10 Prayers to Pray for Your Daughter

What's one of the most important things you can do for your daughter, no matter how old she is or what stage of life she's in? 

If you've been reading here long, I think you'll know that my answer to that question would be to pray for her.

I write about prayer often here on the blog, even sharing written prayers, like my prayer for wisdom in my parenting, and how I pray God's blessings on my family. (When I searched the word "pray" in my parenting blog posts, it brought up 400 posts that include that word!)

That doesn't mean that I'm always as faithful in praying for our children as I should be.  All too often, I skim though my prayer time quickly, ready to move on to the next thing.  Yet I know there is so much I want to seek God for when it comes to my daughters.  I have seen prayer at work in their lives - and when I look back over my own life, I know that much of what has come to pass has been because of parents who consistently pray for me.

I've created this list of ten areas in which I want to pray for our girls.  I'm hoping that this list will be a reminder to me of requests to bring before God. I've included the Bible passages from which I gleaned these prayers, as I love the idea of praying God's Word back to Him.  You may also want to frame your own prayers from these verses, or add/substitute new categories that fit what you would like to see God do in and through your daughter.



1.  Her purity.  Ask that God will keep our daughters pure in thought and in action.  Just living in our culture will expose her to wickedness and could tempt her to lower her standards of what is right and wrong.

Lord, help my daughter to keep her heart clean before you, to recognize temptation and to run from it, recognizing that God's will for her life is for her to be pure. [Psalm 51:10; I Corinthians 6:18; I Thessalonians 4:3]

2.  Her faith.  This covers her walk with God, the state of her soul.  First of all, has she accepted Jesus as her Savior?  That is the first step she needs to take.  If she has, I can pray for her spiritual growth.  Is she spending time with God on a regular basis?  Is she maturing in her Christian faith?

May my daughter walk in truth, resting in Jesus as the author and finisher of her faith, and growing daily in her relationship with Him.  [3 John 4; Hebrews 12:2; Colossians 1:10]

3.  Her attitude.  Pray for her to have a sweet spirit.  Many verses in Proverbs emphasize the importance of accepting correction and instruction, so we want our girls to have a teachable spirit as well. 

Help her to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit.  May love, joy, peace, patience, humility, and self-control mark her attitudes and her actions.  Let her be willing to listen to those who have her best interest at heart.  [Galatians 5:22-23; Proverbs 19:20]

4.  Her friends.  As women, we know the important role that friends play in our lives.  In every stage, the people that our daughters choose to be around can either build them up and encourage them, or lead them away from what they should be.

May she have loving and faithful friends that build her up and encourage her in her Christian walk. [Proverbs 17:17; Proverbs 27:6, 17]

5.  Her influences.  While friends are a significant influence, there are other things impacting her life.  Teachers, coaches, books she reads, music she listens to, movies she watches - all of these are speaking into her life. 

Help her to seek wise influences, to discern when evil is involved, and hold on tightly to things that are good.  [Proverbs 13:20; I Corinthians 15:33; I Thessalonians 5:21]

6.  Her thought life.  What our daughter thinks about will eventually come out in her actions.  How we want to cover her thought life in prayer!  What she thinks about God, about herself, and about others will cause her to make daily choices that can be either helpful or harmful. 

Draw her to think on things that are good and praiseworthy.  [Philippians 4:8]

7.  Her focus.  What is important to our daughter?  What is she working towards?  How does she use her time?  We want our daughter to focus on building into her life things that will last forever. 

Let her lay up treasures that are eternal, recognizing that we are only pilgrims here, and setting her affections on things above.  [Matthew 6:19-20; Hebrews 11:13; Colossians 3:2]

8.  Her priorities.  We all know that our lives can get out of balance when we don't put "first things first."  Focusing on knowing God, building relationships, setting good goals, having healthy habits, and developing her God-given talents are all things we want to encourage her in.  Let's pray that she will know how to keep her priorities in order.

Help her to seek first to know God, to serve God and not wealth, to value relationships, and to live out God's calling for her life.  [Matthew 6:33, 24; I Thessalonians 5:11; Ephesians 4:1]

9.  Her service.  I have prayed specifically for God to open doors of opportunity for our girls to serve in different ways.  Then, as they get those opportunities, I pray that they will do it with right motives and for God's glory.

May my daughter use the gifts you've given her to serve others, doing her service from a heart of love with pure motives, as if she were serving Christ Himself. [I Peter 4:10; Matthew 25:40]

10.  Her future.  No matter what stage our daughter is in, she has a future.  Right now, my daughters' futures include, among other things, a week of teen camp and a new school year as 10th and 8th graders.  There is so much to pray for just right there!!  Yet their future also may include college, a husband, a career, etc.  Not a day goes by that I don't want to pray for all that my girls have ahead of them.  How thankful I am for a God Who holds all of their days in His hands!

Direct her steps, giving her confidence to know that your plans for her are full of goodness and peace, and beyond anything she can imagine for herself. [Proverbs 16:9; Jeremiah 29:11; I Corinthians 2:9]

I've created a free printable list of these ten items that you can use as you pray for your daughter.  Click here to get a printable PDF.

Let's ask God to burden our hearts to pray for these precious souls He's entrusted to us!

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