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 courses of 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 entrusted to us more than we ever knew possible. And despite all the infant sleepless nights, toddler tantrums, tween eye rolling, and the teen decisions that break our heart 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 like we are.
So what do we do with that gap where our mommy capabilities end and trusting God begins? I want to trust God with everything beyond my control with my kids but it’s so scary. It feels so risky.
And scary and risky are two words us 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 them 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 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.
Earlier this week my friend, Brooke McGlothlin, wrote an article I posted on Scriptural prayers for boys. Today, I want to post some specific Scriptural prayers for our girls.
I’ve prayed these 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, and cross lines, and give the principal reasons to call me.
But where would we all be if the power of prayer wasn’t in the mix of our lives?
And what might these prayers be working out for their 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.”
10 Powerful Prayers to Help You Fight for the Heart of Your Daughter:
1. Give my daughter a deep desire to listen to You, Lord, and pray often, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?” (Joshua 5:14b).
2. 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).
3. May she find comfort in Your ability, God, to reach her, hold her, and rescue her, (2 Samuel 22:17-18).
4. May she please You, Lord, by desiring, asking for, and utilizing a discerning heart full of wisdom, (1 Kings 3:9-12).
5. 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).
6. Give her a great desire to accept Your word, God, and store up Your commands within her so her ears will turn to Your wisdom, (Proverbs 2:1-2).
7. May she keep herself under control and not give full vent to people and situations that anger her, (Proverbs 29:11).
8. Give her the ability to rise above the traps of people pleasing so she can be kept safe by trusting You, Lord, (Proverbs 29:25).
9. 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 chapter 31).
10. And every time you, Jesus, whisper, “Follow me” she does so with great grace, (Matthew 4:19).
Today, I’m giving five commenting blog friends a copy of the book I wrote with my daughter, What Happens When Young Women Say Yes to God. To enter, leave a comment below.
(For “10 Powerful Prayers to Help You Fight for the Heart of Your Son” click here.)
lysaterkeurst.com
Dear St. Jude pray for my daughter to find the strength to leave the unhealthy and abusive relationship she is in.Help her to come home so that her boyfriends family has no control over her.Show her how much her family loves and misses her,and how much she is missing by letting the bad influence of her boyfriend ruin her life.Pray for her to contact her ex so that she can begin to rebuild her love and develop and strong and loving relationship with him again.
With the help of our heavenly father our Lord Jesus. this relationship will be loving and strong enough to help them to stand together against all who seek to destroy them and that loving bond that they still have. Amen!
Return to Roman Catholic Prayers
www.praywithme.com
“I’ve got a new favorite verse,” my 16-year-old daughter said to me recently, as she pulled out her phone to show me an image of Philippians 4:6 —
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
I smiled and told her that is one of my favorites too. My girl and I both have a propensity toward worrying. For me, it’s centered around wanting to be in control and for her it’s more about being afraid.
For almost 17 years my daughter has dealt with fear. When she was still in her toddler bed we would say Psalm 56:3, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in You,” before she went to sleep. Over the years, the specific fears have changed, but the underlying fearfulness has remained.
Just like us, our girls have those big issues they will deal with — likely for their whole lives. The older they get, the more important it is that we help them learn to apply biblical truth to those issues, like fear or conformity or pride. And, just as important we must identify positive traits to encourage.
Often it’s easy for us to see the negative in our girls. But what if we focused our efforts on the positive? Here are five areas where w can get started.
Bold Faith
Let’s encourage our daughters to live with fearlessness, to have a bold faith that emboldens them! This is the area I’m really focusing on with Casiday. I’m constantly on the hunt for verses and tools to remind her the antidote to big fears is bold faith! From notes on the bathroom mirror to surprise gifts left on her bed to late night conversations, we’ve made growing in faith an ongoing conversation between us.
Generosity
In case you hadn’t noticed, we live in an increasingly self-centered world. True generosity has become rare, especially the kind of giving that doesn’t expect or demand recognition. Let’s instill in our girls a desire to give and to live generously. I’m not talking just about material resources, I also mean being generous with our time and abilities. Also, giving the benefit of the doubt and choosing to believe the best about others. A generous heart is a beautiful trait … let’s be intentional about both modeling and encouraging this attribute of God in our lives and for our daughters.
