Ann Voskamp
About the Author

Ann Voskamp is a farmer's wife, the home-educating mama to a half-dozen exuberant kids, and author of One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are, a New York Times 60 week bestseller. Named by Christianity Today as one of 50 women most shaping culture and the...

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things we love
& you will too!
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  1. Ann,
    No one can match the gift of words and encouragement that God has given you. What a beautiful prayer for all our daughters and for ourselves, that we may love them as You do. I will reread this and offer it up as a prayer for my wonderful daughter. She is 25 and I am here to say that God does, indeed, honor our prayers for our children.
    Blessings,
    Bev

    • Beautiful prayer for all–your words are music to my soul. They lift me up, thank you Lord for Ann’s gift.

    • So timely! I am continually amazed how God plans His encouragement and answers to my prayers just when I need it from a variety of sources. I am the mom of five beautiful daughters, ranging in age from 6 to 21. I am a single mom and was crying out to God to help me to heal my heart as well as the hearts of my children. It seemed like an impossible task. Then I read this. He is the only One who can wholly heal all of our hearts and give us hope. Will you pray with me for the ability to let God take control of all of this – my worries and theirs? Thanks.

  2. Beautiful Ann praying my own daughter at 39 who knows The Lord from when she was little, desires to put HIM 1st place in her life! Praying God to restore, mend, the brokenness in our relationship. Love you Ann. God Bless you❤

    • Yes, Carol – praying for you just now, friend. God is always good & you are always, *always* loved & He’s transfiguring all for His glory & our good. Trusting in that truth for both of you… 🙂

    • Ditto all of Carol’s words with a 17 year old daughter in our focus. Again incredible timing for Ann’s post: with a round of broken trust thrown in front of us just this afternoon. Mending needs loom mightily this evening, and the gracious words found here are welcomed.

  3. Thank you for this beautiful prayer, Ann. I pray my girl would live up to her name, Sophia Grace. She is, at 8 years old, all wisdom and grace with the gift of sass thrown in for our pleasure:)

  4. So I’ll be printing this out – and praying this over….my middle blonde 🙂 My only girl.

    I pray for her hands to offer out much – for her to find contentment and joy in helping others find healing and wholeness in the Lord. Yes.

    My 4 year old – she already has this way about her….this desire to mend and tend. Praying the enemy doesn’t snatch any of that away – and that God loves and lingers through her!

    Thank you Ann – for putting words to my heart’s cry….for my daughter (and for her Mama) 😉

    Blessings on you,
    Kate 🙂

  5. A beautiful prayer for all daughters, including my two.

    My oldest daughter (23) has a story of redemption, but don’t we all? Loving her through and in spite of and just because…she claims this was what brought her back to Him. He is good all the time!

    Ann, I may never get to reach you personally, but I wanted you to know I presented to our church the new theme of “From Thanksgiving to Thanks-Living.” The doors of our church were blown open by your words, your video….and most of all…hearts opened. I wish you could personally see what YOU, through Him, have done for this hurting world. God bless you Ann, a daughter who is living what you pray for your own daughter.

  6. Beautiful Ann. Your ability to put words to my thoughts is always comforting.
    Answered prayer–both of my daughters, Anna Grace and Mary Cortland have accepted Jesus as their Savior.
    My prayer is that they both love Jesus more than this world, and that they will trust His plan for their lives as they navigate the choppy waters of college and high school.
    Sending you love and hugs!

  7. Thank you for sharing your mother-heart and your Heavenly Father’s daughter-heart and encouraging ours.

    My prayer is that my daughter surrender her heart fully to Jesus as her Savior and her greatest love, and pursue an authentic and dynamic relationship with Him; hope in HIM and live in and by His Grace.

    Pray with me that she will see and experience His lovingkindness toward her during her struggle with illness, and each day more deeply trust His loving plan for her life.

  8. Oh! This touches me! My daughter is almost 12, and I am heavy with the weight of what challenges might lay ahead for her. But I am also full of hope in Christ, in what He has already done for her, and what He will do for her in the years to come.

    As always, Ann, your words are full of beauty and amaze me each time I read them.

    Have a blessed day!

      • Yes, and this is so true for EACH of our children/grandchildren/great-grandchildren. Our prayer for each of them is to ask the Lord into each of his/her hearts and live according to His will so that His plans for each of their lives will be fulfilled. Even when they are raised in church, wrong choices are made and this is so sad. But I always say, I love each of my children all the time, do not like some of their choices, but am quick to forgive and will always love them no matter what they may think.

  9. My youngest daughter, Bethany-20 years old–was just diagnosed with full blown fibromyalgia. She already has had 7 back surgeries and is constant pain. Nary a wimper or grumble. She is a third year Bio Engineering student, works full time and is a wonderful young lady. But in so very much pain. My prayer is that the Father relieves her of her physical and emotional pain, provides Divine comfort and Healing, wisdom beyond measure, and strength to endure the chaos of this world. That He heals her depression and cause her boyfriend to either step up or leave, to begin living for the Lord as she is. sigh. All of my children have accepted Jesus and live for Him.

    Bethany is having difficulty with her boyfriend living the walk. He is pulling her down, but I know not to intervene, as she needs to find out this herself. He is very self destructive, and pulls her down; she is more like a mother to him, although I do love him, just not for her.

    Prayers that Jesus makes a way where there seems to be an extreme roadblock.
    Blessings and peace,

  10. It’s so great, I like to join in this prayer for my four daughters. Thank you for the words.
    Greetings from Elisabeth

  11. This prayer. This morning. For this child, grand. From this grand mother’s heart. Breaking with disappointment over choices made, opportunities tossed away. This is a difficult day. This prayer helps.

    “… raise me, Lord, from the deadness of my own sins [and sorrows, and disappointments, and brokenness] to love this beautiful girl like You do.”

    My own has not been enough to keep her. Your love, O God, is more than enough. Keep her. Please. Safe. Sure. Saved.

    Thank you, Ann. For reminding me – to hope. Still.

  12. Ann, I am always so inspired by your writing…this morning I am praying for my daughter in this blog post…riding her blue Schwinn bicycle some 20-something years ago…that she would trust God for the “blue Schwinn bicycle” He has in her garage… praying also this morning for Pastor Henry Blackaby, author of Experiencing God, who is scheduled for a quadruple heart bypass surgery today… http://bethwillismiller.blogspot.com/2012/10/blue-schwinn-bicycle-in-garage.html

  13. Thank you, Ann, for this beautiful, heart felt prayer! I sent a copy to my daughter who was born on Mothers’ Day 39 years ago. She home schools her three children and is actively involved in her church, especially with the American Heritage Girls. I thank God for her and you, dear one, a beloved daughter of our Father.

  14. i have 3 wonderful BEAUTIFUL daughters..for my oldest my prayer would be that she LISTEN to what we are teaching her and to follow thru on what we are saying..I cant stand to watch her fall/fail just so she will GET IT….for my middle daughter my prayer is that she NOW KNOWS in her heart that GOD sees her and loves her and WE love HER and will ALWAYS HAVE HER BACK…for my youngest daughter that instead of “imitaing” her older sister that she finds the love God gives her to be her own person and know she is LOVED because she is that person

  15. This was beautiful. My daughter, 24, struggles with many things. Depression, autoimmune illness and something else the drs can’t figure out, she needs to forgive the Christians who have hurt her and return to a close relationship with God. She is also motherly and caring towards others. But this is translating to bad choices in guys. She chooses guys who aren’t Christians, don’t have any plans for life or go to /finish college. They will never be able to support her or a family. They lie to her and she forgives. I am afraid if she isn’t already in an unhealthy relationship, which I think she is, that she will be soon. I worry about her safety. The guy she is with now is very controlling and manipulative and thinks his way is the only way to do things. She just doesn’t see it. She has never dated anybody she has not felt sorry for….Thanks for praying.

  16. I am going to share this with my daughter as I pray for her wholeness and perfect health. May she in turn share this with her daughter one day. THANK YOU!

  17. Always amazing, Ann. My prayer for my girls is simply that they would love The Lord fully–that they would know that they are ENOUGH, always enough because of Him. I pray they know this, because in knowing this, they will find the strength to change the world.

    Love you, sweet friend.

  18. Just beautiful,thank-you so much for sharing this prayer Ann.

    My prayer for my daughter is that she will manage to get through trying times without it impacting her health and well being.

    Prayers to all daughters…….

    Penny

  19. This post caught me by surprise today. Caught me by throat, I might add, and threw me down to the ground. I’ve been holding in the horror and fear that I feel with regards to my almost 17 yr. old daughter, who is the light of my life…but has now been completely overshadowed by darkness. Recently, she has decided that God may or not be ‘real.’ More like He’s a concept than a loving Father. She gravitates more towards her unbelieving school friends than her Christian friends from church and youth group, some whom have actually done some things that have caused my daughter to question their sincerity in the faith. She refused to attend church with me this summer, and we had a huge knock-down-drag-out fight last month where she told me that I suffocate her with my talk of ‘God this and God that.’ Why does EVERYTHING you say ALWAYS have to be about God? she yelled. She is now gravitating towards the zodiac, horoscopes, interest in supernatural beings and mediums. The more I warn her about the consequences of dabbling in this stuff, the more she runs towards it.

    I’m at my wits’ end. Some days I wake up wanting to just throw up, run away and die. I don’t have much support here because my husband has no need for God, and throughout our marriage has always made it well known. My young adult son, my daughter and I would pray for my husband when they were younger…now, all they want to do is get away from him. Trying to do my best to fill in as the spiritual leader of our home has been difficult at best.

    Please pray for my girl….I have nightmares (and frightening daydreams, too) of where she could wind up. I KNOW I MUST trust God with her….I didn’t grow up in a Christian home…we were church goers, but it was merely a duty, done in the hopes that church attendance would be our ‘get out of Hell free’ card, and at 18 yrs. old, after graduating from Catholic school and experiencing some horrific life events, I basically thumbed my nose at God and told Him “I don’t need You. What have you ever done for me anyway, look at the mess my life is now,” and away I went until I was in my mid 40s. The things I did and experienced in between those years would make anyone’s hair stand on end or fall out altogether. And I don’t want my daughter to go through that or worse…but I’ve come to see that…maybe she has to, to get to the place where the only place she can look is up…at her Father God.

    Thanks so much for letting me dump this out. For the moment, I feel a bit better.

    And Ann….thank you so much for this beautiful prayer. I intend to print this and make it my own.

    • I’m praying for you today. May you stand strong in the truth that you know, and may it bring you the peace that you need for today and tomorrow. I’m praying for your precious daughter. Mine too, is far away from what she was taught as a child under our roof.

    • Oh, Pam – quietly sitting here with you, bowed in this messy crying prayer for His certain comfort. Putting on the armor of God with you, and battling for your daughter’s life in Him…
      Leaning into Him you, knowing His love holds.

      • Sweet Ann…thanks so much for taking the time to pray with and for me and my daughter. It means the world to me. ‘Knowing His love holds” keeps moving through my head like words on that giant electronic sign board in Times Square.

    • Dear sister, My heart goes out to you. I have been through years of pain with some of our children, and know the devastation you are feeling. May I recommend a very helpful book called “How to pray for lost loved ones” by Dutch Sheets. He explains that trying to reason with a wayward child is actually counter-productive, because their pride rises up and can make them even more determined to go their own way. We need to wage spiritual warfare in prayer on their behalf, as only the Holy Spirit can bring true conviction and repentance. It is not our child (or spouse) we are fighting, but the powers of darkness who are “riding on their backs”. When you feel so alone and with no support from your husband, there are beautiful words in Isaiah 54:5 “For thy Maker is thy husband…”. May He become everything to you as you love and intercede for your family.

      • Esther,

        Thank you SO MUCH for your kind and encouraging words, for the thoughtful reminder of that verse from Isaiah, and for the book suggestion. I will look for it.

    • Please if you don’t have one, get yourself a prayer partner and together stand on the promises of God for your daughter. They have divine power to demolish-like dynamite- strongholds! Your weapons are 1 Corinthians 7:14; Acts 2:39; Psalm 69:34-36; Proverbs 14:26; Isaiah 43:5; Isaiah 59:21 and so many more. Whenever you feel under the weight of fear or unbelief, speak one or all out loud over your domain-where your authority lies in Christ: in your home and over your children. You fight from victory. His promises are true for you and His word does not return void, but accomplishes all that He sends it to do through your lips. All glory and praise to God who goes before you and levels the mountains. May your faith be strong and your hope sure in Christ!

      Praying for you now.

  20. This is beautiful and I pray this for my 18 year old daughter, who is away at school. I also pray that she would see herself through God’s eyes and not compromise who she is and how she was raised to fit in or be accepted.

    Agape,

    Shirley Y. Towe

  21. Praying this with you today for my sisters, my friends’ daughters, our two sponsored girls, and the little girl next door. Thank you for sharing the gift of these thoughts and prayer prompts. So beautiful.

  22. Pray for Kimberly, may she find her way back to the deep, all-encompassing love of Christ Jesus. In her heart of hearts, she knows Him still. Pray that the flame is stirred again, and her passion for Him restored.

  23. I hand wrote this prayer into my journal over a year ago when I first read it on your blog. God has graciously answered it in some lovely ways in the life of my now 16 year old daughter.
    A couple of examples:
    “Nourish her on the comfort food of the Word,
    Word, that makes her crave more of Christ,
    have hunger pangs for Him.”
    She made a personal decision to read through the Bible about a year ago. Each evening before shared prayers and curling up under the covers, it has become her practice to read another section. Her questions reflect the way she is pondering on what she is reading.
    and “May she be thread and mend brokenness and knit hearts
    May she be dead to all ladders & never go higher, only lower, to the lonely, the least & the longing.”
    She has taken it upon herself to minister weekly to a friend, a youth group girl two years her junior, taking two or three hours each weekend to visit with her – to play a board or card game, bake together, or watch a movie. What makes this act of care a thread “to mend brokenness” is that the friend is suffering such severe anxiety that she rarely steps outside of home these past twelve months, not for school nor church nor youth group nor just to be with friends. Many weeks, at one point in the year, the visiting took place in the adolescent psychiatric ward in the local children’s hospital. Her simple kindness is almost unknown, done with cheerfulness and grace – and an answer to this prayer.
    Thank you Ann.
    PS I loved seeing photographs of your Hope ministering with such joy on your trip to Africa. May God continue to answer your prayer in her life.

  24. Oh how I needed this today my heart is breaking for my sweet 28yr old daughter today struggling in her marriage of ONE year. Her life is hard and her husband not leaning into the marriage as she had hoped. Please please pray for us. SHe is home for now and we are loving on her with all we have but trying not to smother her ! Which as a momma you know is hard.

