If you’re parenting a teen daughter—or love someone who is—you know the roller coaster of emotions, shifting dynamics, and daily uncertainties that come with these years.
This week on The Love Offering Podcast, I’m joined by Stacey Thacker to talk about her powerful book, Praying for Teen Girls: Partner with God for the Heart of Your Daughter.
Stacey knows firsthand how challenging and beautiful the teen years can be. In our conversation, she offers heartfelt encouragement, biblical wisdom, and practical prayers for moms walking this sacred path.
Together, we talk about how to:
- Fight for your daughter, not against her
- Partner with God through intentional, Scripture-inspired prayer
- Navigate your changing relationship with confidence and peace
- Release your daughter to God’s care while remaining present and purposeful
- Find daily wisdom and strength for the journey ahead
There will always be limits to what we can do for our daughters—but there are no limits to what we can pray or what God can do in and through them.
If you’re feeling unsure, worn down, or simply want to be more intentional in your prayers, this episode will remind you that you’re not alone—and that God is working even when you can’t see it.
Summary
In this episode of the Love Offering Podcast, host Rachael Adams welcomes Stacey Thacker, author of ‘Praying for Teen Girls.’ They discuss the challenges of raising teenage daughters, the importance of prayer, and how to foster a loving and supportive relationship. Stacey shares her personal journey, insights on fighting for your daughter rather than against her, and practical ways to pray intentionally for their needs. The conversation emphasizes the transformative power of prayer and the significance of surrendering control to God in parenting.
Takeaways
- Prayer is essential for connecting with God and our daughters.
- Fighting for your daughter means supporting her, not trying to fix her.
- Surrendering to God allows for a deeper relationship with our children.
- Intentional prayer can shape our daughters’ identities and relationships.
- Scripture-inspired prayers empower moms to pray effectively.
- The teenage years are a critical time for emotional support.
- Being a coach rather than a fixer is key in parenting teens.
- Prayer helps us navigate the overwhelming challenges of motherhood.
- Creating a safe space for our daughters encourages open communication.
- God’s love is the foundation for our daughters’ self-worth.
Sound Bites
- “I want to quit trying to fix everything.”
- “I want them to grow in their faith.”
- “It’s a hard time to be a girl.”
- “I have a new Bible this year too.”
- “Prayer helps me stay connected to Jesus.”
- “Prayer is where we meet with the Lord.”
- “I want to be a mom who prays for my girls.”
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Love Offering Podcast
01:04 Meet Stacey Thacker: A Journey of Motherhood
02:54 Inspiration Behind ‘Praying for Teen Girls’
04:31 Fighting for Your Daughter, Not Against Her
07:37 Partnering with God Through Prayer
10:35 The Role of Surrender in Parenting
13:36 Praying Intentionally for Your Daughter
15:46 The Power of Scripture-Inspired Prayer
18:33 Overcoming Overwhelm in Parenting
23:05 Praying with Your Daughters
28:32 The Transformative Power of Prayer
31:00 Pursuing the Heart of Your Daughter
32:44 Closing Thoughts and Prayer
Transcript
Rachael Adams (00:01.368)
Welcome to the Love Offering Podcast. I’m your host, Rachel Adams, author of Everyday Prayers for Love, learning to love God, others, and even yourself. Each week we dive into meaningful conversations about how to live out the greatest commandment, loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and loving our neighbors as ourselves. Through inspiring stories, practical tips, and biblical truths, my hope is to encourage you to love boldly, live faithfully, and reflect God’s love in every area of your life.
Today I’m thrilled to welcome Stacey Thacker, author of Praying for Teen Girls, Partner with God for the Heart of Your Daughter. If you are a mom walking through the emotional rollercoaster of raising a teenage daughter, this conversation is for you. Stacey offers wisdom, practical help, and over 90 scripture-inspired prayers to equip you to fight for your daughter and navigate this challenging season with peace and confidence.
Well, hello, Stacy and welcome back to the Love Offering Podcast. It’s been a while.
Stacey Thacker (01:04.106)
It’s been a hot minute, Rachel. I don’t even remember how many years it’s been, but congratulations on your podcast and how well it’s going. I love what God is doing through your ministry.