Forgiveness
Let’s face it, mean girls and frenemies are going to be a part of our girls’ lives … and ours too. Learning to forgive others is one of those traits that most reflects the heart of God. Look for ways to discuss forgiveness with your daughter, even when the person who has wronged her isn’t sorry. One of the simplest ways I’ve found to put feet on my forgiveness, so to speak, is to think of it as taking a step toward someone when everything in me would rather step away For our girls this can look like offering a kind word to the girls who have left her out or inviting the friend she’s frustrated with to get coffee after school. And let’s be sure to remind our girls forgiveness is rarely a “one and done” type of thing … it’s a mindset and choice we must adopt over and over.
Originality
Man, the teenage years are tough! And while I know we also dealt with peer pressure, we didn’t have peer pressure multiplied by social media. The world is pushing our girls to conform to their ideas of beauty, intelligence, power, and personality. And, y’all, it’s overwhelming! That’s why we need to be regularly talking with our girls about being themselves and recognizing that God has created them uniquely and wonderfully. Sharing Scriptures with them like Psalm 139:13-14 is important, as is reminding them to embrace their own beauty, personality, interests, and intellect.
Humility
Philippians 2 tells us to have the mind of Christ, the choice of humility instead of pridefulness. It’s been said that humility isn’t thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less. What a great explanation, right? Let’s be moms who encourage our girls, as Paul instructs in Philippians, “to count others more significant than yourselves.”
One of my favorite things to do is find (and share!) ways to encourage our girls. When Dayspring contacted me recently about their Sadie Robertson LIVE ORIGINAL! line, I knew it would be a great match for all of us moms with older girls looking for ways to speak truth and encouragement into their hearts. And, several of the LIVE ORIGINAL! products are on sale right now in the Valentine’s Day Friendship Sale . Including that adorable FEARLESS gift set in the photos above. {I put it on her bed this morning after she left for school … because sometimes a fun surprise on Friday is just what you do for the girl you love, right?}
{This giveaway is now closed. Winner has been notified by email.}
And, I’m even more excited to be able to give away one of the Sadie Robertson gift sets to one of you! Don’t you love this??
Entering is easy — just leave a comment sharing which of these traits you are encouraging most in your daughter right now! This giveaway will close on midnight CST Sunday, February 6. The winner will be contacted via email on Monday, February 6. But you can shop the sale ends through next Wednesday, February 8.
5 traits to encourage in your teenage daughter AND a fun giveaway from @dayspring! #prayersforgirls Click To Tweet
xoxo,
Teri Lynne
P.S. You can get an extra entries by doing the following and leaving a separate comment for each one:
- Visit the Valentine’s Sale page and tell me which gift you think your daughter (or you!) would most like.
- Share this giveaway on social media — Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. (Up to three extra entries … be sure to leave the link in your comment!)
P.S.S. The Temper Toolkit from Lisa-Jo Baker is now available! Y’all, I shared on FB live yesterday why I love this course and how, for less than the price of a family dinner out, you can get a tool which will encourage you and give you super practical ideas for managing those angry moments all of us moms have. Get the course today! Oh and if you order the course and send me your receipt, I’ll give you an an extra FIVE entries in this giveaway! So, order now and email your receipt to teri (at) prayersforgirls (dot) come!!
Teri Lynne Underwood
Word lover & idea slinger || Scott’s wife, Casiday’s mom || Loves busy women, girl moms, and really good coffee || Prayers for Girls founder and ringleader
prayersforgirls.com
Operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Ikeja, Lagos State Police Command, were shocked after an 18-yearold girl, Elo Etim, gleefully told them that her mom was aware that she was going to Abidjan in Ivory Coast, for prostitution.
According to the girl, her mom was so elated that she gave her phone to call her and also prayed for her to be successful.
Etim and another girl, Francess, a 19-year-old girl were rescued by RRS men. They were about to be trafficked to Ivory Coast by Martha Edea, 30, a mother of two from Ogoja, Cross River State. Operatives arrested Martha in Lagos, just as she was travelling with the young girls from Benin, Edo State.
Martha confessed to the police that she was trafficked to Ivory Coast by one Mariam, who told her there were chances of securing a good job in the country, but was later introduced to sex work. According to her, she slaved for months in paying back her custodian who brought her to Abidjan.