    Broken but trusting in my savior.

    Christine

    • Christine, know I am fervently praying for your daughter and her husband just now. Praying she feels HIS strength in her bones, gently reviving her heart.
      My heart is with yours, fellow Mama…

  25. I have three daughters. Two at university and one an elementary school bus driver and diesel mechanic. I pray that as they go in places I will never tread the the light of Christ will shine through the broken places in their lives, so that others will see HIM and asked, “How do you do it?” Then they will answer, “Only by grace.” May they always walk with HIM.

  26. Thank you for your beautiful heartfelt prayer. Last April my daughter (12 yrs)tried to commit suicide. She was in the hospital for a month. My answered prayer is: she lived. My prayer for her now is that Jesus will heal her shattered heart . Only Jesus knows her torment. Oh Jesus come.

  27. Thank you for your prayer! Please pray that my daughter would be healed of depression and led by the Holy Spirit.

  28. Trying to read these words slow so they can be my prayers as well. Praying them for my young generation as well. Because when we know who we are in Christ there is no Satan’s lie that we can believe.
    I’m thankful for you and your words, Ann

  29. from a girl and a daughter . . .
    thank you to the mothers who love their daughters deeply,
    thank you to the mothers-in-Christ who love others’ daughters and help mend the broken places long left lonely,
    thank you to the sisters-in-Christ who are not afraid to live real and let Jesus shine through.

    a cup of coffee, a listening ear, and a gentle answer can be the grace of Jesus over a confused and breaking heart.

    the ladders call loudly. love whispers quietly.

    thank you to all the girls who let Jesus choose them and then turn to other girls to share His mercy.
    I hope I will learn to do the same.

    blessings! 🙂

    • this is lovely, thanks for the encouragement, and blessings to you as you seek His face and lean into Jesus. 🙂

  30. I pray for my daughters to love, love, love His Word, to crave it and for them to love Him more than anything, to be wildly obedient and close to Him above all else. He has already answered the first, as my oldest (only a tender 7) seeks His Word on her own, some days more than even her mommy does (this morning, I hadn’t given her a sticky note verse on her Bible for the morning, so she just looked up Psalm 1:1 on her own). Please pray that my girls will love boldy for Him, live dangerously for Him, even at a young age, so their lives can only point to Him for His glory.

  31. Praying for my daughter and her daughters that they may see and feel and know the deep love of God and the power of his grace. Yes I am praying with great intensity over many things layered upon layer and many ‘areas’ of growth for them all. You are encouragement… for us.

  32. Abba,

    I don’t know where my oldest is this morning, but you do. Thank you for the years you have given me with her. Thank you that one day we will spend eternity together and no one can take that away from me. I pray that you will protect her from harm, love her into wholeness and protect her from herself. I pray that she finds her worth in You, not in friends, or boys. or strangers opinions. That she would know that she knows that she knows that You love her, and there is none who can match that love. I pray you would instill in her a knowing of her calling from this young age. I pray that you would help her Father and Stepmother to be the parents her Stepfather and I can’t be to her right now. I pray you would forgive her and them for shutting me out of her life. I pray that you would heal the brokenness in her heart due to a broken family. I pray that there would be women to rise up and help her along the way. I pray that your Spirit would be magnified in her and the bread of her heart that was broken will feed the masses and show the world your glory. And oh God, I pray you would tell her I love her no matter what, and that she will always be my baby. In Jesus name, Amen.

  33. Thank you for this Ann, I prayed it for our 11 year old daughter who we will be hopefully meeting and adopting soon. She has a lot of hurts to overcome but God is faithful and gracious. Thank you for your encouraging words, so often they are just what I needed! God is amazing.

  34. Even though my daughter is still small and may not understand that the ways of this world are not always good and that evil is lurking around any corner. I pray that her little heart will one day belong to my saviour Jesus Christ. That she finds joy in thankfulness to God just like her mommy. Thank you dear Ann, I just want to say that every Timothy needs a Paul, and you are my.

  35. Yes. Today this was posted for me. As I sat on the floor and rocked with my 3-year-old daughter in tears, my 15-year-old daughter was at school, hating me. Motherhood is a joy and a mess. I just want my girls to love Jesus and love others. That is my most desperate hope and desire.

  36. My daughter had a Wilms kidney tumor as a baby. She has one kidney. After 12 years, we recently had a scare that her one kidney might not be functioning properly. But praise God, after re-testing, her kidney tested normal. My prayer is that her one kidney will last her this lifetime, a long lifetime … or until the trumpet sounds. With love …

  37. For months I’d pray in the pew Sun. mornings for my 16 yo daughter, our first-born, sitting there with us in the pew. Things were not exactly smooth with us, but she was venturing out in ways of service and leadership within the youth group that was encouraging…still I desired most of all for her heart to be strongly anchored to HIS heart. Then it happened, out of nowhere, she suffered sports related concussions and suddenly life is changed for her, for our family. Now 7 mo. post-concussive and still struggling with entering back into life with TBI, learning to cope with anxiety, isolation from friends & church, physical pain (seizures), and this never ending cycle of “not getting better” has changed the scene of life for my now 17 yo girl. Please pray for her to overcome the victim mentality and move into survivor mentality with the Savior of her soul who can redeem and make good in this hard, hard place. Learning here how our parental dreams for our children are only possible when placed in HIS hands to fulfill as He wills…in every stage and season. Deepest thanks for your prayers for my daughter.

    • Beautiful Melody Ann —
      Just to whisper — I prayed for you today. With you. And your precious 16 yo daughter.
      Tears. — just leaning hard on His love.

      Eucharisteo!
      Ann

  38. Please pray with me for my daughter who wants a child so much and has not been able to conceive, even though they’ve been told all should be normal. She will have her 40th birthday in Oct. All things are possible with God. Love you and your post this morning Ann, thank you.

  39. This is so beautiful Ann. Please pray for my eldest daughter Erica, she is going through a divorce after 6 years of marriage. This is not something she expected or wanted. She needs strength and endurance. She has been a SAHM to our grandson age 20 months and now is working full time, finishing her Masters degree and adjusting to life with an almost 2 year old on her own. Please pray that Jesus would wrap her in His love, that she would see the grace of the giver even in this dark time and that she would hold on to her worth in Him. Thank you. Julie

  40. Back when we were awaiting a placement through foster care, Mike and I prayed that God would send us a child who would love Him, and who could love us. God granted that prayer, by sending Destine to us. This spring He granted another prayer, that Destine be protected from further abuse, that she not have to return to her birth mom (though there is plenty of pain associated with not seeing her–her mom loves her, but cannot and will not protect her from harm). Now our prayer is that Destine might rely on God and on His Word as she navigates the rough waters of this culture, and that God might be preparing for her a suitable Christian husband, when the time comes.

    She turns 11 this Saturday. I’m encouraging her to think through some options so she/we can celebrate in a similar fashion as you did, Ann, for your 40th. Thanks for the idea, and for all the spiritual encouragement you offer to our family.

    God bless you and all who post here today.

  41. What a beautiful prayer! I am blessed with one daughter, Mary. I asked God for a daughter and he went above and beyond what I ever could have dreamed of.

    My prayer for her was to have a good husband, if it was God’s will. He provided. Abundantly.

    I need to share this with her. She has a 4 year old daughter and just delivered twin girls last month! She told me that she was living her dream!

    Much love, Patty

  42. I ask that you pray for my daughter april she has 2 teenagers 13 and 14 and shes is haveing a realry hard time paying her bills and i pray that you will pray for her and that she trust and loves god always thank you phyllis

  43. Thank you Ann for this bful prayer for daugthers!
    I have a miralce story about my daughter to share:
    For many long years, I prayed for my loving, caring and prayerful daughter who is a twin to her sweetest brother in Seattle) to find God’s chosen soul mate and have own little family. The good Lord found her a good guy to be her life partner and then the wait for a baby began- she was 35 and had had a major Fibroid surgery in India.

    Two years after marriage she and her husband were faced with challenges of a new start in the US . My prayers grew more ardent and fervent She turned 36 in August, and 3 weeks ago she brought into this world two beautiful, perfectly healthy twin boys. A twin herself, and having twin babies when we had prayed for just a baby! Isn’t this a miracle indeed !

    We her parents, have come a long way from India to be with her and help her with the babies. Having had twin babies, we know how tough this job is, but these little cherubic gifts of God are divine and we cannot but help thanking God enough. We now pass on this faith-filled message to all who wait——MIRACLES ARE A WAY OF BEING WORTH THE WAIT !

    My prayer for my daughter is that she remains calm and grateful for the constant presence of God in her life- and that she is pateint and understanding with all around her.

    I alos pray that she understands the impatiience and absence of her mother’s routine activities, that can make me diificult sometimes. I pray for God to annoint my hnads and mind to do the good work I do here and I do in India as a Professor in college –I miss that for now and pray I find a source here to use my God -givens skills so I can do God’s work where ever I am and spread light in me and around me.

    Finally Lord I plce the same petitions for my twin son who is alone in Seattle and misses the companionship and family he so needs. My prayer goes out for all the petitions of my sisters here who pray for their children
    Thank You Lord !
    Amen

  44. I see my baby girl turning away from God. She is full of anger. I don’t want to write too much, only to say that typing this was out of a desperate need for prayer. Please pray for “my girl”. Thank you so much for posting this prayer and I say AMEN to all that you wrote, for your girls and mine. Thank you. Blessings.

  45. Just beautiful!!! I thank Jesus for reaching down and gathering my oldest daughter to Himself in heaven when she was only 10 years old. And I thank Jesus for sending my youngest daughter a beautiful Christian man to share her life and her now 7 children with. Thank you Lord!

  46. I have a little boy of 14 months and no daughters as yet, but I do have students.
    I am the education coordinator at a Christ-based eating disorder treatment facility for adolescent girls, each with their own self-worth and self-image issues. I pray over them each that they would “have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.” In every final letter I write when they discharge, I encourage them to seek the Word and begin to see themselves how God sees them and dare to believe it. If they can grasp His love and see His worth, perhaps they can begin to see their own in Him.
    Your words here have illuminated me to see that I do have rather a mothering instinct toward them. I pray this over them as well – my girls :).

  47. Praying for my two daughters who are grieving the death of their godly father. Praying God will truly be their Heavenly Father in protection, provision, and guidance.

  48. Thank you for this beautiful prayer. I will print it out and pray it without ceasing. My 15 year old daughter is currently living in a residential treatment home struggling with self-harm behaviors and suicide ideation that begin about a year ago. She is a beautiful, sweet, loving girl who is dealing with extreme anxiety and depression with self-image issues. She used to find comfort in God but now feels he has abandoned her. I know that she is being spiritually attacked and that she needs to fight this with the power of the Holy Spirit. So I pray that for her and I ask also for your prayers to help her overcome these demons trying to take her and our family life. At the end of our ropes here. Thank you and God bless you! Diana

    • Diana, just — typing through tears. Yes — know I am praying with you just now for your 15 yo — sisters here, coming together and being His hands and feet and heart, evidence that He is present and weeping with us and nothing is so dark to smother His light.

    • Dear Diana,
      My own beautiful daughter went through a terrible time during her sophomore year in high school. She didn’t feel pretty enough, smart enough, good enough … and she actually told me that she could understand why a freshman at her school had committed suicide. Red flag! I immediately sought out a Christian counselor, and we went for therapy for a full year. This child of mine could only be beautiful, smart, good, and my most precious gift from God. It was a very painful time, but I will tell you that she emerged a much stronger and more confident young lady, more fully aware of her worth in God’s eyes and in mine. I just want you to know that your prayers will be answered ~ do not despair. I think young girls in today’s culture, especially those who do not perceive themselves as “popular”, face tremendous inner pressure. Just keep loving.
      I believe they are the jewels in the crown. They just don’t feel it yet. Keep the faith, Diana!

  49. For her to finish college strong, to take the knowledge and help many through her social work and women studies. To give her a hunger for the Lord and his love.

  50. Prayer that the fullness of God’s love for her will always envelop her heart and be a steady comfort and security in her life.
    Suzan

  51. Such a timely prayer for me. I prayed most of this morning for my eldest daughter, 14. She has the most beautiful pure faith and heart and is finding high school a difficult, hopeless place to be. I pray she will be a light in a dark place; that she will feel His presence with her; and that God would bring a kindred spirit alongside of her.

  52. Ann, once again tears fall reading this beautiful prayer for our daughters – put into poetry in the profound way God gifted you to write. Thank you. Thank you. I join the prayers of other mommas who trust God to bring a godly man into their daughter’s world. My Courtney has saved her heart and body and soul for His man. She’s been in nearly 10 weddings, longing for her own chance to walk the aisle as a bride. Praying on for my daughter – this lady loosed unbound. May God’s men step up to claim godly women as their treasured love. in Him, wildly and continually I hope.

  53. My nine year old baby girl is changing right before my eyes. And wouldn’t you know The Lord is changing me in that too? My prayer after a bump of a morning: when her emotions take her on a wild good chase, Lord let me stay. Keep me from running. Help me recognize and fight the urge to fix her. Show me me in my goldilocks girl. Let me let you love me so I can love her with your kindness and compassion and unending grace.

  54. My dear daughter came to me in foster care weeks before she turned six. I adopted her on her 8th birthday. Just this summer she has hit a rough spot. In fact, just last night got out of the hospital…for the third time in 6 weeks…post traumatic stress from her early years is causing so many bad choices and so much pain…she is such a lovely girl with so much potential…just turned 15 last month. I am a single mom…never

      • Susan – God bless you for being a wonderful loving mom to your precious daughter. Praying for you and your sweet girl who was so badly treated in her early days. It is unfathomable what hurts and heartache some children have to endure. Your love will stand as an example of her Heavenly Father’s love. He knows all she is dealing with and is ready to turn her ashes into His beauty. Praying for her to experience His healing hand, mercy, grace and peace. So grateful God placed you in her life.

  55. We raised six daughters…..and have seven grand daughters. They are the joy of our life. God has been good … The girls learned at an early age to trust and hope in Gods Mercy and Love…. When they see depending only on themselves is fruitless …. Thank goodness they look towards Jesus!! Wonderful article!!! Beautiful words!!

  56. My prayer for my daughter is that, as she prepares for college, she will find good friends (and please, God, a kindred spirit kind of special friend). I pray that her own values and goodness will be appreciated and validated by others along her path. Thank you, God!

  57. Outside this morning, in a temporary dwelling place, I woke to my oldest daughter gently resting her hand on my shoulder, and in those first moments of consciousness I was overwhelmed at my own inadequacy to know and give and be what this precious gift girl needs: How do I build her in the way she is to go, inspire her, comfort her, delight her, encourage her, strengthen her, prepare her? How! As I read, then reread aloud, your beautiful prayer, my peace is restored. His Shalom is restored in me. And He has Hope and Future for her. I am not her sole resource.
    Thank you, Ann, for sharing these words of prayer. Rescued Today > Life Changing.