Rachael Adams (01:14.892)
Well, thank you and same to you. And so for those that aren’t familiar with you yet, tell us a little bit. I gave your professional maybe bio, but tell us a little bit about your personal bio and what life is like for you.
Stacey Thacker (01:24.802)
Yeah, personally, my husband and I are coming up on 31 years. It’s going to hit soon, 31 years of marriage. We live in the central Florida area. I’m a Midwestern girl by birth. I grew up in Indiana, but we live down in central Florida and have for about 22 years. So I think I’m probably more Floridian now than I am Midwestern. I don’t know. But we have four girls and we’re an all-girl family. Our oldest is 25 and we have a 22-year-old, an 18 year old and a 15 year old. And they are all in just all different ages and stages of life. serve most recently, I started serving as our Women’s Ministry Director at my church, which is called First Orlando. And that has been such a blessing and a great experience to get to serve the women of not only our church, but central Florida. So that’s been great. But we still have a couple girls, one daughter in high school and a couple girls that are still kind of in the throes of figuring out what they’re gonna do with their lives. And so we’re still very much in the parenting game around here. And we’re just really grateful for where God has us and where he’s brought us through.
Rachael Adams (02:32.758)
I shared with you before I hit record and the audience knows that I have a teen daughter. And so this topic is especially meaningful to me. And so I’m really excited to dive into today’s conversation. So talk to us just about the inspiration behind this book in general. Can you share a little bit more about your journey as a mom and what led you to want to write this message?
Stacey Thacker (02:54.37)
Yeah, I mean, there are so many great books out there on prayer. I love to read. am a book nerd. I have read a lot. And yeah, I mean, there’s so many great resources already out there on prayer. So why something specifically on praying for teen girls? Well, because honestly, I didn’t find anything specifically for that season of life. There’s a lot on parenting and raising kids. There’s even prayer books for raising teenagers.
But I found that there really wasn’t anything just for raising teen girls. And I think there are some things that are going on in the lives of our girls in these several years, these really critical years before they launch, before we send them out into the world that are pretty important. And I think taking the time and the ability to really focus in on those needs is really important. And honestly, Rachel, this is crazy. I’ve had a teen girl in my house for 12 years.
Stacey Thacker (03:49.73)
We’ve just lived it. And you know, it’s just sometimes when you’re just living it and you’re just like going through life, you don’t even kind of realize how unique that is. But as I’ve been thinking through this topic and kind of how I have prayed for my girls and what that’s meant, the lifeline that’s been for me, I thought, oh my goodness, this is something that I think I can really pour my heart into because I’m passionate about it, because it’s the book that I needed 12 years ago when I was trying to figure out what it looks like to be the mom of a teen girl, but also just really wanting them to really know the Lord and walk with him and to give them the best version of me as their mom as I possibly could. And really honestly, that’s gonna happen when I’m on my knees. That’s what it is when I’m on my knees before the Lord. That’s the best mom they can have.
Rachael Adams (04:31.502)
I’m getting all teary already. So this is hitting me straight in my heart exactly where I need it. So in your book, you talk about fighting for your daughter not against her. So what does that look like practically in a mother daughter relationship, especially during the teenage years?
Stacey Thacker (04:46.026)
Well, I think we, this is just my theory and you know, I four girls so I can tell you that they’re all very different. They’re very, very different girls but I think you either end up parenting a version of yourself, you know, you look at your daughter and you’re like, my goodness, she’s so me, you know, and that’s slightly terrifying. But also what if she’s very different from you and you’re like, I have no idea, you know, why you’re saying or doing the things you are doing because I never would have done that. Both extremes are really hard. And so I think what can happen in those situations is that you can find yourself, know, butting heads and really coming against. And really, I know for every mom that comes out of such a place of love because we’ve been there. We know what it’s like to be a teen girl. We know that things are different, yes, but we know some of the basics and the desires of their hearts because we were also teen girls, right?
