I've been reading a book called Lover of God, an introduction to the 18th Century theologian Jonathan Edwards. Apparently, at the age of twenty-three, Jonathan Edwards fell in love with a woman called Sarah Pierpont. Lover of God records one of his romantic reflections on Sarah and I used it to pray for my daughters and for the daughters of members at the Village Church. This is my prayer:
Father, I pray that our daughters would know that they are loved by you, the One who made and rules the world; I pray that there would be special seasons in their lives where you come to them and fill their minds with delight, and that they would hardly care for anything except to meditate on you; I pray that they would know that you will raise them up out of the world and into heaven, where they will dwell with you and be loved by you forever; I pray that in light of your love for them they would disregard and care not for all the world with the richest of its treasures, and that they would be unmindful of any pain or affliction; I pray that our daughters would be conscientious in all their actions, that they wouldn't be persuaded to do anything wrong or sinful, that they would be sweet, calm and kind; I pray that wherever they go they would sing and be full of joy; I pray that they would love to be alone, to walk and to wander, conversing with you, the Almighty, Amen