  58. Thank you for the beautiful prayer. My daughter is far away at college for the first time and facing new emotional challenges each day. She is experiencing her first deep relational loss, so she is hurt and confused and struggling to stay strong in her faith. I am praying that she will feel God’s comfort for her each day, see His blessings for her each day, and trust in His good plan for her each day.

  59. Prayers for my sweet & unique 17 year old, Katie, are on my heart today. Your words fill me, Ann. This was exactly what I needed to read and what I will share with her. An answered prayer is that she knows and loves the Lord. An ongoing prayer is that she know, believes and behaves “not of this world.” Thank you. God bless.

  60. Dear Ann,

    loved this prayer for a daughter. Do you, by any chance, have a prayer for a son, too?

    i am praying for a son and a daughter.

    would love to have a prayer for a son from you, too.

    Thank you, in the love of Christ.

    Roxana Ileana, Bucharest, Romania, Europe.

  61. Beautiful prayer! I am praying for my two daughters today….one whose wedding is this weekend, that she and her husband will honor and love God first and then each other. That they would commit to each other for life and love each other deeply in the good and bad times.

    For the other, who is 18, unmarried and pregnant….I pray desperately for her to do more than know of God, but to KNOW God. That she would walk with Him, listen to Him and be able to trust Him for acceptance, peace, strength, joy….she has some hard times ahead, but joy filled times too.

    Thanks for so many of your blogs Ann, you have blessed me over and over again with just the right words for that day.

  62. as I read this words, the tears poured out. Our oldest daughter (15) has been engaging in destructive and harmful behavior for the past 2 years. She has been homeschooled, in school, and is back at home. I thought we were making progress and working toward wholeness again, but this morning I discovered more activity on our computer that has broken.my.heart. And I’m angry. Scared. Disappointed. Discouraged. Fearful. And I am thankful for my answered prayers, that she would be caught in her wrongdoing. Please pray for us. We are a family in full time rescue mission ministry, meeting needs and living in an small city in northern NJ, and she is a target for the evil one. I feel defeated, even though I’m not.

  63. Beautiful, amazing prayer I was privileged to lift to The Lord on behalf of my precious and precocious 17 year old daughter Jess. She is the definition of joy and laughter, spreads life wherever she goes. So passionate, therefore impulsive and rather filterless, homeschooled and well-protected by a passionate father (she gets it honest). Prayer for protection of that lovely heart that longs for love and romance – to find her deepest joy and peace in Jesus. To fix her gaze on the One who never fails, is always faithful. Thank for your prayers, for all of us! The mother’s heart in us all as we hurt for our daughters, hope for our daughters. Thank you for sharing this journey with us!

  64. Lifting up my beautiful daughters & my nieces, thinking especially of my vivacious and loving niece Allyson, a mere 4th grade, struggling with a debilitating anxiety of some sort; nothing like I personally have seen in a little girl. It’s triggered by change (I believe) and it has turned her home & school & social life upside down, not to mention her mother’s heart (my sis in law, Lisa). LORD, hear our prayers: of restoration to wellness, to this doubt, confusion & struggle to leave sweet Ally’s mind & soul! I pray for God to be glorified in this, that the family will reach out to Him & His mighty power to pull them through. United in Jesus, how beautiful would that be. In His precious name, Amen.

  65. Thank you Ann, Regina and sisters for your prayers and words of encouragement. They mean the world to me. Trying to be strong and keep the faith.

  66. Thank you for this today.
    For my Maggie Jane (6 years old), I pray that God will continue to keep her 1/2 a heart strong. That her amazing love for Him will grow more and more, and that He will continue to allow her life to be a ministry to others. That she will know that she was created with a “special heart” for a special purpose.
    For my Evangeline (3 yrs old), that her childlike faith will grow into an understanding of who He is and that He will become her Savior. She has an intense love of life, and I pray that becomes an intense love of the giver of her life.

  67. Praying that my sweet Emma as a new teen will walk into the destiny God has for her. That she will not allow herself to be defined by others but that she will only listen to the Voice of Truth and in the listening will be joy- filled. That in her lonely times she will press into the Father who longs to fill her every need. May she be her name and bring healing to other hearts through her gifts of service that she can’t be kept from doing. It is part of who she is.

  68. Please pray for my 15 year old daughter. She endures alot of ridicule at school & now things are happening at church that shouldn’t be happening. Her youth group is falling apart. She gave a brave testimony on Sunday, & it was plastered on the Internet. Cyber bullying.

    • Mandy,
      My heart and prayers go out to your daughter; that she will believe first in her Lord and Savior, Jesus. I pray that she knows she is loved by the King!

  69. Thank you, Ann, for once again allowing the incredible Words of the Holy Spirit to infiltrate our hearts and minds. I have a grown daughter named Amanda. I’ve prayed for her all her life. As she has grown into such a beautiful adult woman who loves God I prayed that she would understand the deep intimacy she can have with the Father. He answered that prayer and she blossomed in His love. She is deeply cherished by many. Respected for her courage and integrity. I know The Lord has a great plan for her I ask that God reveal specifics for she and her wonderful husband as the forge ahead eager to use the gifts they’ve been given to be Kingdom people. Thank you, laura

  70. Our adopted daughter, now 30, has rejected us and the Lord. We pray the Lord will restore the years the “locust have stolen” in her life. He can restore…even this. We trust this for His glory.

  71. Your words could not have found a more adequate home. . My heart is crying out for a daughter whose struggles ,at the time ,are great. And yet I know the greater the struggle, the wider His arms open to enfold. A mother can scarcely watch without a crushing sound. Lord, protect our daughters from the storm that seems to overwhelm them . May your love and grace overshadow the struggle and may they find rest in your unearned and gracious acceptance of all they are in Your Image!

  72. Thank you Ann for the lovely prayer. As I have been reading I have noticed many of these mamas have children with anxiety or suicidal tendencies. I have recently read how many issues, especially pshycological ones, are related to THYROID disorders. Often women get tested but the doctors normally don’t run a full panel of tests like an endocrinologist does, so they think their numbers are normal. I know of many people who got their life and normal thinking patterns back after seeing an endocrinologist and getting their hormones straightened out. I would like to add that it can happen to small children, as my close friend has had her ten year old to the doctor for thyroid issues. I just wanted to share in case someone might need this.

  73. My primary prayer for my daughter was that she would come to the Lord at a young age. I am pleased to have seen that prayer be answered. This year, on Mother’s Day, I had the privilege and blessing of seeing my daughter obey God and be baptized.
    My prayer for her now, as she turns 10 this fall, is that she would grow closer to God as she gets older, so that she can weather the storms that are coming her way; that she would know His mercy and grace; and that she would find her identity primarily in who she is in Jesus Christ; and that no matter what happens or what she may choose to do, Jesus loves her.

  74. Prayer for my daughter that has come true….In the height of her rebellious, “I hate anything to do with God or church people”, I prayed that God would reach her heart, bring her to Him, and that she would be completely sold out to him, and willing to serve Him in any way He wanted to use her….with the stipulation that He wouldn’t call her to a foreign mission. She was late middle school/early high school at the time. God did hear and answered…She is now 22, loves Jesus, and is prayerfully considering an opportunity for mission work in the Philippines. God has now had to do a HUGE work in my heart to truly surrender her to Him. 🙂

  75. Amen, Lord, to these beautiful words of Ann! Thank you for her faithfulness and gift of words. Please pray for my twin daughters that are both SAHM’s with their children. Also, a special prayer for my 4 year old granddaughter who has been diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder and anxiety. I want to thank God and praise Him for the restoration that has begun in her already. What an amazing, loving Father we have!

  76. Prayers for ALL God’s children that each may find his/her way to you, Father. For it is in your precious name I pray. Amen.

  77. oh Ann. today i thought i was pregnant and i wasn’t, and i’ve had this vision of a daughter since our miscarriage in spring. my prayer for my daughter? that God would weave her within me when his time is perfect and that, in the meantime, he would make me, his daughter, patient and joyful for the waiting. thank you. love you, e.

  78. I have 3 sons

    ….Praying this prayer for myself today.

    God clothe “this girl” in your a gown of Grace!

    …And all the other daughters pressing towards the prize!

  79. Prayed this prayer for my wonderful, glorious, 23-year-old daughter. She has her private struggles – and they are daunting – yet she chooses to invest in girls from all walks of life and faiths as a volleyball coach at a local high school. She invests time, tears and prayers for these girls. She teaches values such as modesty and excellence in school, kindness, grace and forgiveness as well as teamwork and volleyball skills. She is bread and light to them. I am so thankful for her and covet your prayers as she seeks to be salt and light to some very lost young girls and their families.

  80. I have two daughters,and your words brought tears to my eyes. The oldest is 8 and the youngest 21 months-I pray that I never miss a on opportunity to show them the love of our God, and that His gifts are everywhere if we choose to see them!

  81. Ann each day your words encourage my heart. God uses you in tender loving ways! You are on my thankful list #11 :0)
    Please pray for both of my daughters, they are grown. One has walked away from Christ and one has walked away from her father and I. My heart hurts so bad I have stopped being able to cry any more. The Grace of God will take care of this need, but prayer from you would be so special!
    Thank you!

  82. Ann, So beautiful. Praying this for my daughter today. I think my favorite line is for her to be “clothed in a gown of grace.”

    I’m thanking God for the gift of words He has given you. It was a joy to meet you at Women of Faith. in Anaheim. I have something to share with you but can’t find a place to send a message on your website.

    Blessings on your day and your mama heart.

  83. Ann, I’m not sure I’ve ever read words more beautifully. Your gift of weaving words so eloquently into the hearts the world over moves the Kingdom forward one syllable at a time.

    At the beginning of this year, I claimed Psalm 51:10 to pray over my daughter. She is now 2 and my heart burns with a fiery passion to plant Truth in the soil of her heart so that it bears vibrant fruit.

  84. My two daughters – both still young at 8 and 7 – have the faith of children. My prayer is that the seeds we’ve planted will be watered and deeply rooted in their hearts so that they yearn after God for years to come.

  85. Wow. This prayer is a constant reminder for me to pray for my daughters. I get so caught up praying for my needs and the needs of others, that I forget about my own immediate family when there seems to be no urgent need. I know that I was prayed for by my mother and grandmothers. It is time for me to pass that forward to future generations.

  86. Ann, thanks for these wise and wonderful words that only the Doctor could have ordered for a day such as this. I appreciate you!

  87. Prayers for my daughter who is almost 13. She’s only been ours for five years and spent the first 7 years of her life in chaos and abuse and destruction. Pray for her as painful memories bubble up with more clarity than before. Pray for her as she questions her value in light of her past. Pray for her as she enters the teen years that the life once stolen from her would be restored and that she would value herself. Pray for her as she has big dreams, that she would make the connection between future and present.

    And pray for me – a 27 year old mom already entering the teen years with her daughter. I haven’t a clue!!!

  88. I have skimmed through these comments, and love the encouraging and uplifting comments of those whose daughters are walking with the Lord right now, and bearing fruit for Him….all of these a result of God’s grace working in their lives. I have two daughters, one who has done the former, and one who chose fairly early on to rebel and consequently made some foolish decisions, which have had their consequences. But God has never let her go, and now I see Him working through some tough things to bring her back to him; please be encouraged by the fact that God will never let go of His elect children, and though we fall into sin, reject Him, and go our selfish ways, He is always lovingly upholding us by the power of His Spirit. May you be granted His grace to hold out that tough love, and not look down on them, because but for the grace of God, you and I would be going down the same rocky path. Praying for His
    Spirit to gently draw back those who have wandered and restore them to His family. Never ever give up on God. Thanks, Ann, for all your prayers and encouragement on this thread. Am sharing this prayer for my grandaughter also.

  89. Our daughter is seven…..my prayer for her is that she would know she is beautiful and loved….never by the earthly names etched into her clothes, or the praise she gets on this side of heaven, but that she is beautifully complete because of Jesus blood. May she always be sensitive to the holy spirits leading, always being quick to follow him, and not this world.

  90. First let me say thank you for sharing your wonderful prayer for with all of us. My daughter is 21 years old and will always be my baby. I pray that God continues to use her in mighty way. She is a senior in college and has stood firm in her relationship with her Lord and Savior throughout college when statitiscally 90% of kids go the opposite direction they were raised. I pray that she continues to shepherd others to the love, protection, peace, grace and mercy of God our Father. I pray that as she finishes her senior year, her mind will not be diverted to the unforseen future, that God has a plan for her life and will use her in a mighty way. She has plans for graduate school to become a physician assistant and I pray that if this is in God’s plan for her life, he will allow her to achieve this goal. He has had his hand on her life since she was born at 26 weeks, weighing only 2 lbs. He graciously allowed her to form outside the womb with no physical handicaps or major health problems. God is good, his mercy lasts a lifetime. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Thank you again Ann for this precious, precious prayer!

  91. My only daughter has broken fellowship with me – no contact since July from her or my 3 grandbabies – my heart is breaking – but I am trusting God her eyes will be open and she will return. When you pray “break my heart for what breaks yours, be prepared. Pray for her and children’s safety and for all of them to be restored in fellowship to God.

  92. I have no daughters, but two Princes of the King. What a beautiful prayers to pray over their someday Princesses. I do have a beautiful, newly we’d niece. What joy it would be to see her continue to stand strong in The Lord. As for prayer, somewhere out there is a 5 month old little girl, Savannah Grace, the almost adopted daughter of my precious friend. This little girl’s parents decided to keep her at the last moment. To pray this prayer over her regularly would be a wonderful blessing, as we know her parents don’t have God in their lives. He isn’t done changing lives.

  93. I have 3 daughters and my prayer is that they will love the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind and strength~to love themselves correctly in order to love others all the days of their lives. I would love for you to pray for them too. Thank you!!! Their names are Lydia, Evelyn and Faith 🙂

  94. Dear Ann,

    I prayed , no I begged God to save my daughter from herself using drugs. I was a baby Christian when I learned of her addiction, this sweet, captain of the cheer leading team, this once innocent child who got lost in this dark pit. It was The Lord , me and her bed that I laid across every night. Then would stumble to bed in tears. She was 19. It was our sweet Pastor who came to us and talked to her about Jesus the night before she left for rehab. God answered in a mighty way. A volcanic miracle…we celebrated her one year clean date in Israel as she read scripture years spilled from my eyes onto my Bible. Today she is 25 a graduate from Liberty and is working helping others with addiction. She hopes to be missionary. ALL THE PRAISE AND GLORY BE TO HIM!!!!