And so I think when we get into that parenting game, sometimes we come out with guns blazing and we’re gonna go, we’re gonna help, we’re gonna fix. And really our hearts are in the right place, but it comes out all wrong. so you can end up fighting, emotions can be very high. can happen, know, Rachel, it can happen at the drop of a hat. It can happen so quick where, you know, you’re just talking and then all of sudden feelings are being felt and people are saying things they don’t mean and doors are slamming and that kind of thing and that fighting against even though you’re trying to help her through something or you’re trying to help her move in the right direction, it can feel like a dead end. It can feel like really like I have nowhere to go. I don’t know what to do in this time. Fighting for your daughter is really saying, hey, I’m gonna quit trying to fix everything. I’m gonna quit trying to bring my version of right to her life and I’m going to get on my knees and I’m going to pray and I’m going to partner with God and I’m going listen to His Holy Spirit in my life. I’m going to make sure my relationship with Him is deep and connected. And so when He says move to the right in this parenting relationship, I’m going to move to the right. When He says, hey, be quiet, that’s a hard one. When He says listen to her when he says, ask a question, like I’m gonna be responsive to his Holy Spirit within me. That’s what happens when you pray is you begin to get into the fight with the Lord and he’s doing the heavy lifting, right? You’re just responding. But I think when you do that, it just shifts the relationship so much.
Rachael Adams (07:14.486)
Yeah, yeah, as close that our hearts continue to get closer to the Lord and then prayerfully will pursue, he’ll continue to pursue her heart as well. I can’t wait to continue today’s conversation, but we’re going to take a brief break to hear a word from today’s sponsor. And when we come back, we will explore how we can partner with God through prayer to navigate our changing relationship with our daughters.
Welcome back. are with Stacey Thacker, the author of Praying for Teen Girls. So Stacey, you emphasize the importance of partnering with God in prayer for our daughters, which you just mentioned. So how has prayer shaped your relationship with your own daughters and given you confidence in your role as a mom?
Stacey Thacker (07:53.6)
Well, I think, you know, I remember, you know, and back in the beginning when, you know, they put that little baby in your arms and I remember leaving the hospital with my infant thinking, do they know I’m leaving with her? Like, I don’t know what I’m doing, right? No clue what I’m doing. And then you kind of fumble through it and then maybe you have another child and you’re like, I know how to do this. And things shift and change. There is something about the teenage years where once again, you’re like, I have no idea what I’m doing. This is a whole new territory here. And so really, with prayer, think what has allowed me to do is to be a better listener than I am, you know, a teacher, to really focus on her heart more than what I think she needs to be doing in her life. I think it’s allowed me to really connect with her on a deeper level because through prayer, as I said, you know, as you listen to the Lord and He directs you in those areas, it just allows you to realize that they’re growing and they’re gonna be maybe going away for school someday, maybe to college or you know and they’re making new friends or walking away from other friends, all those different things. It’s so nuanced that it just allows you to have the perspective of the Lord in their lives and kind of it’s really a time of transition. I mean you’re still mom, you’re still mom, but they’re so close to those adult years that you’re learning what it looks like to shift and allow them to engage in that conversation and help direct them. I think I’ve heard it said is that you’re really moving from really more of a parent to a coach. It’s just starting in those teen years is to come alongside and coach your daughter. Now, they’re not ready to be on their own obviously yet, especially if they’re on the younger side of those teen years, but prayer just really allows you to get in step with the Lord and get with the plan and understand where he’s leading them. And I think that God has a tender heart for those of us that are praying through those seasons where we are unsure. We don’t always have all the answers and that’s okay.
Rachael Adams (09:54.382)
Yeah, I don’t know how many times I say that. And I actually saw something on social media that said, be patient with your parents. This is their first time living too. And isn’t that the truth? I’ve never raised a teenage daughter and a teenage son. So I’m just doing the best and it gives me grace for my parents when they were trying to do their best. And I pray that my kids will give me some grace too. But I love what you said about being a coach because so often we, my mom or my daughter will actually say, mom, I don’t want you to fix this. I just want you to listen. And then there’s this role of surrender, of surrendering my plans and what I think is what’s best for her and letting her be her own person. What role has surrender played in your parenting journey?