Martha said: “ I worked for three months to pay Mariam about 300,000 Cefa(N180, 000), to balance her for my transportation to Ivory Coast and also for connecting me.” She added that Mariam, after collecting the money, travelled to Spain, abandoning her as a sex worker.
Martha, who left her children in the village with her mother, couldn’t make headway in the business after her trafficker had travelled to Spain. She further explained that she yielded to her friend’s advice to come back to Nigeria to recruit young girls for the business.
Martha came back to Nigeria and headed to Edo State, where she was told she would find young girls willing to travel out of the country for the job of prostitution. It was at Edo State that she came in contact with two young ladies; Favour and Deborah, who introduced her to the young girls. Martha said: “Favour took me to one Francess Bamidele, who she said was her friend, and would like to be taken out of the country for prostitution.
Francess also agreed to follow me after I told her that the country was good.” Francess, 19, a secondary school dropout, said she was elated to hear from Martha that prostitution was very lucrative in Abidjan. She accepted and decided to travel without telling her guardian.
Martha also contacted Deborah, who lives in the neighborhood to assist her get another girl. Deborah took her to one Elo Etim, 18, who assured Martha she was ready to embark on such a journey. Martha said: “I paid both Favour and Deborah a sum of N10, 000 each for assisting me get a girl each for the journey. I also met with Elo’s mother. I told her what her daughter was about to embark on in Abidjan and she agreed to it. She also prayed for her and wished her good luck.”
Elo confirmed that her mother was elated about the journey, adding that she gave her some money and phone number to call when she gets to Ivory Coast. The trafficker embarked on the journey from Benin, Edo State to Lagos from where they were supposed to connect the Nigerian land border to cross to the Republic of Benin.
Things began to take a twist when Francess, out of curiosity, began to question Martha about her welfare and coming back from Abidjan for Christmas. Francess said: “I asked Aunt Martha how much we would have to pay her for the trip, and she disclosed I and Elo would work for her till we are able to pay a sum of 300,000 Cefa (N180, 000) to gain our freedom in Abidjan.
I told her I wanted to go back home from where we were and this led to an argument which attracted other passengers on the bus.” Francess further narrated: “The argument made the other passengers in the bus to become suspicious. They alerted policemen when we got to Berger Bus Stop in Lagos. We were all arrested and taken to RRS Headquarters in Alausa, Ikeja.”
orsu24news.com
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4prayertoday.com
I would sincerely hope that you don’t need to be sold on the importance of prayer for teenage son or daughter. In case you need that, here’s our pitch.
The teenage years tend to be some of the most difficult years for both parent and child. Parents are beginning to see a side of their child that they may never have thought existed.
The child is beginning to come into their own. For some children, this may be going as expected or at least hoped for. These are tough times, and formative ones at that. We are talking increased hormonal activity, more dangerous forms of peer pressure and so on.
This is the season in which children can be damaged in ways that may be irreparable. Perhaps you are reading this because you are already standing on shaky ground. Our God is a mighty warrior. He is a redeemer!
We are trusting him to direct that which is yet to be directed. May he cause those that are veering out of the right path to be pulled back onto it. I don’t know whom you are praying for. God’s hand will be seen in this!
1st Prayer For Teenage Son or Daughter
Train A Child
Proverbs 22:6New King James Version (NKJV)
6 Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.
The bible teaches us that if we train our children in the way that they should go, they will not depart from these ways. Perhaps you are in a place where you feel as though you have trained this child, yet they seem to be departing from these ways.
We know that King David, a man whom God described as “after his own heart” raised sons who lost their way. He had sons who went against his will, and one who was the wisest fool to ever live. He would have wondered as you may now be, “Lord where did I go wrong?”
Where I have failed?
Dear Heavenly Father, you said to train a child in the way that they should go. I believe I have done so. Yet I am seeing my child depart from these ways. Lord, where have I failed? I pray that you would redeem my failure with this child. Where I may have failed to get through to them, Lord please train my child for me. Show him/her your says that he/she may not depart from them.