  95. I could not go to sleep last night, thinking and, I know I shouldn’t, but worrying about my daughter. I love her so much. She is so sweet and giving, and I want her to be strong and lean on Christ for her plans in life. Her name is Holly, and she’s 22. The pressures in this day and age, even though that sounds cliche, are so difficult. It’s hard…I want her to find a good Christian husband that will lead her and her family. I pray for this and so much more.

  96. My heart cry prayer for my little Aubrey (2 1/2 years) is just that she loves Jesus…unrelentingly…never faltering…always that she loves Jesus and knows Him. A prayer that came true…is that she’s even here…o how we prayed for her…I had not known God as I know Him now before I had children. Grateful for this golden-curly-topped girl of mine. Ann, thank you for this prayer. I remember you posted it before…I printed it out that time and placed it in my daughter’s baby book…because it’s a perfect prayer. Thank you as always for using your gift to His glory. Love in Christ dear sister from the North 🙂

    • beautiful that you see this for her already at 2. It is a beautiful thing to have a mother that desires to raise a Godly daughter. Bless you and her!

  97. My prayers for my daughter…

    That she keep her tenderheart and love that she has at 5 years old. That as she gets older, it doesn’t mean that she becomes hard, or angry, or disappointed. That she’s sees God and shows God’s love…

    “Mom, I want EVERYONE to come to my birthday.”
    “Mom, wouldn’t it be awesome if everyone in the whole world is a Christian.”
    “Mom, that boy on the other team wasn’t saying nice things. I said one not nice thing to him, but then I remembered I shouldn’t do that. So, I stopped.”

    When she’s 13, I pray that she is still saying things like this. I don’t want to believe or feel doomed that it’s not possible.

    I pray that she walk humbly before God and that she is thankful for all he blesses us with everyday.

  98. A perfect prayer for my little blonde three year old princess as she begins school in a foreign country where she does not speak the language. My prayer for her everyday is for strength. Strength to persevere through what must be complete confusion, strength to be gracious in frustration, strength to embrace the joy of everyday life which must surely be a struggle to comprehend. God answers my prayers with beaming smiles and a happy go lucky girl who loves school and is a shining example to her mama! Thank you for a prayer that articulates my hopes for her so much more eloquently than I could have!

  99. My daughter….the most intriguingly, infuriating being put on this planet. She is so funny and so bright, but so mean spirited at the same time.
    She has absent father syndrome since age 2 when the military was more important than our family. Add to that being paralyzed at age 7 from the waist down to an overnight autoimmune disease.

    My greatest desire for her is salvation…so that she may bope and have the holy spirit as her guide. I pray that God would heal her…both physically and in her heart. So that she may see the worth that we see.

    She will be a BIG light if she allows God to do what he needs to do in her.
    It is so hard being a mom to this girl.
    Bless you Ann for this post

  100. Prayers for our daughter who waits in an orphanage a world away for the parents she met in December to return for her and bring her home. God please bless her young heart and give her peace that we will never give up trying…

  101. My sweet trio of girls, 6, 4, and 2. Be blessed beautiful ones with a heart that is only filled by Father, eyes to see yourself as His girl, ears to hear the whisperings of His love song – just for you, and a spirit that longs always – all the days of your lives – for the kiss of His presence. I pray your people, your daddy, me, and your shepherd big brother, would show you the grace and bounty of love that comes straight from the heart of Jesus – just for you.

  102. Thank you so very much. Been a long difficult road around here and I so needed this. Choosing to trust God and let her make her way has been and continues to be one of my greatest challenges. Grace in great supply needed here.

  103. Ann. My first born and only daughter just turned 18, graduated from High school and left Saturday to study for three months across the country then three months overseas ministering to victims of human trafficking. It has only been three days since she left and my heart is breaking. On the one hand we are so proud of her courage but on the other hand not seeing her for six months is so hard. As a mom I just want to pray God just protect her, keep her safe and don’t let her hurt or be sad but ultimately I want God to grow her into who he wants her to be and I know that sometimes it is our loneliness that drives us to a deeper relationship with our savior. My prayer for her is Ephesians 3. That she would be rooted and grounded in love, that she comprehend how wide and deep and long and high the love of God is for her, that she would be filled up with the fullness of God, and finally that she would know that God is abundantly able to do all she could ask or dare to imagine. I want her to grow and learn to cling to the cross for her every need. While a life of comfort would be nice I know that Gods plans are perfect and I want nothing less for my little girl. Thank you for your beautiful prayer. I will add it to my list of prayers for her. Bless you!

    • Kim, I will be praying for you and your daughter! I understand how you are feeling. My daughter is planning on going to Nepal to open a safe house for victims of human trafficking. She wants to move and live there and says she may come home once a year if she can. I am heartbroken just thinking about it. I don’t know how to handle this….I am at a loss….I can’t even imagine not seeing her once a month…how do you go for a year or longer without seeing her? My prayers for you will be daily……You are not alone….

  104. I have two beautiful daughters (18 &21) and a 13 year old son. Both girls have hearts that melt for others, but backbone for their faith. That is a prayer that is answered. But one of mine has such a sensitive heart that the world at times feels dark- and the darkness knocks on her door, making her joy candle flicker. Please pray that she finds more light for the room of her heart as she leans into Jesus, and that she continues to look for tools to push away the darkness. My other daughter longs to know the right path to continue with at uni – I know she longs to knit into His purposes for her life. this is as a prayer from myself as I write. thankyou for standing with me. Thankyou Ann for getting the aches of motherhood and finding the song to sing for us.

  105. oh thank you, Ann!

    What a beautiful prayer!

    My girl has developmental delays, and I know not what the future holds for her, but I know who holds her future.

  106. Ann, you know me and you know my story. God blessed me with 4 wonderful daughters, who though at times are not wonderful to each other. As the mother now of grown women, the challenge and the pain has become different than any I have ever known. I think because you know your time is drawing short and you want so desperately to leave them with everything you can. And of course, as adults they think they know more than you. So I send them all these writings from you and others hoping that it will continue to infuse inside them.

    Thank you for this. Thank you for letting me be “a pest”. You have inspired me to live a life of grace and for that I am forever grateful. My hope is I will leave that grace behind.

  107. Reeling with grief that I did not show such love to my daughter. I tried with all my heart but gave her my brokenness instead. How do I offer it now that the window of her heart is closed to it?

  108. Ann,
    Thank you for the blessing of your beautiful words. This is a prayer for all of us. I will be printing and saving to read over and over again. I have two grown daughters and two grand daughters. May they always know that they are loved and treasured daughters of Christ.

  109. I have two sons but now a lovely daughter-in-law. They lost a baby boy this year. They knew he had too many problems inconsistent with life but loved and carried him to term. He lived 18 hours and our prayer was we would be able to hold and love him, even if for a bit. God answered our prayer in a special way. It could have been so different. But Mama is still grieving hard. Please pray for grace, that is what it will take. Thank you.

  110. Please pray for me, that I get some relief from this fibromyalgia. The pain, fatigue mad depression are somedays just too much for me.

  111. I have two sons but I will pray this prayer for girls and women….for the girl who may be my son’s wife someday.

  112. …praying for a daughter who at age 4 wanted the world to have Bibles with golden pages so they would know the Lord, and at age 21 can not bring herself to recite the Lords prayer….allowing the world to now creep into her heart.

    …praying for another daughter, full of grace, age 19, far from home, but clinging to God’s word each day.

  113. The little girl who played with dolls. The eldest girl who gathered up her young cousins and mothered them. The favorite babysitter who brought a bag filled with games and special treats. The bride, glowing with dreams of a family of her own. A mother prays.

    Empty barreness, endless dreams washed away month in, month out “breathe in grace, breathe out praise”, clinging to hope that this month is different. Poking and prodding, but it is the heart that is wounded not the womb. A mother prays.

    Seven years the locusts have eaten, yet the Lord restores the one seed left to nourish in the womb. The joy and agony birthing new dreams, new life. That little sprout celebrates his 6th birthday Oct 1st. A mother prays… a grandma praises.

  114. Thank syou so much for this prayer. It means so much to know that I am not alone in this and that somebody put into words thoughts and sentences I found hard to develop on my own. A heartfelt THANK YOU!!!!

  115. You couldn’t have picked a more perfect day! One daughter leaves another in Scotland who has just had a second baby and is struggling with breast feeding and will miss her sister terribly. The one leaving has had two lovely months in green England and heads back to the harshness of Central Asia working in primitive conditions in a hospital where babies die daily, with little medical equipment yet she returns to work in this dangerous place. Both my daughters are precious to me – one loves you with all her heart, the other has fallen by the wayside – please pray for the one left behind. Thank you Ann

  116. There are so many heart-wrenching prayer requests here, so many motherly concerns that reflect the heart of God for these dear daughters. My own heart feels their pain, as a fellow mother.
    My oldest daughter knew from the age of about 6 or 7 that she was called to medical and missions. She graduated this year with a double major – nursing (she’s an RN) and sociology, and a minor in global and urban missions. She hasn’t been able to find a nursing job yet. Please pray for God’s direction and for the right doors to open.

  117. My eldest, the age of your eldest son it seems, has flown the nest across the ocean for a year as an exchange student. The separation was messy and not what I expected and now my heart is gathering strength to parent the remaining 5 (+1 – we are hosting a student) not without a little fear of the same scene repeating 5 more times. So I grab hold of hope and a future that breathes redemption and I pray this prayer over my girl gone now and the other three still at home. Thank you for putting words to my heart.

  118. Dear Ann~this sweet prayer brought tears to my eyes. How I love my children and desire for them to know our Savior! That’s my number one prayer for them. My precious daughter came into this world completely blue, struggling with pneumonia and other things…but God was right there, protecting her. It only took a week for her to be home with us. We prayed for God to give us a name for her…a special name that would reflect who she was going to be. Sophia Abigail..”Sophie”…lives up to her name. She is wise beyond her years and has a compassion for those who are “less” than she. She eagerly hugs and talks with the residents at the nursing home, befriends the kids that might be different than others, and has love and encouragement abounding. She makes up little songs about God and sings all the time. Even at night when she’s supposed to be asleep I’ll hear her singing and talking to herself. I have many prayers and dreams for her and my boys…but the hardest thing for me is to entrust her (and my other children, too) to the Lord and let her fall into His hands.
    Blessings to you~

  119. My only daughter, my first-born, was born at 29 weeks….all 2 pounds and 5 ounces of her. We were told she might not live here with us on Earth…..He allowed her to! We were told to expect some sort of physical or mental challenges for the rest of her life…..that was not His plan for her and she has no more of a challenge than anyone else. Our Lord taught me how to let her go into His arms as I had to leave her in the NICU for 7 and 1/2 weeks to grow….taught me a little bit of how He loves us and is still teaching me that as a mama. She is now 13 and has her own, lively and intimate relationship with her Jesus. I will pray this beautiful prayer over her often. Thank you for it.

  120. Thank you Ann. Im so grateful for your beautiful gift. Praying this prayer for myself & my two beautiful girls. May the Joy of the Lord be their strength. Always!

  121. I have two daughters, ages 9 and 7. My prayer for them is that they FALl IN LOVE with Jesus. I pray that they grow into ladies full of grace and ladies that love sacrificially.

  122. Thank you for this beautiful prayer. I have two daughters, turning 11 and 8 this fall.

    One prayer for both is that God satisfies them with His unfailing love each morning so they will sing for joy and be glad all of their days. (Psalm 90:14)

    One prayer that has come true: When my oldest was 3 months old, we prayed for her little hands — the very ones she was then slobbering all over and chewing on. We prayed those little hands would someday point to God’s greatness and praise Him. Today those hands are bigger, and we’ve seen them lifted high in praise to God and pointing to His greatness as her nimble little fingers knit and draw and write and play piano. God is faithful.

    One prayer for my youngest daughter: Pray that God strengthens her faith and overcomes the doubts she has been having about Jesus’ death on the cross. Thank you for praying.

  123. This is beautiful and yet so painful as I have daughters (ages 30 and 25) who have chosen to walk another way, on many different levels. I know that in the free will He gives us we all have that choice to make. So until they allow Him to woo them back, I pray this prayer for me to be accepting, forgiving, and loving. I can only change and work on me. I would ask that you pray for my daughters to fall in love with Jesus again. In the meantime I am searching for Peace in Him, Joy in Him and Contentment in Him and Him alone.

  124. always love your words. So many years of encouragement through your words. My first born has such a hard time with “grace.” She struggles…. she is almost 25. My second daughter who just turned 16…. sees it all as “grace.” Both came from me…. both raised in the same home…. 8 yrs apart…. grace. grace. grace. Oh how I need it daily… every hour.

    Much much love, Ann~

  125. Ann, I have a little girl who we named Chara, because God really did put joy back in my heart using your precious book sister. The enemy stole my joy and God redeemed my life from the pit by starting my own messy list of his grace gifts. She is still very small but is so full of life. We are so excited to watch her develop and become the daughter God wants her to be and your words today are beautiful to pray over her. We are also struggling with the loss of my Mother-in- law and believing in faith that God is going to pay her funeral bill that landed in our lap.
    Here is the story. Please join us in praying and For God to grow us in this and through this. Love to you dear sister! ~ Lori
    http://livingtocarrythecross.blogspot.com/

  126. Thank you as always for such beautiful words of encouragement. Please pray that my daughter, Elizabeth, who was betrayed by her earthly father, will come to again know and trust her Heavenly Father, and live in the light. Thank you

  127. Thanks ever so much, Ann, for your beautiful prayer for our daughters. Striking me hard is your prayer to “nourish her on the comfort food of the Word”. Physical nourishment is our current obsession right now with one of our dear daughters as we walk the trial of anorexia and live the hospital life. My prayer is is for the spiritual nourishment, as you say, “on the comfort food of the Word”, that she will be able to find her voice so that she can live that honest prayer to go “to the lonely, the least, the longing” and be that “thread who will mend brokenness and knit hearts” in Christ Jesus.
    Yes, Lord,may her burden become a blessing.
    And may I start to understand this broken soul, not being wearied or worn down by the brokenness, but seeing her beautiful as You, her Creator, sees.
    One day at a time in HIS strength.
    Barbara

    • I thank God that He promises to be near the broken-hearted. He loves you and your daughter so very much. Take your rest in His arms.

  128. Thanks Ann!
    4 daughters here to pray for (and quite a few prayers for the 2 sons too!). I pray the baby (Sara, 2) would poop on the toilet! 🙂 I pray Anna (5) would make some good, godly little friends in kindergarten. I pray Lydia (11) would feel better — fever and achey today, home from school. Many, many of my prayers, though, are focused on Rebekah (12) who suffers from a pretty nasty case of anxiety and has major troubles falling asleep at night. I wish I could take it from her or free her from it somehow. It’s so hard to watch and to parent. Also she is in need of a good shot of confidence and self-esteem as well.

