: prayer.
I know, I know. That answer can sound like such a cliché Christian answer. Typical. Too hyper-spiritual. Not the answer we want sometimes.
But prayer is the only possibility with real possibility.
Yesterday, my friend Brooke McGlothlin wrote a devotion about scriptural prayers for boys (see related resources listed below). It inspired me to write some specific scriptural prayers for our girls.
Here are five powerful prayers to help you fight for the heart of your daughter:
1. Let her learn early in life that to obey You, God, is the best way to the life her heart truly desires (1 Samuel 15:22).
2. May she find comfort in Your ability, God, to reach her, hold her and rescue her (2 Samuel 22:17-18).
3. Let her find confidence in You, God, even when hard times come and she doesn’t know what to do, by keeping her eyes fixed on You (2 Chronicles 20:12).
4. May she keep herself under control and not give full vent to people and situations that anger her (Proverbs 29:11).
5. Let her walk in the security of Your assigned worth to her. Give her a strong work ethic and health to accomplish all her tasks. Give her a heart that desires to extend her hand to those in need. Protect her for the right husband, a man of respect and godly honor. And let her be a woman of joy and laughter whose Christ-centered character is what makes her most beautiful (Proverbs 31).
I’ve prayed these prayers, and I’ve seen amazingly powerful things happen in the lives of my daughters.
I can still fret and worry and want to mess with anyone who messes with my girls.
My girls still make mistakes, cross lines and give the principal reasons to call me.
But where would we be if the power of the One who answers our prayers wasn’t in the mix of our lives?
And what might these prayers be working out for my daughters’ futures that I won’t see for years to come?
Yes, prayer is the only possibility with real possibility. And that brings me to the place where I can finally say … “Hello, my name is Mom. Not God.”
Dear Lord, I know that Your Word does not return void and I’m believing great things for my daughter today. May we both grow in our relationship with You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
***
Related Resources:
Start praying for your daughter, niece, or your son’s future bride using a free gift for you on Lysa’s blog – a printable PDF with ten scriptural prayers for your daughter! Click here to view those prayers. For five scriptural prayers for your son, click here.
Equip the young woman in your life for her walk with the Lord by gifting her with Lysa’s book, What Happens When Young Women Say Yes to God. Click here to purchase your copy!
Reflect and Respond:
Choose one of the Scriptures mentioned above and write it down on a notecard. Place that notecard where you will see it every day (your bathroom mirror, your desk at work, etc.) and pray the Scripture out loud for the next week. When you pray the Word of God, you pray the will of God!
© 2014 by Lysa TerKeurst. All rights reserved.
proverbs31.org