I know other factors may have come into play. My prayer is that you would intervene is set my child back on the right path. In the mighty name of Jesus! Amen
Keep My Child On the Right Path
Dear God, wherever I have done well, and my child is walking on the right path. I pray that you would keep them on that path. Show them the virtue of perseverance. Open their eyes to see the pitfalls of choosing alternative ways. May they not be consumed by their own worldly wisdom. Rather, I pray that my child would seek your wisdom. In Jesus’ name! Amen
Righteousness
1 Peter 1:16New King James Version (NKJV)
16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
We understand from scripture that our righteousness comes from above. That is the righteousness that is not defined by the things of this world. When we take our own righteousness to be the true righteousness, we begin to view unrighteous things as being righteous. This is why our righteousness should be found in Christ, and only through Christ.
Isaiah 64:6
6 But we are all like an unclean thing,
And all our righteousnesses arelike filthy rags;
We all fade as a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind,
Have taken us away.
Dear Heavenly Father, I pray that my child would be holy as you are holy. I pray that my teenage son, my teenage daughter would find righteousness only in Christ. May they never seek it or see it anywhere else. Open their eyes to see the error of their ways. Give them a repentant heart. One that would always come and fall at the feet of the Lord. In Jesus’ name! Amen
Psalm 37:23King James Version (KJV)
23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.
Dear God, as my child finds righteousness in Christ Jesus. I know that the footsteps of the righteous are ordered by you, oh Lord. I pray that you would order my child’s footsteps. Lead him/her on the paths of righteousness. Lead him/her away from paths that lead to pitfalls.
Give my child the strength, boldness and presence of mind to follow your lead at every turn. It is easy to have steps ordered but not walk in them. I pray that my child would not follow his/her own way, but find your way and walk in it, in the mighty name of Jesus! Amen.
A Royal priesthood
1 Peter 2:9New International Version (NIV)
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Father, I declare that my child is a chosen person, he/she is part of a royal priesthood, a holy nation. My child is God’s special possession. My child will declare the praises of the God who called him/her out of darkness into his wonderful light.
I pray that this truth would never be lost on him/her. Dear God, may my child never forget this truth! May their walk be one of a chosen one, a royal priesthood and a holy nation. Let everything that my child would do be holy unto you. Even at their lowest point, may their repentance be holy unto you, Lord. Amen
Trappings of Youth
The teenage years can be very treacherous. There are people who thought they would try something once and died as addicts. Potential is often stolen by the enemy at this stage. Our prayer is that God would cover our children from the trappings of youth.
These are often the first moments that our children are beginning to step out into the world without our guidance and protection. Oftentimes it is because they have begun to reject it, starting to think their own wisdom trumps experience. God forbid that your child would be lost.
Dear God I come against the spirit of addiction. I come against the spirit of ill-advised adventure. Father protect my child from the trappings of youth. I refuse that my child would fall to substance abuse. I refuse that the enemy would steal my child through the wrong peers or through sex. Cover him/her oh Lord. In Jesus’ name! Amen
Bring Back Those That have Lost their Way
Luke 15:20
20 So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
Lord, You are a God of redemption. May that very nature be my portion in Jesus’ name. Soften my heart to always be open to my child at all turns. Lord, we pray for the children that have already lost their way. Call them back oh Lord. Where our ways, words and our wisdom has fallen short, take over oh Lord.
I pray that my child would never be afraid of falling back into my arms. I come against the spirit of anger and bitterness. Let it never be formed in my heart, that I would fail to open my arms for my child. As in the case of the prodigal son, may my child’s eyes be open to knowing that there is always a place in my heart and in my home.
We speak against any hindrance to my child coming back to the Lord and to me. Father, may the mouths of the enemies shut! In Jesus’ name, may your voice be clearer. May your direction be even clearer. Your hand, oh Lord will be seen in this! We give you all the glory already, for you are faithful to watch over your word to perform it.
We stand in anticipation of their return oh Lord! Thank you for bringing back our children. Amen!
Thank You
I would like to take this moment to extend my gratitude to you for taking the time to stand for your teenage son and daughter. It is not the easiest of places to be standing. Yet, there is no better place to be making a stand than in prayer. We commend you for that. If you would like our team to stand with you in prayer, please go ahead and send us a request.
If you would like to support us in continuing to create great content, please consider becoming Patreon. We have a lot of content on the way this year.
www.prayerrelay.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