  129. Thank you for expressing profound truth with elegant words. My prayer for our daughter, adopted at 6 from Russia and now nearly 22, is that she will always have joy, come what may. She has permanent cognitive disabilities due to prenatal exposure to alcohol. Though she looks completely normal, though small, she cannot live life like her peers and will need our daily care for the rest of our lives. Still, she gives and blesses and has incredible faith in God! I am a most blessed mother because she and our two sons–also adopted from Russia–also with special needs–cause me to press in to Christ, relying on His complete provision because I am so weak on my own. Life is often crazy and stressful here but God has brought us safe thus far, and God will bring us home. Amazing grace!

  130. A stunning prayer. A prayer I envelope about my 16 year old. She has suffered, depression, self harm. She knows Jesus but does not seem to embrace Him fully, I wonder if she cannot let go of shame. I long to see Fruit in her life that is consistent, I pray I can always encourage and love her with the mother’s love described in your precious prayer.

  131. Raising 3 beautiful daughters (11, 9 & 7) to be His Grace in this world. Praying that they will ground themselves in Christ. Asking for wisdom as I take my 11 yr old (Lauren) on an overnight trip, just the two of us, to take a sneak peak at what lies ahead for this sweet pre-teen young lady. May He impress upon her heart that it is not all about her but all about His Grace, His Strength and His sacrifice on her behalf.

  132. My prayer is for my 11-year old daughter to always have a HEART for CHRIST. She’s a tween who is drawn to some wordly things (my fault perhaps,.. or at least I have mommy guilt over it): crushes on boys, wanting to wear makeup, wanting to be so much older than she is (she’s the younger of two kids)… Of course, now that I type this out, I can see that I was exactly the same way at her age… boy crazy, wanting to wear heels and makeup, etc. I guess I don’t want her to grow up too fast… to just slow it all way way down… to enjoy her childhood while she still has it. I want her to stay innocent and KEEP a heart for HIM~! She is a bright (outgoing, friendly, vivid personality… total extrovert) in comparison to my introvert-self… so maybe I just need to pray to accept her AS SHE IS, and not try to change her. I don’t WANT her to be like me… so I need prayer (I’m seeing, as I type this) that I will just love her as she is… and that God will do the heart work that is always needed in both of us. Thank you, Ann! LOVE your blog/writing/advice.
    http://perfectlyimperfectsharon.wordpress.com

  133. That she may grow in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. That she may be filled with the Holy Spirit. That she may have wisdom and discernment to know good from evil. That she may always know how much God loves her. That her mind is filled with God, with things that are noble, and beautiful, so that evil stands out as a stark contrast.

  134. I love this prayer, Ann. When my children came into my life through foster care, I didn’t have a lot of information. I adopted them, then met and married my husband and he adopted them. We knew there were delays, but it wasn’t until they’d been “mine” for ten years that we got the diagnosis of Fetwl Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. because of what they need day-to-day, we didn’t get to parent the way we planned, and extended family didn’t and wouldn’t understand the kids’ need for really structured living. Their criticism created chasms. Our son is older – a senior this year, functioning intellectually at about a fourth grade level, and will go into a three year transition program. Emotionally, FASD kids are 1/2 to 1/3 their chronological age and most always need an external brain for all their lives. Our daughter is a junior. Up until 18 months ago, she liked nothing better than to spend her extra time with me, doing whatever I was doing. We were so close.

    Then, like 90% of FASD kiddos, she developed a co-existing mental illness. Hers was a psychosis that plunged her into fear and depression, hospitalizations, medicines that didn’t work suicide attempts. Finally, last November a medicine worked, but then her behavior blew out. She became violent, lost in and loving all the chaos she could create and we knew we couldn’t bring her home hand keep any of us safe. After six months of a placement which we knew was wrong from the beginning, she is now in a high needs care facility about 60 miles from home. Along the way her depression has lifted, she is no longer suicidal, but is still violent on occasion and needs the high supervision she has. She most likely will not come home, but may be able to transition to a little lower supervision. We see her at least once a week and more when we can. A few hours at a time is all that works.

    Oh, how I miss her daily presence in my life, and while I trust she is God’s child more than mine, I fear for her path ahead, and I grieve this change – she left too soon, too sick, and I can’t make it better. We love each other and I don’t know how to mommy part time, from a distance. I know she feels alone and abandoned at times. Pray for us all…

  135. Thank you for this prayer and for praying with us for our daughters. I have 3 girls, the oldest just started kindergarten. She already is facing so many issues of the world and my prayer is for her foundation in Christ Jesus to be solid.

  136. I’m praying for my beautiful daughter Christie who is not walking with the Lord at this time. She needs healing from the pain of divorce from her homosexual husband and the pain of cancer a year later. Though her body has healed her heart has not.
    Come Lord Jesus as we surrender our daughters into His hands.

  137. Ann – how perfectly you’ve captured my heart for my daughter – aged 22, a fearless adventurer, filled with fierce compassion for those who hurt, and a joyful lover of Jesus and the life gift he has provided. She has just started her teaching career in a tiny Montana town – an on-purpose choice for this big-city girl who has longed for the connection and intimacy of a small community. God has clearly gone before her and prepared this place, where she has been embraced by a wonderful church, and her fellow teachers. One of my chief prayers for her is in regard to her future husband – that God will bless her with a life partner who will treasure and encourage all her giftings and who will help her grow in her love for Jesus and for others. We also pray daily that her classroom would be a place of physical and emotional safety for those 11 precious second graders, and even though it is a public school, the presence and peace of Christ would be felt by all who enter. Would you pray with us for that? Thank you for loving Jesus and sharing your heart so beautifully.

  138. I pray the prayer you pray sweet Ann because God has gifted you with putting the deepest part of my heart into words. But must of all I pray my precious 15 year old will have a heart for Him, that she will know He is her ALL and that she will want most what Ge desires for her. I have not taught her that yet but I have taught her in part and I know He is BIG enough to overcome my deficiency. Thank you for loving Gid, for writing about that love and spurring me to love him more fully, to thank him more continually, to rest in His presence.

  139. Incredible prayer. In the midst of a passel of boys, God graciously answered my prayer for a daughter. He answered beyond what I ever could have dreamed. 10 years ago we took a family mission trip to the DR. On our flight home, my then still “little girl”, turned to me as the plan took off and quietly asked, “am I too young to pray God lets me return someday as a missionary to this place”? I swallowed full and said “I think that is just fine with The Lord….” Indeed she did return 3 more times and finally this past summer in the midst of her college education – (Spanish Ed) spent the summer teaching In the DR! Serving some of the least and often overlooked and leaning hard on her Lord! All Grace!!

  140. “Oh, and raise me, Lord, from the deadness of my own sins to love this beautiful girl like You do…” – so true! My husband left 3 years ago (although he is still a presence in our 3 girls lives). When he left God’s grace looked like me no longer parenting from a place of worrying about what others thought about their actions to love and mercy and ME worrying about their hearts. I have learned to love my girls in a way that more closely reflects the Father’s love for them, and in doing their hearts have turned towards Him. In my brokeness, my prayers for my daughters brought forth good fruit. His grace! His Grace! HIS GRACE! Thank you for a prayer that is the cry of this Mommy’s heart!

  141. My precious daughter has already been given to the Lord. Over 18 years ago, my only child, my daughter Kara, died in a car accident the week of her college graduation. She was my only child and I had raised her as a single mom since she was a year old. She was graduating at age 19 with a double major and had a job she was to begin the week after graduation.

    I still love and miss her every moment of every day, but I know we will be together again in eternity. I try to honor her memory and keep it alive as best I can. But there will always be a Kara-sized hole in my heart.

  142. Thank you Ann, for your gift of words that speak for our hearts and to our hearts as moms. I have always struggled with having the right words in my prayers for my daughters, now aged 29 & 24. I finally realized I didn’t have to work at expressing myself to God regarding my daughters when I could just use HIS words as my prayers. A few years ago I took my pile of written prayers based on scripture and put them into a blog as a Christmas gift to them and now they receive my prayer for them everyday in an email. I have had so many seasons of standing on the front lines between the enemy and one of my girls and if it wasn’t for God’s Word, I would be a wreak. My scripture prayers equip me to receive God’s peace – and stab at Satan to get his hands off my child – every morning!

  143. Thanks for this.. I so needed this today, praying this over my little girl who has a learning disability..

  144. Your prayer for our daughters has blessed me today. Thank you for putting words to my heart cry for so long.
    I will be using parts of this prayer when we have a shower for my great GRANDAUGHTER this week. I am praying that the words will sow a passion in all the women there. for my own girls, granddaughters and those of friends. Thank you so much.
    I am praising The Lord for our youngest of 4 who has a passion to intercede and counsel others. Our other three are still grappling with strongholds that caused great separation from The Lord in their teens.

  145. wow! brought tears overflowing as I prayed this for my daughter! My daughter is amazing and I really don’t know where it comes from other than the Father himself, so my prayer is that this that is somehow already happening would somehow continue to happen even moreso. In Jesus, Amen.

  146. Ann,

    Thank you for your beautiful post and the pictures of your beautiful girls, who I pray for all the time. I also have 2 girls, but they are both teenagers, one off at school. I feel like a part of my heart is gone. I emailed this post to her. My younger has the sweetest heart for Jesus and she will ask me about Hope and Shalom if I haven’t shown her pictures in awhile. The prayers that I ask for my daughters are just that they would have a burning need to know Him more always and like Beth Moore says, “just write that blank check every day”. I want them to live that Love is over all and all and really know how much I love them and how Christ loves them even more! You truly cannot imagine what a blessing you are to me and my girls. Erin

  147. Praying these beautiful words for my two sons future wives. I don’t have girls, but I pray the ones that join the family someday will be like this. These are words I want my sons to pray for their future bride and to look diligently for her and wait patiently on the Lord at the same time. My boys are 7 and 12.

  148. My daughter is 35 and living in MN an 8 hour trip from home here in IL. At times I don’t know what to pray for her or for myself for that matter. So thank you so much for the wonderful prayer, your children are so blessed to have you and your husband as parents. I never knew till a friend told me that we can start praying for the people in our children’s future from the time they are born, like praying for the man she will marry and his family too, even though you don’t know who they are. Your daughters are just so beautiful and seem to be full of life there on the farm!

  149. My prayer is for my 11 month old, foster daughter. I pray that she learns who God is at an early age. That there will be someone in her life that shows her who He is, whether that’s me or someone else. I’m praying that, if she does go home, that she is strong enough to break the cycle of addiction and hurt that is woven into the fabric of her birth family. That she will use the strong spirit God has given her to stand against the lies that Satan has planted in the minds of her family members, to stand for truth and peace. I pray that this sweet girl knows that she is LOVED beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she is beautiful, that she was made in His image and therefore is exactly who she is supposed to be.

    Thank you for these words, Ann. They will give me the words to pray for her, even when I don’t have words to speak.

  150. Precious Ann, With tears of joy at your heart beating in tandem with the Fathers, I pray this for my beautiful daughter. Her heart shattered by brokenness in her marriage, she and her small children are now here with us. She was homeschooling and rears them with the same gentleness and loving of Jesus as you do. . Much uncertainty and pain for her and us. Yet our certainty is in Christ who never changes. Today is her birthday. I asked Jesus how to pray. I heard “Pray she comes to know Me as her bridegroom.” His anchor holds and his love is secure. Praying for every daughter and the mamas who love them. He holds us as well as the treasured children we lift up and place in his loving arms. So thankful!

  151. Oh Ann, This prayer is beauty itself. I prayed it for my three beautiful daughters becoming. Becoming who the Lover of their souls has formed them to be. Now, I am going to send it to my precious girls to remind them that though they are far in miles, they are close to their mama’s heart.
    Thank you SO much dear Ann for sharing this glimpse into your heart!

  152. Ann, I do not have daughters, rather, two sons, but beautiful grand daughters, 4 of them. You gift of words is by far the most intriguing and heart touching that I have ever read and I will adopt this prayer for my grand daughters and for myself.

    Oh that we would all be so seeking after the blessings of God for our children in general.

    Bless you

  153. Ann, (I have 2 sons and its a beautiful prayer) but is it selfish for me to pray this for myself, replacing I and me for her and she – as His daughter? , I think that if I would only be a fraction of that prayer I think I would bring Him the most glory. Bless you. Niky

  154. Simply amazing. This was so perfect for so many people today as shown in all the brutiful comments above mine. So many amazing mommas praying for their girls. I am a mother of 2 and my second is my baby girl. She is only 4 years old but has met several struggles already in her young life. She has been diagnosed with several neurological disorders but the most apparent is Apraxia of Speech. She struggles to communicate at an age appropriate level on a daily basis. We have seen such growth and success over the past two years. I have always and will always trust that God put this little “miracle” girl in our lives for a greater purpose. She has taught me so much in her short time on this earth. My prayers for her are that she is able to use her testimony to minister to many in her future. She is a beacon of light in her world and is beyond engaging. She has endless possibilities in her life and I pray she makes the most of every situation. I pray she is an example of LOVE in all her encounters. I pray she doesn’t stray from His word and the lessons she is taught as a child and young woman in Christ. The future holds many possibilities and I pray she follows Christ through all her years.
    Thank you Anne for these inspiring and LOVE filled words. Thank you for allowing God to minister through you to all of us. It is such an enormous blessing and I am so very grateful. Praying for you and your daughters today.

  155. Our precious daughter has forsaken the God of her youth and her first love, and now attends a church that celebrates her lifestyle. She has also surrounded herself with those who approve. I pray Psalm 139 for her. We serve a God who pursues–alleluia!

  156. We have a beautiful, 14 year old daughter, Zoe Abigail, that has struggled much this past year. Always homeschooled, in a tiny town, all of her friends have gone on to public school and to new friends, leaving her alone (save for our family and her relationship with God & Jesus). I would love to see her blessed with a Godly friend(s) and most of all, to see herself through God’s eyes. Thank you for your beautiful prayer today and all of your Godly heartsharing with us.

  157. Ann,

    God blesses many with the words He writes through you! Thanks to you and Him!

    I intentionally thank Him daily for the daughter who walked away from our family. Although we were not enough for her, He is and He is faithful to complete what He began when He placed her in our home. So each day I pray for Him to open the eyes of her heart because I know when that day arrives these earthly relationships will begin to stand a chance. Without Christ, there really is no hope BUT my hope is in Him and I rejoice that He’s got this!

