You know why, before I even say a word. You know why because, chances are, you’re a grown up girl. And you know. You know what happens when girls start to hear the noise, the blaring sound of the world telling them what they need to be in order to be beautiful. It comes in low and fast, and before you know it, that sound has become a deafening roar of You’re Not Beautiful and You’re Not Enough. You know what happens when girls are left to fend for themselves, when they don’t seize the opportunity to lay their worries, cares, fears, and frustrations before God and work through them with Him. You know what that looks like, and it is not pretty.

We have to teach our girls to pray. I’ll do my best to teach my daughter every day of her life because of what prayer is, what it is for, and what it can do. I’ll do this because I know she’s going to want to hide. She’ll want to hide the parts of her body she doesn’t like. She’ll want to hide how she feels when she looks at another girl and asks, “Why am I not like her?” The world will feed her lies about who she is; granted, the world is wrong, but it is loud. She’s going to need a weapon, a God-given superpower to battle back against what the world will tell her. That power is the ability to talk to God and to know and trust that He is listening, He loves her, and He’s got her.

I didn’t know or understand what prayer was when I was young. I was disconnected from a relationship with God, and I went out in search of my worth with the world’s standard of beauty as my North Star. I don’t know what God has planned for my girl, but I want her to know what I didn’t know: God exists, He loves her, and He made her. He made her on purpose for a purpose. He does not make junk and He does not make mistakes. Ever. She is already beautiful because of who He is.

And when that truth is lost on her, or she forgets, or she can’t think because the world gets too loud, my prayer is that she will find a quiet place and seek His truth. She will listen for His voice and, by doing so, she will learn to make a different kind of noise.

Giveaway: Erin and the Bible Belle’s are giving away one signed copy of Hannah: The Belle of Prayer to one Mothers of Daughters reader! Just leave a comment to enter. Winner must reside in USA and will be chosen at random on Sunday May 29 and notified by email!

MOD Reader Discount Code: To get a 20% off discount when you order a copy of Hannah use code: MOD at checkout.

Erin is an enthusiastic and goofy mom to two children, one of them with paws. She is a wife, author, teacher, former college athlete and a five time cancer survivor. Her heart is in Seville, Spain, though she calls Encinitas, CA home. In her spare time she enjoys going to the beach with her husband and daughter, coaching softball, and pretending she can bake. She loves eating, laughing, and volunteering at Sunday school. Alongside her husband, she is the co-founder of Bible Belles, an organization committed to teaching girls about the female heroes of the Bible. Find our more about Erin and Bible Belles, here.