A Prayer for My Daughter

For her safety wherever she is: at school, at work, on the road, online, and with the people she trusts. The psalmist describes God’s protection as a hand on every side: “You hem me in behind and before. You laid your hand on me” (Psalm 139:5). Ask for that hand on her, by name.

Scripture’s picture of an older woman blessing a younger one is Elizabeth greeting Mary. When the young, pregnant Mary arrived at her door, Elizabeth “was filled with the Holy Spirit” and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!”, and then, “Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of the things which have been spoken to her from the Lord!” (Luke 1:41–42, 45). A mother’s prayer for her daughter can sound like that: a blessing on who she is, and trust in what God has promised her.

Jairus is the father in the Gospels. His “little daughter” was dying, and while he was still on the way with Jesus, word came that it was too late: “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the Teacher any more?” Jesus said to him, “Don’t be afraid, only believe” (Mark 5:35–36). Then he took the girl by the hand and said, “Talitha cumi!”, which means, “Girl, I tell you, get up!” (Mark 5:41).

A teenage daughter hears a thousand messages a day about how she should look and who she should be. Scripture says something different: “For you formed my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:13–14). And about the things girls are judged on: “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised” (Proverbs 31:30).

For a daughter going to college, starting a first job, or moving to a new city. God’s promise for crossings like this is Isaiah’s: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned” (Isaiah 43:2).

A grown daughter’s life is her own: her work, her faith, whether and whom she marries, how she raises her children. The Catechism asks parents to offer “judicious advice” without pressure (CCC 2230). Proverbs describes the woman many parents pray their daughters become: “Strength and dignity are her clothing. She laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom. Kind instruction is on her tongue” (Proverbs 31:25–26).

If your daughter has stopped believing or stopped going to Mass, the Canaanite mother in St. Matthew’s Gospel is your companion. She kept asking on her daughter’s behalf when the disciples wanted her sent away and when Jesus himself seemed to say no, and he praised her for it (Matthew 15:22–28). Persistence is not nagging God; it is trust that does not give up.

For a daughter caught in anxiety or depression, an eating disorder, self-harm, drink or drugs, or a relationship that is hurting her. Prayer belongs here, and so does action: a doctor, a counselor, and, if someone is harming her, the police. If she is in danger or may harm herself, get help now:

For a daughter who is ill, injured, in hospital, or waiting for results. When a woman who had been ill for twelve years touched the edge of his cloak, Jesus turned and called her by the name a parent uses: “Daughter, cheer up! Your faith has made you well” (Matthew 9:22). On the same journey, St. Mark records, he went on to raise Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:21–43).

In the Book of Tobit, when Raguel gave his daughter Sarah in marriage to Tobias, “he called his daughter Sarah, and took her by the hand, and gave her to be wife of Tobias … And he blessed them” (Tobit 7:13), and her mother Edna said to her new husband, “Behold, I commit my daughter to you in special trust. Don’t cause her grief” (Tobit 10:12). Parents still pray that prayer, long before the wedding. Whatever her vocation, marriage or religious life, it is hers and God’s; parents “should respect this call and encourage their children to follow it” (CCC 2232).

Verses to pray with your daughter’s name in them, in the World English Bible, Catholic Edition.