“She hates me.”

The words caught in my throat as I looked through the tears at my husband, “I’m a failure as a mother.”

Wrapping his arms around me and pulling me close, he simply said, “Just because it’s hard, that doesn’t mean you’re failing.”

Let’s face it, for most of us, if we are serious about pointing our children to Jesus, there are days and seasons that are just plain hard. And sometimes, when we get to the end of the day and all we can remember is the words we wish we’d left unsaid and the ache of knowing the tension between ourselves and our children, it just seems like we’re failing.

It all seemed so much easier when I was watching other people with their kids. I could easily identify what they were doing right and I was pretty certain I’d never be one of those moms who seemed to get it wrong.

And I was … until my daughter was about 19 hours old. Yes, you read that right. Less than a day after she was born, we all thought it would be great to have a photographer come to the hospital to do pictures of us with our sweet little girl. Two hours of photos to rival any wedding portraiture later, my little bundle of joy wasn’t very joyful … and neither was her momma. We were, as we say in the South, give out. Exhausted, all she could do was cry and. honestly, that’s all I wanted to do myself.

Nothing soothed our girl. Nothing. A nurse suggested offering her a pacifier and I confidently assured her we didn’t need a pacifier because a pacifier was not a part of our parenting plan. Casiday’s shrieks and cries continued to echo off the wall in the hospital room (and undoubtedly down the halls of the whole maternity center) and for the first, but certainly not last, time I felt the pierce of failure as a mom. I couldn’t soothe her or calm her. I picked up the pacifier the nurse had left lying in the bassinet and placed it in her mouth. The wails stopped and I cried.

I suppose I should have known long before that moment I could never be everything to my daughter. But in that moment, I knew without a doubt I was never going to manage parenting without some help. And I knew the only place to get the help I really needed most of all was the Word of God.

My husband Scott left the hospital later that night and as I lay in the bed holding my daughter, all I could do was pray for wisdom. I whispered the words of James 1:5 over and over,

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

For the past 15-1/2 years, I’ve been praying Scripture for my daughter. As I study God’s Word, He gives me insight into what and how to pray for her. Over and over again the Bible has been the anchor of my prayers for her. I firmly believe praying God’s Word over our children {and every other area of our lives} is vital to the effectiveness and power of our prayers.

In 2014 I shared 31 Verses to Pray for Your Girl and hundreds of women joined me in praying Scripture for their daughters, granddaughters, nieces, students, and countless other girls in their lives. I’ve been asked time and again if I was still writing those prayers … and I’ve answered no. Until now.

I’m very excited to be flinging open the doors to a new community for women who are committed to praying for the girls in their lives. Mommas, grandmothers, aunts, teachers, friends … we’re all joining together to pray Scripture for the girls we love. The first and most important part of the brand new Prayers for Girls community is a monthly Scripture-based prayer calendar. Every month, subscribers will receive a calendar with prayers based on the Word of God. I’ve also created a special resource just for the Prayers for Girls community and only available to those who subscribe: 3 Reasons to Pray Scripture for Your Girl.

When you join the community, you’ll have immediate access to 3 Reasons to Pray Scripture for Your Girl and a sample calendar based on the original 31 Verses to Pray for Your Girl series. The first brand new calendar will be for December and we’ll be praying verses from the Gospel of Luke.

So, sweet Mothers of Daughters friends, won’t you consider this your invitation to join me in praying Scripture over our girls? Just click on the image below to join the Prayers for Girls community!

xo,

Teri Lynne