A Prayer for My Adult Daughter

Father, my daughter is a grown woman now — capable, busy, building a life of her own. I raised her to stand on her own two feet, and she does. I just didn't know how much I'd miss holding her hand.

Walk with her through her grown-up days: the job that stretches her, the rent, the choices, the relationships, the questions she no longer brings to me first. Give her wisdom that arrives on time and friends who tell her the truth in love.

If she's carrying something heavy right now — and she might be, Lord; she doesn't tell me everything — You know what it is. Meet her in it. Be to her what she needs at this exact hour, the way You've always been for me.

Teach me how to be her parent now: quicker to listen than to advise, generous with encouragement, stingy with opinions. Keep me a soft place to land, never a weight to carry.

And keep her walking with You, Father. My reach ends at the phone line. Yours never ends.

Bless her week, her work, her home, her heart. Tell her I love her, in the ways only You can.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

When to Pray This

Pray this after she moves out, after the wedding, after a call that leaves you wondering. It's for every parent learning that letting go and holding on — in prayer — can be the same motion.

A Verse to Hold On To

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart... and he shall direct thy paths." — Proverbs 3:5–6 (KJV)