Stacey Thacker (10:35.938)
That is the toughest one. here’s what I think too. Part of that, one of the things I talk about in this book is really praying over your own heart first as a mom, as a grandma, as an auntie, as a spiritual mom. Let me just say this. If you love a teen girl, if there’s a teen girl in your life that you love, you’re her spiritual mama, right? So you can be that and this message can be for you too, but I really talk a lot at the beginning about getting your own heart right. And part of that is knowing who God is and being willing to surrender and to humble yourself and come to Him in prayer. I think a lot of times we resist prayer because again, we think we need to have all the answers. And usually there’s a pride aspect going on there. Like, I’ve got this, I don’t need to ask for help. I mean, how many of us women, we all do it. We think we have to hold the world together ourselves when God is like, no, I got that job already taken care of. I’m holding the world together. You don’t have to do it. But that surrender piece, the only way that surrender is possible in my heart and in my heart towards my girls is when I know who God is. I can surrender to a God who’s faithful, who’s kind, who’s loving, who’s patient, who’s good, who is so concerned about his children that he laid down his life for us. He came to earth. Like when I really dig into the character of the Lord and knowing who he is, I can surrender to that. And when it comes to your girls, and your boys, this is so hard because sometimes I can visualize myself. can say, I can get there. I can trust you with me, but trust you with her?
It’s so scary and it’s just such a hard thing. remember when one of my girls was she suffers from a chronic illness and really before she was a teenager, we began battling this beast of a disease that is a really a daily challenge for us and really wrestling with the Lord to trust him with her. And I’m going to tell you that is I still do that. She had a relapse this past summer and I sat again in a very familiar seat for me beside her bed in hospital and had to wrestle with the Lord and just say, God, know this is where you get, I know you love her more than I do. I’m scared and I’m not a doctor and I don’t have all the answers. How do I trust her life with you is I have to zero in on who God is. Not what’s going on in her life necessarily, but knowing who he is and how he is faithful to his name and his character, I can trust her with him. And that’s really where you have to go as a parent when you’re when you’re surrendering your heart, your heart and then your kids to him.
Rachael Adams (13:10.914)
Yeah, and I do find that when our children and us too, when we go through really hard things that usually does, it’s molding our character, it’s sanctifying us, there usually is purpose in the difficult things that we’re going through. And so you share about the different struggles that our daughters face during the teen years. So how can we pray intentionally for our daughters in areas like their identity or their relationships and faith?
Stacey Thacker (13:36.224)
Yeah, this is a hard one because, we know this as adults, we know if you’ve walked with the Lord for any amount of years or even just for like five minutes, you know that it’s often the hard things that he allows into our life that make us more like him, that grows endurance in our lives and helps us realize what’s important. I mean, honestly, when I think about the hard things we’ve gone through as a family, or I think about the hard things my girls are going through, like if it were up to me, Rachel, I’d be like, way. We’re not going through that. Like if God came to me like at the beginning of the week, I was like, Stacy, here’s what we have for the week. What are you going to pick and choose for your girls? I was like, no, no, no, and no. Like we’re not doing that. Like I don’t want them to struggle, but it’s in the struggle that number one, that they learn who he is. And number two, they learn how they can trust him. And I want them to grow in their faith and I want them to hunger for his word and know that they need him.
Stacey Thacker (14:32.8)
Also, it’s just in those areas that they’re weak that we know, scripture says, when I am weak, then he is strong. If they never run out of their own strength, they’re never gonna know how much they need him. And so I know for me, took years to learn that and then relearn it over again, but asking the Lord to work in those areas of their lives, like their identity, like them understanding truth, like, I mean, we could talk about friendships all day things like that, with their relationships in their life, what they’re gonna do with their life, their purpose, all those things. It’s often when he takes us through hard things that he actually develops our character and makes us more like him. And at the end of the day, that’s what I want for them. I just wish I didn’t have to be on the front row watching when it’s so hard and I wanna rush in and fix it.
Rachael Adams (15:16.822)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I think one of the most powerful aspects of your book is the Jewish scripture inspired prayer. So how do these prayers help moms feel purposeful and empowered rather than powerless in their parenting?