    May the Lord bless our dear daughters…the ones who remain close and the ones who need to know His love. I also thank Him for being near the brokenhearted…because losing a child no matter the circumstances tears a mother’s heart to pieces!

  158. i wasn’t blessed with a daughter but i am one and i know my dad prayed over me when i went rogue as a teen after my mom died. he continued to pray and at 35, i lay down at the Lord’s feet, world weary with a renegade husband and 2 sons who are both in His hands, whether they roam near or far.

  159. Precious Ann,

    Praying this prayer poem over my sweet grown daughter who is now carrying her own daughter, her first little girl, our first granddaughter who will be born early December. Girls are treasures, tender crystal dew drops of our LORD to distill His green earth. Praise Him!

  160. Ann,
    Thank you for your daily love given in your devotions. I am responding as a daughter today with a mom who is nearing life’s end. We lost dad 6 months ago and the journey of grief with my mom has been tough. We know he is in heaven but our hearts miss him so. Especially my mom. She has declined since his death and I have been the strong one it seems for the whole family. Today I woke so down and exhausted I was a bit scared. My mom and I are kindred spirits with a heart connection I share with no one else. I know losing my parents would be hard. Very hard. But sometimes I feel out of all resource to be strong. Your words of Christ’s love are very encouraging and comforting. Thank you!

    • Chelly, I pray for your strength…I’m so sorry that you lost your dad. I lost my beautiful mom, my best friend, 10 months ago. She wasn’t sick…it was sudden and due to a fall. It’s very hard for my dad. He is doing his best but misses her so. The journey of grief is very hard. Even though we know they are in heaven and at peace…our heart hurts. God will give you the strength you need, as He is doing for me. Lean on Him..may the Lord bless you.

      • Tracy, thank you for your words of understanding. I too will pray for you. We know that the Lord loves us so completely that we will come through these days. Changed I am sure but strengthened in faith and spirit. God Bless You!

  161. Beautiful Prayer and I echo it for my daughters and grand daughters. I also pray that they will see and know God as their Father who loves them more than any one on earth can.

  162. This is so beautiful!
    I really is the song of my heart!

    I have two daughters- one here on earth (6weeks new) and one in heaven (4 1/2 years ago).

    I prayed that The Lord would give me a daughter to hold and He did.
    Now I pray that He helps me to be the mother she needs for God to be glorified and for her to run after Christ wholeheartedly … To do his will for the rest of her life.

    Can I use this pray at my daughters dedication?
    Let me know via email!
    Thank you
    Monica

  163. Thank you Ann for your beautiful prayer. I have prayed Colossians 1:9-14 over my 2 daughters since they were small. They are now 38 and 41. Each has grown with endurance through trials and has gained wisdom and ais continuing to delight in the Lord. My heart rejoices over God’s faithful training, sustaining love, generous grace in their lives. One has a young family and teaches in a school filled with “the least of these”. The other is single and has been led by the Lord to many places in the world to show His love and grace to the poor and broken. Oh how He has answered my pray. His steadfast Love endures forever.

  164. Wow…you have put into words….poetry really, what is in my own heart……thank you for your gift of creative writing and doing what God has surely equipped you to. My 2 daughters….my princess and ballerina….20, and at a Christian college, and 14 in public high school and both Christ followers trying to live grace. and mercy. and love. and my prayer is for their future husbands and careers and ministries….and my heart is full of wonder at the treasures our children are. We get to be moms!! Ah….what this heart of mine has prayed over the years….and I continue to do so….and get so encouraged by reading or hearing how other moms pray. Thank you Ann for your heart of a mother and for sharing that heart with us. God bless you! In His Name, Faith

  165. Blessings seem to always come as I read your words. Please pray for my daughter to establish her life with God. As I seek His will in my life I will use your prayer to remind me I am His daughter too. So many gifts each day to be thankful for!

  166. Lord God I pray for my daughter to be drawn to you. That you would open her eyes and help her to see you and I pray that she would desire to be obedient to Your holy and perfect will for her life. I pray that she would see herself through Your eyes and not through the eyes of this world. I pray that you would restore her relationship to her husband and enable her to be the woman, the wife, the mother, the daughter that You need her to be. I pray Your holy and perfect will in every area of her life.

    The one prayer that has come through is that she has been able to overcome an eating disorder and was able to get pregnant and have two sons.

    Please pray that her marriage could be restores…that she would make the choice to honor the vow she made before God…that she would surrender her life to God and that she would become all that he desires for her to be.

    Thank you Ann

  167. One prayer for my daughter was that after an abusive marriage was that her second marriage be to a godly man. Our prayers were answered. Now she is suffering from a systemic disease and needs relief from pain and disability. Her husband is totally dedicated to her happiness, and they and we are praying for that relief.

  168. Please pray for my daughter, April, who is getting married on Sunday at 5 p.m. She is the last of my four daughters to marry and my desire is that God will be glorified in this celebration – that those who are there who don’t know the Lord will see Jesus.

  169. My 20 year old daughter has left the nest this Fall and is studying part time at Tyndale. She went through a very difficult stretch with a burnout/depression the last year and a half in an anti-God, secular environment in a Quebec college. When I heard her say, “I’ve always believed in God, but now I BELIEVE God”, prayers were answered. She has come to experience God’s love and grace very personally. I know she will be blessed by this prayer. Appreciate prayer that she will be able to find a needed job and wonderful balance and joy in her work, studies and ministry this Fall.
    I have become acquainted with you Ann through your books and website in the last year and do so appreciate the journey travelled.

  170. Beautiful…just beautiful, Ann. I have four girls- my oldest girl turns 15 soon and baby girl just turned 1 last week. I named her Charis because I can now testify that all is grace. 🙂 I am a work of grace.

    This prayer…yes. Your words embraced by my heart and lifted to the Father for my daughters. Oh that they would make Jesus their aim every.single.day – trusting Jesus is enough and never knowing a ladder only bent knees to the least of these for His glory!

    You minister to me…His love and grace to you and your family.

  171. Thank you for these beautiful words, I really needed to hear them! I will be praying this from now on!

  172. Beautiful prayer for all of our daughters! My husband and I have been in fervent prayer all summer for my daughter Gabby who has become involved with a man who has a long criminal record, and is still involved in criminal activity. She doesn’t see that this is not a good relationship for her, and this has caused a separation between her and my husband and I. I know that God makes all things work together for good, and He has a plan for her, but many days I struggle to remember his promises. Thank you for this, a prayer I can pray for her daily.

  173. The prayer for a daughter was so touching and just beautiful. You have me sobbing at my computer tonight. Ann, my 12 year old and I are a mess. We have been through a lot, especially in the past two years and our relationship has somehow become severed. I want to just hold her so very badly, but she just pulls away. We are both very sensitive people and our hurts are many. We can’t even carry a conversation without arguing about everything. She is very defiant with me and disrespectful. I am just very depressed, sad and grouchy, and many times just feel like throwing in the towel as it seems that no matter what I do to try and repair that nothing works. I pray for God’s help all the time, but I still feel like I have failed her. It’s just so very sad because we both know how we are expected to behave towards one another, but even though it may seem to be getting better at times, we just seem to keep sliding backwards. She goes to a christian school and I have a counselor that we discuss the situation with, but it’s just not enough. Ann, even though I pray to my Father, I know that I am to study his word and attend church, but somehow I have dropped off and all I want to do is just stay home. I am drained by all the stress from a past illness and surgery, losing my job, trying to cope with a child who has mild ADHD and is very defiant. Please Ann, if you would just pray for us both, but especially my Briana. She is so beautiful and I love her very very much. Please pray for her and I will continue to pray also. Thank you so very much for sharing your beautiful prayer. When I seen the title in my inbox, I just knew that God was calling me to open it and pray and to reach out for help. Thank you…thank you…thank you and God Bless you and yours.

  174. Thank you Ann , for so much ! I praise God on a daily basis for using you to move us closer to Him . I crave more of Him after reading A Holy Experience everyday . I am broken by seeing my 35 year old daughter walk away from church and taking my 3 grandsons on her lonely , empty journey. I am praying for her to realize what is REALLY missing in her life this last year . Trips to Disney. New rings or the latest upgraded iPhone isn’t cutting it ! Dear Lord , hear our many prayers for our daughters . XOXO

  175. I am a homeschooling mama to 5 kiddos, a woman well-acquainted with her faults and holding tight to Jesus as He makes all things beautiful in His time…I need others praying alongside me for my third-born daughter. This beautiful 11 year old has recently decided to follow Jesus and is now experiencing the difficulties of letting the Lord refine her. I pray that she will know who she is in Christ, that He would help me to speak His words of truth over her, that she would hear Him rejoice over her with singing, and that she would learn to recognize the voice of the liar and combat him with the truth and beauty of Scripture. I pray for all of my daughters that they would be wholly His and learn to rest fully in His love and grace. Thank you, Ann, for penning a prayer that will stand in my home and be prayed often for my precious girls.

  176. Thank you for such gifted words. I pray daily for my daughter who is at college for the first time across the country from me living on her own. At 18 years old it is so difficult to let go. Fear is such an enemy…fear for her safety and her making right decisions and continuing to put God in her life….daily turning her over to His hands. I pray for His safety and His path. Thank you for sharing your life with me through word. God bless Ann!

    • prayers of mothers – cross hundreds of thousands of miles. Turn every thought and every breath over to the LORD. He will hear you and carry your daughter through this time. Never lose sight of Isaiah 41:11… God bless!

  177. Please pray for both my girls. One 15 just baptized this summer but all closed in. Hard to have talks I feel like I’m failing at nurturing her in Christ. Very wrapped up in texting. Also daughter 21 doing fine in last year of college but spends no time w other Christians. For Botha hunger forGod

  178. GOD answered prayer for our daughter to come home. We received her as an infant through adoption, then after three days we had to give her back. In brokenness of heart we cried out to the LORD for her life. Psalm 71 guided our supplications. Through a series of events only GOD could orchestrate, she returned home 40 days later. She is now eleven years old and we continue to praise the LORD for her deliverance and His faithfulness.

  179. such timely prayerful words! Thank you for sharing. I am a late- first time-mother to a beautiful dancing toddler daughter….who amazes us daily. I pray for my own ability to be the mother she needs….to be filled with Godly wisdom in teaching, leading and loving her. At times it feels like more than I can handle – which is when I turn it over to God who is more than able.

  180. I read this today as I rocked our first baby girl today. We already have 2 boys and feel so blessed to have a baby girl! My heart overflows! Thank you for these words! I plan to print them out and hang them in her nursery as a reminder of how to pray over her.

  181. Dear Ann,
    I read your prayer for your daughters and all I could think of was how blessed your daughters are to have you as a mother. I would love to have had my mother pray that for me.
    I have never been married so don’t have any children but I felt as if God was praying that prayer for me when I didn’t have a mother who believed in Jesus.
    I am constantly amazed at the words you share. They are such a blessing!

  182. I am a mom to 12yr twin girls and a 10 yr girl. My little one gets hurt by other girls who try to leave her out. She has such a kind and tender heart. I hurt when she hurts and I pray that God will give me the right words to comfort her and give her strength. My older two suffer with poor grades due to ADHD and borderline Aspergars. Their dad and I are divorced and both of us have remarried. We have joint custody and a strained relationship. I pray that God give my girls strength, peace and comfort in their times of need each and every day and that HE help me be a strong mother who they can lean on for support. Thank you for your prayer.

  183. Oh Ann! How lovely and encouraging. My sweet 10 year old and I have some rough times occasionally. I have a 6 month old too and 3 others in between – hormones for the both of us??? Hard to motivate her sometimes for homeschool and her amazing gift of leadership is still being shaped. God has beautiful plans for this one. Why do we clash? You know I love her to pieces! Is everyone harder on the first born? I love all of you mommies out there! Praying for God’s mercy and grace for us all. I just really want to step out of His way and so often I dart back into it! Thanks for prayers my sweet sisters! She’s only 10… Already! Does this get harder??

  184. Ann,

    Thank you so much for this prayer. I am mother to a beautiful 15 year old. Last night was a tough night in the mom department. My heart hurts for my daughter. She seems so angry and disconnected. She is dating a boy that doesn’t help her to be her best self and I am worried about the choices she may make under his influence. She has lost many friends due to this boy and feels very lonely because of it. She has had issues with cutting in the past and made an attempt to take her life last year. I opened my email this morning to this prayer and knew God was speaking to me through you. I pray for my daughters safety both physically and mentally as we walk through this time in our lives. I love her and only want the best for her. Thank you again for your powerful words and the work you do. You truly are impacting lives in a positive way for Christ. God’s greatest blessings to you.

  185. Thanking you for this offer of prayer as I approach my adopted daughter’s 18th birthday at the end of this week. She is still healing from the death of her birth mother when she was 4. Our relationship at times, beyond the usual teenage ‘angst’ bears this strain. I pray she will eventually “forgive” God for her death- but in the meantime she keeps her distance. I pray an extrA helping of grace upon her as she “comes of age” and feels the need to test this.

  186. Dear Ann,
    Thank you…thank you for your words and His words that resonate so deeply through you to so many of us. I look forward to praying this prayer over my 10 year old daughter, that these words of truth would enter and touch her soul, too. God has blessed my Lilly with such a tender, compassionate heart, and I pray that He would lead her to use it mightily for His purposes. She would be one who would be willing to go down the ladder–while my sin-filled nature is too alive to the ladders that could be climbed. I pray that God continues to woo Lilly closer to Himself, that she would know that she is the daughter of the King who loves her unconditionally, that she would never seek approval or identity from anyone or anything else. I pray that she would experience the joy that comes from doing His will and living for His glory. I pray that I can love her unconditionally and well–in the ways that He has created her to be loved, that I can see her through His eyes and not be afraid of phases that might cause me to become rigid and legalistic with her, and that I can love Him well enough for my precious daughter to desire such a love relationship, too. Thank you for your faithfulness and obedience in prayer and praise, Ann.

  187. Thank you for sharing what The Lord has laid on your heart as you pray for your daughter. The Lord uses you to encourage others greatly. I do not have a daughter. But, this prayer brings to mind my Cousin and my Aunt. Both desperately need The Lord right now. Your prayer for your daughter sums up my Uncle’s prayers for his wife and daughter (my cousin). Please pray for all of them – especially that my Aunt and Cousin would turn to JESUS, and become His daughters. Thank you again for Blessing us with your posts and emails. I pray that The Lord continually showers His Blessings upon you and your family.

  188. Just beautiful. I pray this for all of my daughters. But right now, my precious 12 day old daughter is in desperate need of prayer. You can learn the specifics of her condition and status at wraymomma.blogspot.com or Praying for Baby Lenah on facebook. I appreciate the fervent prayers of any and all believers who are willing to pray for her.

