10 Verses to Pray for Your Daughter

I have always wanted to be a prayer warrior.

I remember hearing stories of the power of prayer from missionaries that would come to our church growing up, or testimonies of women who prayed for their husbands and children incessantly until they came to know Jesus. I love those stories, and I wanted that – I wanted to make a difference through prayer too.

I wanted to be a praying mother, but after I had my first baby, I struggled with figuring out what to pray for.

Sometimes we feel like we aren’t “good” at prayer just because we don’t know where to start.

Thankfully, I read several good books and articles around that time with really helpful lists that gave me some direction during my prayer time. I read a whole book on praying for my sons, but I was unable to find a good equivalent book for girls. (Somebody, please write that book!) So many prayers for our children can be prayed for both boys and girls, and a few of these can as well, but I wanted focus here on some things that I especially hope and pray for my girls as they grow.

Her Salvation

Eternal salvation is still the most important thing I pray for all my kids! I want them to recognize what Jesus did in dying on the cross to pay for their sins and rising again. I want them to turn to Him to save them and always remember His love for them.

If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. — Romans 10:9-10

To Find Her Identity in Christ

As a woman in today’s culture, where we are expected to be able to “do it all”, I have struggled with my identity and purpose and have had to remind myself that I am first a child of God, saved by His grace. I pray that my daughters will always find their identity in Christ and remember that their purpose is to glorify Him.

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. — 1 Peter 2:9

To Walk in A Manner Worthy of Her Calling (and to Have a Spirit of Repentance When She Fails)

Along the same lines, I pray my girls keep their ultimate purpose in mind as they live their daily lives, which is to glorify God and point others to Christ. And, when they inevitably stray from what they know is right, I pray that they recognize it and turn back to Jesus in repentance.

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. — Ephesians 4:1-3

Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. — 2 Corinthians 7:1

To Have a Love for God and His Word

The Bible is God’s written Word to us, and I pray that my girls will have a love for God and His Word, and will turn to the Bible first for their answers.

With my lips I have declared
All the judgments of Your mouth.
I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies,
As much as in all riches.
I will meditate on Your precepts,
And contemplate Your ways.
I will delight myself in Your statutes;
I will not forget Your word. — Psalm 119:13-16

Use and Cultivate Their Spiritual Gifts for God’s Glory

I pray that my daughters will recognize their spiritual gifts and talents that the Lord has given them, and use those gifts to bring glory to God.

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. — 1 Peter 4:10

To Have a Desire for Wisdom

Proverbs is clear that godly wisdom is to be prized. I want my girls to seek to be biblically wise in all their decisions and interactions.

Wisdom is the principal thing;
Therefore get wisdom.
And in all your getting, get understanding.
Exalt her, and she will promote you;
She will bring you honor, when you embrace her.
She will place on your head an ornament of grace;
A crown of glory she will deliver to you. — Proverbs 4:7-8

Healthy and Godly Relationships with Family and Friends

Healthy relationships play such an important role in every person’s life, and much pain comes when relationships sometimes go bad. I pray for my girls to have and offer the support that comes from God-Honoring friendships and family relationships.

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. — Ephesians 4:2-3 (NIV)

Her Future Husband and Marriage

While many women honor God through lives of singleness, and my daughters’ may as well, in all likelihood, my girls will someday get married. I want to pray now for their future husbands, and for them as I hope to prepare them for a good marriage.

Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. — Proverbs 31:10

Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. — Ephesians 5:33

To Value Her Role in the Home and Family

The Bible calls women to be “keepers” of their homes, and I think this can apply whether my daughters are working in the home, out of the home, married or single. I want my daughters to learn how to manage their home well no matter their situation in life, and to realize how valuable and honorable that role is.

And so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. — Titus 2:4-5 (ESV)

To Train Their Own Children to Love The Lord

Mothers play a major role in nurturing and raising their children, and they are often the first to teach their children about God. I pray for my daughters as they will hopefully take on that important role someday in their own families.

And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. — Deuteronomy 6:6-7

I’ve also just started to realize that keeping prayer in the back of my mind helps me to pray for more for my children. Something that no one tells you is that praying for our kids doesn’t have to happen during a designated prayer time – if I am thinking about something specific for my kids, why not pray about it right now? As I encountered certain verses in my devotion time, or certain life situations that remind me of these things that I want to pray for my kids, I am learning to take a moment right then to pray for my children and cover them in prayer all through our days together.

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Your Turn

What do you pray for your daughters? Here are just a few resources to help moms strengthen a life of prayer and faith themselves…and for their daughters (or sons)!