Stacey Thacker (15:58.208)
I think so often when I talk to women about prayer, they’ll say, I don’t know how to do it. Like, I don’t know how to pray. I don’t know what to say. What do I say? And praise God, there are many actual prayers in scripture, but you can take any scripture and turn it into a prayer. so when you look through the book, here’s how it’s kind of set up. So there’s nine chapters. And like I said, there’s two chapters of what to pray over your own heart. And there’s seven themes to pray over the life of your teen girl. Now I could have probably picked 37 themes. I went with the seven that I felt like I land in the most when it comes to my girls. But in each of those themes, there’s a pep talk, I’ll call it a prayer pep talk at the beginning where I’ll kind of talk you through kind of the hows and whys and the heart issues kind of getting you there using some sort of passage of scripture that kind of illustrates the kind of the heart behind the prayer. And then there 10 scripture prayers at the end of every chapter. So you could literally, every day of the week, if you wanted to take a different theme every day, pick one scripture part. And I’m telling you, it’s like, Lord, I pray that and then you put her name in the blank. It gives you the script. It’s literally the script. It’s basically the verse just turned into a prayer. It’s not rocket science, but there’s something about having a script. And I knew sometimes when I am just exasperated, I don’t know what to do. Grabbing my Bible, I have taken every prayer in this and highlighted it in my Bible and written in the margin.
This is a praying for teen girls prayer and I’ll put the theme so that I can find it very quickly or I have my book. I’ve written in my book. There’s places to take notes as well. You can really use this book more as a prayer journal. You can go through and star and circle and I would say date those prayers. Write a date beside the prayer or stick with that prayer until you see God move or keep going back to it. Circle back, circle back. So that’s kind of how you use it. You literally don’t have to think of your own prayer. You can pray scripture and we know that God honors his word. We know that he loves his word. It’s kind of like, you know, when your kids come up to you and they say, Mom, you said, you said we could get ice cream tonight. You know, I’m going to honor. I’m like, yeah, I did say that. Yeah, I did. And so it’s something about that that God loves to hear his word prayed back and it builds our faith as well. He’s true to his word. And so we just really just written the script for you. So we’re trying, I’m trying to make it as easy as it can because I’ve been there and not no one to pray as well.
Rachael Adams (18:19.318)
Yeah, well, we’re going to take another brief break to hear a word from today’s sponsor. And when we come back, we’re going to talk about raising our teenage daughters and how that can sometimes feel very overwhelming.
Welcome back. are talking with Stacey Thacker, the author of praying for teen girls. And so we all know as moms that raising a teenage daughter can sometimes feel overwhelming. So for the mom who might be struggling with the weight of these years, how would you, what would you say to her about moving forward with peace and confidence in her parenting?
Stacey Thacker (18:53.536)
Well, it’s true that the world is kind of against you in that. You’re not gonna find that kind of support out there in the world. feels like, even though I think a lot of what we see in social media looks like girls, teen girls are really, they’re winning, they’re living their best lives, know. If we look at the numbers and statistics on teen girls alone, it’s terrifying to look at the suicide rate, girls are way more anxious and depressed than teenage boy counterparts. A lot of the research has shown that a high percentage of them have felt deeply sad in the past month. It’s just a hard time to be a girl. There’s a lot of confusing messages coming from the world. And so as a mom and a mom of faith, you’re looking around and you’re thinking, what do I do?
Well, I think if we look at scripture, Jesus was very clear that in this world, we’re gonna have struggles. The world is not gonna come to your rescue ever. Ever, the world isn’t gonna come to your rescue. And so we have to anchor ourself in the truth of God’s word. Jesus said, you’re gonna have troubles, but take heart, grow in your confidence, because I have overcome the world. And so part of what this book does is it just helps you put yourself in a position with the Lord to listen and to grow in your faith and to learn that he is gonna be with you and walk with you and give you the guidance that you need. And he says that he sent the Holy Spirit to be our helper. We’re not in this parenting thing alone. I know it feels that way. It kind of feels, even if you have, you and your husband are in a great place partner wise and you’re on the same page parenting, mean, that’s ideal, but still you still sometimes feel like I’m just kind of building the plane while I’m flying it, right?