  189. I will send this on to my daughter but not before I pray it for and over her. She is very comfortable with a pen or pencil in her hand or fingers dancing on the keys tapping out words on her blog. She some what reminds me of your writtings and style. My prayer is that you and all who read here pray for her that she return whole of heart to her first LOVE, Jesus. And that she learn again to trust Him with child like faith.
    Thank you for your work and sharing it with the world. Gifting others and being gifted again and again.
    loving you, loving Him, loving others, loving self.
    All in Him

  190. Dear Ann,
    Two and a half weeks ago my beautiful daughter’s full term baby girl died in her womb due to the cord wrapping too tightly around her little leg. My precious daughter lost her precious daughter before she could ever hold her in her arms. We are so broken in grief and confused . God feels so far away.

    • Tammie,
      I am so sorry to hear of such a great loss…. God may feel very far away, but His Word promises the opposite. Talk to Him and tell him the great sorrow you feel. I am praying He will wrap His arms around you during your grief.

  191. Such a beautiful prayer! My own girls are just 2 years old and 7 months old, but it is my heart’s desire that they know Jesus and follow hard after Him all the days of their lives (I pray the same for their big brother too; 3 years old). Like you, I pray that God will strengthen me to be the mother these sweet babies need. Not always easy in these “little years,” but He is able….so I am able. 🙂

  192. I am in awe at the beauty and depth of this prayer…thank you for putting words to my heart’s desire for my daughter, who is 6. There are many moments where I am pleading with the Lord to not let me “mess up” this child or her brother…and I am so thankful that in His grace He fulfills His purpose for our kids despite our shortcomings as parents! Printing this out and praying this over my sweet girl…a precious gift from our Father!

  193. My daughters are 27 and 24. We homeschooled them, they both attended Bible colleges, both are now married, living on either coast while my husband and I are here in Wisconsin. We continue to pray our daughters walk strongly and gracefully in the Lord. We have prayed in the good times and the bad (including our oldest being raped 2 years ago–God uses all for good and she has forgiven her perpetrator even when the justice system failed her; I am learning from her how to forgive). My daughters are such beautiful grace gifts to me… motherhood is still the hardest blessing/job you’ll ever love, even when they are grown! Ann, I thank you for your beautiful prayer for daughters. I met you in Minneapolis’s Set Apart Conference and you signed a book for my oldest (a treasure–thank you) and I hope to introduce you to my youngest at Women of Faith in Portland. OR in ten days! God’s blessing to you and your lovely family.

  194. thanks Ann. i dont have kids, but this is very precious, and i feel like praying that for the children and youth God lets me work with sometimes.

    something that really stands out to me in this prayer is about being “dead to all ladders”. it seems very strange and freeing at the same time. i wonder how you came to this

  195. Thank you for this beautiful prayer. I need this today. My 17 yr old daughter is struggling with anorexia – actually she is not fighting very hard against it. She has pushed me away and leans hard on her 22 yr old sister. My 14 yr old twin daughters are watching all of this. I am so confused (and struggling desperately with guilt). Please pray for us as I pray this prayer for each of them.

    • I hear you too with your struggles. Praying Gods peace and blessing on you and your family. Protection and understanding for your other daughters. Your words echo my heart particularly the guilt I know how you feel I pray you find help and answers as I do for my situation too.

  196. Your way with words is an amazing gift! Thank you for sharing it with us. I will pray this over my little girl who is just about 5. I am so incredibly blessed to be her mom.

  197. Dear Ann,
    How did you know? God knew. My eldest daughter (13) boarded a plane alone in Edmonton headed to Ottawa (alpaca camp bound) at the exact moment your post went online. I needed this today. Thank you! My jitters are gone…she is taken care of.

  198. Thank you for putting my thoughts into words… I have 3 daughters, 11, 10 and 7 (and a son 8 years, too, to whom I have saved your words for sons from aholyexperience)
    My prayer is that my daughters would be compassionate to those around them and that they would learn to be thankful regardless of the circumstances. My 11 years old got an arthritis juvenile and as a result we had to return back home from a mission field. It was devastating for us all. Yet, God has shown us his love by reducing her pain and showing her and us in many other ways how He is in control even when things don’t go the way we wanted.
    Thank you Ann for writing such beautiful words to your blog almost daily, I read it here in the northern corner of the world, in Finland. It nurtures my soul and gives hope.
    Blessings,
    Soile

  199. The prayer for daughters really touch my heart, i’ve always prayed for my two daughters protection and God to lead them to His ways. it’s really amazing that when i offer them to God i see the miracles of His works. My eldest one has gone to NL and Norway to work and travel and i was so surprised of a turn around of her character, she’s changed from a stubborn to a responsible worker of God in her church now. My youngest continues to lead a small groups in her office and community. AMAZING GOD! truly my Lord and Savior!

  200. Wow! You are gifted with words Ann. You have found your place in the body of Christ as the writer!!

    Blessings to you and to your girls Ann.

    I pray for my little sweetheart, that she too would find her role in the body of Christ.

    That she would not compare herself with someone she was never intended to be.
    (1 Corinthians 12)

    I pray that I would be the mother she needs.

    I pray that above all, she and I, that we would wear love.
    (1 Corinthians 13)

  201. I have been crying and moved to prayer through the comments here and your beautiful prayer Anne… remembering my own difficulties when I was younger and thinking of my daughters, one five and full of love and joy but having a hard time fitting into a new school in a foreign country, and one still in the womb; so many challenges to face in this world, such a responsibilty as a parent – but God will always be there for us, so full of love; I pray for you all and that my own daughters will grow up above all trusting in and full of Jesus’ love.

  202. As I breathed for her; resuscitating her near-lifeless body at birth, my heart cried out “oh God have mercy…” the rest of me was too busy to speak. At that time I did not know: in the horrific pains of that childbirth my wife audibly heard the voice of Jesus tell her that if she will just enure a little longer, the child will live. 16 years later my daughter is wonderfully alive, talented, beautiful, heart-sold-out for God. For reasons of His own, God has been more than merciful– He has been abundant and lavish in showering my dauhgter’s life with His life.

  203. It was God’s love alone that brought me, through the prayers of my parents and Godparents I am sure, through the darkness (anxiety, self-harm and doubt, anorexia etc) I struggled with when I was growing up; answered prayers indeed. Thank God! and trust that He will do the same for all our daughters.

  204. For a daughter who is lost and alone. Struggling with anxiety and I suspect anorexia. Lord help her to see your truth and love for her. Help her to realize that she needs help and there is no shame in trusting others.

  205. This was incredibly timely. I’m praying for my daughter who is carrying her first child and our first grandchild. We found out this past week that it is a little girl, but there are complications and the baby might not make it. So praying for strength for my daughter who loves God but is struggling with this sadness.

    • My heart breaks with yours; with your daughter’s. I took your burden to the Lord in prayer. Thank you for being a loving, caring mother; you are a blessing to your daughter.

  206. Ann,
    you have truly been gifted with a way with words. I instantly connect and feel just exactly what you are trying to express when I read your words. My prayer for both of my daughters, ages 14 and 11 is that they would see fully that their Savior is not just some God to go to when they are in need but that he truly desires to have a relationship with them. They both accepted Christ as young children but because of this struggle because their was no outward conversion moment. They are on a journey towards knowing him more and more each day, I see it. My prayer would also be that their daddy and myself would presesnt ourselves as models of living a life of loving. Both of my daughters are so unique and I cannot wait to see the tapestry that Jesus weaves with their lives-the good, the bad and the ugly…I know it will be beautiful!

    Again, thank you for sharing yourself so openly with us…

  207. Weeping and praying for my 3 daughters, especially my 15 year old. Praying that she would have a deep revelation of God’s love for her, and that He would heal her from her wounds as only He can do.

  208. So beautifully written. Will be forwarding this on to our 5 incredible, amazing daughters. Also blessed with 5 sweet granddaughters and praying for early transformation in their young lives. Thank-you, Ann for your wisdom and truth through the written word.

  209. Ann–

    God bless you for these words!!!

    They’re such an encouragement to me. Each stanza so much of what I crave for my own soul. I have no daughters, but I have a mother, and it is my prayer for her, as well as for myself, as well as for every soul I encounter.

    Thank you for your transparency and love. Jesus has used you so profoundly in my life, and in so many of my friends’ lives. Eucharisteo strengthened the foundation upon which I stand.

    Have a beautiful, Christ-filled day! Thank you so much!!!!

    -Julia

  210. My prayer for my daughter is that she will fall in love with Jesus more and more each day and be drawn into the wonder of living in the kingdom of His grace. One prayer answered is that she stopped running away, because God changed who I am and how I parent, by teaching me that love is patient and love is kind, and if I’m not being patient and kind, then I’m not loving my daughter, no matter how much I think I love her. Please pray that she will guard her heart, our hearts and her relationship with our Father and that we will be fountains of our Father’s perfect love that casts out all fear in her life. That He would give her unprecedented, unparalleled wisdom, kindness and grace. Thanks Ann 🙂

  211. May God bless my daughter and draw him close to himself, that she may always know his love, and desire to show his love to her husband and little family. May he deliver Her safely of her third child due very soon.
    May God bless my daughters in law also as they learn more of His love, and minister to their families also.
    Lord, please be with my family, especially my sisters, (and brother) that they may know and love you, and want to pass on your love also to their families.
    Father, please be with me as I mind little grandchildren, and show them your love.
    May He be close to you Ann also as you minister and school your children. May He bless you all and keep you all in His Love and Care.
    Thank you so much for your willingness to share God’s love and your thoughts with us, that we are so encouraged in our faith.

  212. I’m walking with my daughter through a very dark valley (right now…as we speak!) and this came right at the perfect time (and we know God’s timing is always perfect). Thank you. I cannot wait to let her read these words and tell her I prayed them for her today.

  213. Dear Ann,
    I love how God uses you as an instrument in my life. I am adding my two daughters {13 and 11} in this circle of prayer – that Christ remains strong in them, guiding their journeys. Thank you for your wisdom, hope, and never-ending inspiration.

  214. I am thankful for the gift our Father has given you Ann to pen this prayer, to write a prayer so many of us Momma Bears are experiencing. I have twin daughters, now 18 and their paths are now separating…one boarding a plane tomorrow to cross the ocean and one remaining here. But so thankful they love Jesus and are listening to His voice. Your prayer came in God’s perfect timing. Thank you, as I will be praying this prayer over my daughters.

  215. Oh, Ann, as usual, this is… as you are… beautiful. And yes, I have a daughter. She came as part of a special package deal, just for me, when I married her father. This, too, my prayer, my heart, for her. She is beautiful in spite of me. I wasn’t walking nearly as closely to God when she was young as I am today. No more shame, though, because God’s plans for her are perfect and so much greater than anything I could ever even begin to mess up! Praise Him! For His Grace….

  216. Hello from Jakarta, Indonesia. I am a homeschooling mother of 3 beautiful girls. I love them so much that it hurts. There were too many times when I felt I was not worthy enough to raise these children of the King. After all, I am a broken person myself. How can a broken person like me lead my girls to one day be His beautiful brides? God has been using your entries to help me to stand up again every time I was about to give up. Now I make it a habit to try to see anything, just anything I can see around me, and be thankful for it. I have pressed on in my life in raising them for Him by holding on to the truth that “I am saved, forgiven, and accepted; thus, my life is an offering of thanksgiving. Thank you for this beautiful prayer for a daughter. I shall start my own soon 🙂

  217. I don’t have a daughter of my own but I am the godmother of a 12 year old named Rosario – called Chayo. Her mother died 1 1/2 years ago. My heart swells with hope and love for her. Next month she will be 13 and I can see that a young woman is emerging. Your prayer comes as an inspiration to write my own prayer for her to give her on her birthday. I hope to convey to her how infinitely precious and beautiful she is to God. Please pray for Chayo in regard to living an unsupervised life at home, and against the temptation to be special because she is pretty or popular, all those teenage trappings. Pray for me to guide her lovingly and to impart God’s ways as the road to fullness and richness of life.

  218. Thank you for this wonderful prayer. My daughter is 27 and I am very thankful for what God has worked in her heart but of course keep praying. I have recently read “Satan You Can’t Have My Children” by Iris Delgado. I would highly recommend it! I only wish it had been written 27 years ago! It is the best over all child raising book about to be found! But in it she especially talks of the spiritual battles we are in and how there is power in the Word of God. I myself have taken the Apostle Paul’s prayers in Ephesians and Colossians and pray them for my 5 children. He is able!

  219. I pray for both of our daughters with full-time jobs, beautiful children, and far too much stress in their lives. Our daughters were answers to our prayers and to my mother’s, who so desperately wanted to be a grandmother and who died while they were still young children. I pray for them because I don’t think they take the time to pray for themselves amid all the scheduling that needs to be done.

  220. Ann,

    I love this prayer and so wish to hang it up in my daughter’s room. Please pray that she will have a heart that seek Him earnestly. We are struggling with her wanting to do her own quiet time/reading of His word. I am a single mama and sometimes get so busy we do not do our bible study together and that breaks this mama’s heart. Please pray that we will slow down and make the time so that I can show her what/Who is most important.

    Thank you

  221. To answer the question… above my sink is this verse: “Cause L and her sibling to be devoted to one another in brotherly love, honoring one another above themselves.” – adapted from Romans 12:10… as I wash dishes and don’t have my head down, but up… I see this, I pray this, I contemplate my role, or not role in helping this to happen. Sometimes I get in the way more than help this. Come Holy Spirit and work in their hearts- that is another one.

  222. I am not a mother yet, but as a teacher, God has entrusted me with countless mothers’ daughters. Praying this for them. May they know the love of God and see it in me. May they grow deep roots, stand firm against the storms of pressure they will face, and capital k KNOW they are beautiful, valuable and loved. I may not be able to preach the gospel to them in words, but may the precious daughters I serve daily see the gospel preached in my life.

  223. As always, your words are beautiful and theologically sound! I am the mother of four girls and one boy (5 months to 8 years). It seems that God wants my husband and I to produce more life-bearers! So, first and foremost, I pray for my daughters’ salvation at a young age so that God may guard them from painful consequences of some sins that are difficult to recover from. Two of them have already trusted Jesus as their Savior; one was baptized on a Father’s Day and the other was baptized on the following Mother’s Day! Now, I also pray for all of them to have a purity of heart that shows in the decisions they make. And one day, I pray that they find godly husbands who will lead them and provide for them. I pray that my girls discover that whatever opportunities they may have in ministry, the greatest gift God may give them in ministry is in their homes, loving their husbands and nurturing and training their children!

  224. A prayer for my daughter that has come true: She is filled with joy.

    An ongoing prayer: That she would know her worth is not something to strive for but a reality to live from.