Like you said, I’ve never had a teenager before. I don’t know what I’m doing. And you can kind of look out there at the world and see the state of things. It can be very hard and discouraging, but God says, I’ve sent a helper. His name is the Holy Spirit. I’m going to partner with you. I’m going to give you the strength that you need. And also I’ve already overcome the world. So whatever you come up against, know that I have conquered it, that I’m in control and you can trust me in this process. And as I said, he loves her more than you do, which is sometimes hard to believe.
Stacey Thacker (21:05.788)
But if you’re feeling that fear, you’re feeling that overwhelm, I would say just practically turn your phone off. I mean, not your texting because if your girl texts you, you really want to answer that. But get in the Word. You know something I’ve done this year, Rachel, that has just really been really good for my heart is I’ve gotten back to my physical Bible. And it sounds really crazy, but I’ve even taken it to like carrying it with me, leaving it in my car, walking into work with it, like having my physical Bible.
Having my quiet times in my Bible now. I love a good you version Bible app I love being able to study and take notes on my computer because as a writer I love being able to find those things quickly also have really bad handwriting so that’s another issue that I you know hand writing and reading in my Bible, but Being in my physical Bible. There’s something different that just goes off in my head when I pick up this Bible and I’m flipping pages. Y’all, have had to relearn where the books of the Bible are because I’ve been so electronically inhibited for the past few years. I’ve just been in the the e-version of the Bible. But something about that and I even have like this cute little yellow Bible. I like got a cute Bible. I’m just I’m writing in it. I’m taking notes. I’m adding sticky notes. I’m living in this Bible. I don’t know if I’ll move on to a new Bible next year or not. I haven’t decided but there’s something that changes in my heart when I’m handling God’s word physically. There’s just a different level of peace for me. I love having constant access through my apps, but having my physical Bible has really helped shift that fear, that distraction, feeling like I’m always distracted. There’s so many things that’s coming against you. Now, I’m not gonna tell you not to be on social media, because we are all on it and that’s fine in its own has its own place in your life. But I’m going to tell you if you can get to a physical copy of the word, get in community, find a small group at church or in your neighborhood, get in a Bible study, those kind of things are going to help ground you and help you not feel so overwhelmed and alone.
Rachael Adams (23:05.888)
Yeah, yeah, 100%. I actually got a new Bible this year too. I’d had the same one since my husband and I got married that was gifted to us and it just was honestly falling apart. And so, I mean, I’m going to cherish it forever. It’s a good thing. And so I just have now gotten a new one and I think you’re right. There is something to that having that physical Bible. And so as you were talking, it made me think about, you know, most of this conversation has been, you know, in my mind, intercessory prayer for our daughters. What does it look like to actually to pray with our daughters?
Stacey Thacker (23:38.05)
That’s a great question. And it’s interesting because I asked my girls about, know, how do you feel about the fact that your mom prays for you? Like, what does that mean to you? And they all said basically the same thing. They said, you know, it’s encouraging. It feels like you’re a safe place for me. It feels like it’s the way that you share your faith. If you can, and I know for some moms this is going to be super awkward, especially if you are not in the habit of doing this. You could even blame me if you want to.
I have a new book and it’s just helping me learn to pray for you and I want to show you some of these different areas like pick pick an area like what are you what what can I pray for you for and the areas are like Seek what is true pursue her heart surround her give her friends that endure just different things like that Like what are some areas and if you don’t want to show her the book just give her the ideas behind it Like what you like pray for your purpose pray for your friends pray that you’ll be safe, pray for to be strong and things like that. And just ask her, say, pick a theme and I’ll pray for you all week. And then maybe the next week, pick a new theme. So you could do that. You could also just text her and just say, hey, how can I pray for you today? And she may or may not answer, but she might. And if she doesn’t, just say, okay, just pray for her anyway.
Also, you could say, you could do like a prayer journal. you’re really like, can’t have this conversation, you could buy a journal and say, I’m just gonna, this is a journal I’m praying for you. I’m writing out some prayers for you. Would you write some requests in here or go back and forth? And maybe she could say, hey, be more like a back and forth journal and you could both talk and write in the journal. So those are just some ideas. And maybe if you’re a lunchbox packing mama, I know when they’re getting older, sometimes we’re letting them do that, but she could always put a sticky note.