    I so enjoy this dialog about praying for our daughters!!!

  225. Thank you for this post. I enjoy all of your posts, but this one hit pretty close to home and challenged me to pray daily for my girls.
    A prayer for my daughters age 9 & 7: that they would always know God loves them and that He created them in His image so they should never be ashamed of who and whose they are
    A prayer answered: friends at school who also love Jesus and who will encourage my girls in positive ways

  226. The Lord so uses your words in my life…words in season just this week …I had a prayer for my older daughter..that she would have a faith like Ruth’s, hand’s like Lydia’s, the beauty of Tirzah, and a heart like David’s…and for my younger daughter: more simple, that she would love the Lord all the days of her life. Thank you for writing this above prayer..hope is in the details…

  227. A prayer so timely and desperately needed for my girl as the enemy, even now, battles for her mind and spirit causing her to harm herself to find relief from the turmoil inside caused by the lies the enemy has gotten her to believe…and a momma so desperate to ease the hurt, to help her see truth, and just doesn’t know how…prayed this beautiful prayer through tears for my girl today…thank you for your words, inspired by The Lord, to encourage so many!

  228. I am a twenty-three year old daughter of two daughters. One is three, the other just over a year. My prayer is that their hearts will long for God. That they will fall in love with Christ and that He will reveal Himself to them! I trust Him with my children…He always has their best interests at heart!
    Truly Love you Ann!

  229. Although my daughter, Nicole Angeleine, is now 36, I will continue to pray this prayer for her. Broken and hurt and a single parent, she still trusts her LORD deep down. Sometimes “things” get in the way, but ultimately she loves JESUS and wants to follow HIM. Now a mother of three, the youngest, being a daughter, we will pray this prayer for little Isabella Grace as well as my two other granddaughters, Kayala Nicole and Eva Marie. Thank you Ann for sharing what our gracious LORD lays on your heart.

  230. Please pray for my 15 year old daughter Kelsey who is living in the pain of the worlds rejection to her uniqueness, the loneliness and pain that goes with her Momma being chronically Ill her entire life and the struggles of flesh and world, the lies of the enemy that led her to cut and carve : ugly, fat, loner, freak into her leg. Please pray that God would bring her to a heart awareness of the depth of His love and an identity that is worthy and loved beyond comprehension, that His Spirit would draw her to fall in love with Jesus and find all of her hope in Him. That she would choose Him over her own ways. We ask also that we could image more fully His love and truth and we ask His Spirit and wisdom guide us each day.
    Thank you from a mama’s heart that cry’s up for her girl.

  231. You are a Beautiful Daughter of God, Ann. I thank God for the gifts which He gives us, through you. His Words are precious, as they pour from your heart. God bless you as you do His work!

  232. my daughter, marylee, is a single mother…her precious boy is soon to be 7…my prayer for her is for her to be sensitive to God’s call on her life…whether single or married…she is a gem and i know God smiles down on her. she has gained so much wisdom in all of this and eagerly shares it with people she works with and for. my heart desires for her to marry a godly man … one that will love eliot as we do and love marylee to the ends of the earth. my mother/grandmother heart weeps and wants her to not have to leave her son (due to work and now school) she is 30 and is so dedicated to God and her son…dear girl..dear, dear marylee… <3

  233. Beautiful prayer. I prayed for my daughter as I was reading it. I’d ask prayer for my daughter as she’s finishing her college work aa next May. Funding for her school, besides a loan. Wisdom when taking an algebra course, soon. Pray for a Godly man to come into her life, she’s in her 30s. Could be worse things than being single! Megan is a sweetheart of a daughter who loves the Lord. Prayers for my deaf daughter in love, Erin. I call her my other daughter. Loving mother of our grandchildren. I know she’s hurting since her parents broke up and some problems I won’t go into. They live in other states, erin and our son live close to us. Amazing grace that our Lord gives us in our life situations, good and bad. Thanks for your ministry thru this blog and your books.

  234. I don’t have any children, but would pray all that and more for the young people growing up in this sin tainted world.

    I would pray for the Holy Spirit to indwell in each of them and make them Christ-like. Give them unwavering faith to love everyone regardless of race, color, creed, etc. To extend a helping hand to those in need. Lord bless them all with a hungering thirst for your word and love!

  235. This has blessed me SO much, it is so anointed, so magnificent. I have one daughter and 4 boys. Could you possibly write one for boys???? I would love to put this on my daughter’s bedroom wall but would love to have one on my boys’ wall too! Please write one. Bless you so much, Ann
    Love Sarah x

  236. Praying God’s grace over my daughter who so desires a child, but is continually faced with disappointment. Praying God’s word over her from
    Romans 15:13, You, God, are the God of hope; fill Jenny with all joy and peace as she trusts in you, so she may overflow with hope by the power
    Of your Holy Spirit.

  237. my three girls are still so young (1, 3, 5) and my prayers for them are to know Christ. I am praying often that I will have the grace to point then to Jesus and encourage the gifts he has placed in them. I am praying that I will connect with their hearts and share out of the overflow of my time with the Lord…

  238. Praying that my precious Madi Belle will be a branch that produces much fruit. That she falls in love with Jesus more and more everyday. That she always shines bright in a world of darkness and that she loves deeply.

    What a privilege to be a Mother to a Daughter and to be able to go into the Throne Room on her behalf.

    Andrea

  239. My daughter, Celeste, is 28 years old now with a strong mind and will. Her teen years were very turbulent; rough waters for her and me to tread. She was raised in a strong Christian home with a godly heritage on both sides of the family. She became rebellious and went her own way. She struggled with Bulimia, depression, substance abuse, and all the wrong people for friends and peers. She still has not come back to her Christian roots. Her current boyfriend, although he seems to be just a friend, is a 44 year old man with two teenage children. He has been divorced twice and bankrupted once and is a stranger to God’s grace. We lean on the power of prayer, and try not to lean on our own understanding with our worries and concerns. We go to the throne of Grace in prayer for her on a daily basis, my husband and I. Like many young people her age, she does not attend church, and she is a victim of our culture. By culture, I mean media, materialism and a generalized lack of interest in the things of God. She never attends church. We know that God is the one who tugs on the heart strings and pray He keeps tugging on hers!

  240. Thank you, Ann. My daughter, Sarah is such a blessing to me and to those around her. She is Wife to a seminary student and mother of 3. Today she is in the horrid process of losing their 4th child to an early miscarriage. Praying for her to see God’s grace in this too.

  241. Ann, you have such a beautiful way with words, this is excellent. I have two daughters who are very different. My eldest had a child at 16 (she is now 28) and all my prayers for her and her have been answered and more. I pray continued strength and grace for her and her family.

    My “baby” girl is 23 next week and I pray for her as she is on her quest to “find herself” that God will be an ever present Source to her that she cannot deny. That she will accept the healing Grace only He can give.

    I pray your prayer for all the daughters of the world and I am going to paste your words about comfort food on my own mirror for my own struggle as a daughter of God.

    Amen!

  242. Tori has been my biggest challenge since the day she crawled. Her independent, strong-willed soul has stumped me many times and took me out of the race as “the perfect mom”. Though I think she has taught me more about how life should be lived. I pray she never ceases to be amazed at God’s creation. As a 13 year-old God draws her in even closer and He uses her personality to do Great things for him.

  243. Thank you for this prayer, Ann. When it first came to my inbox, seeing the title I knew I’d want to read it but couldn’t until now due to an unusually busy schedule at the time. Now I wish I could read all the comments; they & your responses are all so touching.
    I am grateful every day for our 26 year old daughter that embodies beautifully the answers to your prayer in many amazing & inspiring ways (even to me, her mother, but also to the Christian community she helps pastor with her husband of 3&1/2 years, who is also an answer to prayer). I will continue to pray with you your prayer for our daughters (and the many mentioned here by our sisters in Christ) as well as now for my daughter’s first child, her daughter, our first grand ~ we are so blessed! And feel it more deeply as we pray with our daughter for her 2 yonger brothers who are not walking with Jesus. Your words, Ann, are as ever, balm for a mother’s heart!

  244. Gracious Father,

    I pray that You will embed in my daughter’s heart Your love for her. Wild and chasing and neverending !! Help her to know deep down in heart and spirit that which I still struggle to grasp and understand and believe. Help her to know it, without doubt. Heal the broken parts of her from our broken family and my own broken pieces. May she bloom to be what You intended and may she be to others Your breathe of love to them. Keep her from everything and everyone that is not steeped in Your love and give her friends that love with Your love. May her inspirations and heros be those who have walked the broken road and found Your healing grace and love. Oh Father, draw her to Yourself. As I am not the the answer, please be the answer she seeks. I am the least, great at failure and she needs You to mold herself after and to hold her and say the right things to her as she struggles. Ten is too young to struggle with the things she does and I know You know how to touch her heart and spirit and heal and give hope and purpose. You are all we need….and we need Your big grace and mercy and real, tangible answers. Only You !!

    In Jesus Blessed Name

  245. Dear Ann and all the other beautiful women who are reading these comments,
    How is it that I often get wrapped up in all my own problems and forget that so many others are hurting as well? I am praying for all those mentioned here and that all will find the best answer to their problems – which everyone on this site already knows – is Jesus. The answer is always Jesus. Praying for my 22 year old daughter who has left home for awhile because of a misunderstanding with her dad. Oh that parents and childrens both would study Ephesians 6: 1-4. Thank you Ann for giving us a place to comr together.

  246. I am forever grateful that my two beautiful daughters found faith in Christ when they were still children, as it is being sorely tested now! They are both married and have young children. Sadly, they live very far away from us, and we can’t really share in each others’ lives as we would all like to. My second daughter, mother to Noah, just two, and wife to B for just three years, has been struck down with a rare chronic health condition – mastocystitis – and we are just crying out to our Lord for mercy on their little family – for healing, practical help, grace and protection. Please pray with us.

  247. I pray God’s protection over my daughter. The Lord knows where she is at and only Him can give the healing for her mental illness and broken heart. Only Him can restore her life and give her a new beginning.

  248. Thank you for this wonderful prayer. The timing is perfect because our daughter gets married on Thursday and I wanted to write something for her. You said what I wanted to say to her but much more eloquently than I could do. Thank you for your gift of words.

  249. I am praying for three daughters. My daughter who is going to have her first baby in Nov., my daughter-law to know the Lord as her own Lord and savior, and her and my sons’ daughter to also know the Lord as her dear Lord and savior. Dear Lord please hold all my girls in your strong arms and let them feel your great love for them. I know they are your girls and you love them more than I ever could. As your daughter dear Lord I ask you to mend the broken relationship between me and my daughter-in -law. Please bring these group of daughters together again.

  250. I have been in turmoil all day over my daughter. She is so lost right now and I just can’t reach her. I never knew I could feel this broken hearted for someone. She is so close to making some really bad choices for her life and I am powerless. I never imagined my life with my daughter would be this hard and painful. I’m praying for her to know God’s perfect love and for that to be felt. I’m praying she remains pure. I’m praying for a better relationship with her. I’m paring to know how to live her. Please Lord Love her through me.

  251. Jane, your words are mine..my 18 yr. old is lost as well and already deep into an ungodly lifestyle in her first year at college. I will pray for you and yours, the pain you feel as a mother can be consuming and crushing all at the same time and you feel so powerless…but we both have to remember that God is not, he is the author of power, He is the creator of our child. Ann’s blog post about hope this week is one to print out and post on our refrigerators. I have 3 daughters that all need Christ and live in a dead marriage with a non-believer..pray for me too 🙂
    Kim

  252. Do you remember Lysa Terkhursts blog on Stong Mamas? When God points and gives you a prodigal child because He knows you will not just pray for her but pray for her all the way through? We have a beautiful 16 year old we have been praying for for about 4 years. She struggles with depression and cutting herself and failing school. But she is smart and beautiful and funny and kind. Will you pray with me that she realizes that sooner rather than later? I also pray she will be able to minister to other teenagers as she grows and fully sees the truth of who the real liar is. God bless moms, Lisa

  253. The first time I read this prayer, my daughter was going through what I thought was the toughest season we’d ever go through. God was faithful! He drew her to Him and we have been amazed at the work He’s begun in her life. Fast forward to today’s reading of this prayer. My sweet girl is half-way around the world loving on people hungry for the gospel, and this prayer comforts me yet again! Thank you SO much for sharing your gift of encouragement through words. You’ve blessed my heart many, many times.

  254. Thank you for this beautiful prayer ~ I lift it up for my two ~
    My oldest, Abigail, I took 2000 miles away to college in August. She has a beautiful faith and an independent courageous spirit ~ I grieve her not being home while rejoicing in the opportunities God has given her to soar, learn, and grow. Her name means “my Father’s joy” or “joy of my Father” ~ she is that, but also to her mother. 🙂
    My 14 year old, Grace Ann, is truly that ~ a double portion of His grace! I love to watch as God calls to her and she responds. Her blossoming is beautiful!
    Blessings, Debra

  255. while this prayer is beautiful, it paints a familiar picture to me— of the humble, suffering Christian woman who’s always there for evrybody-putting everyone else’s needs first. She never wants to actually ‘move up the ladder”—no, that’s suspicious. She’s always humble, like Christ. It’s funny how men in the faith are exhorted to be the leaders, women the followers, yet Christians have a divorce rate that’s slightly higher than the general population! Funny, and telling… I think I know one of the reasons: Balance. Christian women are so busy trying to learn “humility” —-that they don’t realize what whack-jobs their kids are frequently tuning out to be, It’s either, “youre good” or “youre horrible”—either God Loves You, or God hates fags (or abortion, or people who don’t worship our God, etc.) Very confusing. And the women, well–you know—they have to be second, never first. They can’t expect to raise young women who are not going to take any crap from their husbands, if theyre used to being so confused about their identity because of their low-self esteem issues. When you’re confused about whether God loves you as is, or he’s ready to hit you over the head with a boulder, its not fun.

  256. Pray for my daughters, meg and Kate. Both were very involved in church in high school but have grown farther and farther away. Pray for our Father to reveal himself to them and intervene in their lives.

  257. Thank you… After reading your prayer I was deeply comfort… Too much of Care and love may at time give pressure to my children… How much is enough? How much is too much too ask? As they growth to teenage… I learn to give let go and give freedom… But my heart will always worried… Prayers is my only source of comfort. I entrust her into God hand to guild and protect., With God all things are possible. Amen.

  258. Ann,
    I am the mother of an 18 year old daughter. She is on the verge of choosing her career. She hopes to become a doctor. During her exams I find your prayer and seems like I have an answer to what I was looking for. Your thoughts captured into a beautiful prayer that encompasses my dear girl and hands her into His mighty hands. God bless you.