I’ll just tell you this really funny story. This is so funny. So my youngest is a freshman this year and she started school and I thought, she doesn’t want a note. Like her friends aren’t going to want notes. She’s going to be embarrassed. So the first day of school, I did not put a note in her lunchbox because I thought I want to be a cool mom, right? I didn’t want to like make her feel bad. She was the only one that didn’t have a note in her lunchbox. So let me just say this. All the moms are doing it, you know, so don’t feel like you’re out of the box, you know, she’s like, yeah, I didn’t have one. Of course, the mom guilt just I felt so bad. But I mean, and I put them in later. Now she’s buying her lunch. It’s not it’s not even a thing. But you can always put a note in their lunch box or in their backpack or if they’re driving to and from school, you could put something. I mean, you could even like this is kind of silly. My girls are into these things called palm pals, which are like these little tiny stuffed animals. You can get them anywhere.
Stacey Thacker (26:18.272)
You could even like buy a little palm pal and just say, every time you see this, know that I’m praying for you. And just like, just something like that, you know, anything like that, just that she knows. And I could say she may not, she may not respond, but she might. And I think over time she will. And if you get to the point where you can pray with her, one of the best places I have found to pray with my girls is in the car. We’re driving somewhere and we drive all the places all the time together. And I’ll just say, Hey, let’s pray about that. And you know, you don’t have to be real weird about it, you can just talk to God and just talk to him for her and just say amen and then just pick up your conversation where you left it. It doesn’t have to be a big deal. think she’ll love it. I think she may not always tell you that, but I think it’ll mean a lot to her, especially when she hits a rough spot.
Rachael Adams (27:03.638)
Yeah, I love all those practical ideas and just how you weave it into ordinary everyday life. And it just makes me think it will draw you closer together in your relationship. And if we’re not praying for our children, who is it? And then I’m just interested to hear about your upbringing. Was your mom a prayer warrior for you?
Stacey Thacker (27:15.638)
That’s a good point. That’s a good point.
Stacey Thacker (27:23.296)
You know, I love that you asked that my mom, I grew up watching my mom sit at the kitchen table with her Bible open and her notebook and she would write out everyone she was praying for. And my brother and I were at the top of that list and my dad. And so here’s what’s craziest. So my mom, I was talking to my mom the other night and she’s still praying for me. And she said, I pray for the girls too. And so she read to me one of the prayers that she’s praying for my girls, her granddaughters. And of we both cried, you know, and I just thought, what a blessing. I am the answers to the prayers that she’s been praying since I was a baby. And her prayer life is really, really powerful. And I am so grateful that my mom spent so many years and is still on her knees for me. It’s made a big difference in my life for sure.
Rachael Adams (28:10.878)
Yeah, it’s beautiful. You know, and so often, I think in our mothering journey, we’re always thinking, gosh, I don’t know what to do, or I do want to fix this kind of like what we were talking about. And we almost forget or discount the power of prayer. So talk to us a little bit about like we think, oh, I can just pray about it. And that’s all I can do. But gosh, what a great thing that we get to do. So talk to us a little bit about the power of prayer.
Stacey Thacker (28:32.727)
Well, it’s interesting because prayer, it’s so obvious in scripture that we’re to pray. I mean, in the Psalms, if you just look at the demonstration of mostly David, it’s not all David, there are authors, every Psalm is basically a prayer. And maybe that doesn’t say, pray, you know, there’s this heart pouring out in this going before God and pouring out your heart and recognizing who God is. So we have the entire book of Psalms that is, you know, basically every Psalms is a prayer or multiple prayers.
And then all throughout scripture we have where it says pray continually, pray constantly, and all things pray, do not be anxious but pray. It is so clear. Jesus prayed. Jesus prayed in the garden. Jesus went, it said in scripture that he went away often to pray. He was always talking to his father. And so we have so many indications in scripture that we are supposed to be a people of prayer. Like that’s just who we’re supposed to be. And so I think part of what prayer does it helps me stay connected to Jesus. It’s that, you know, that Christiany word, we hear that word abide, how we’re supposed to make our hearts home at home in Him. And prayer is part of that, it’s part of that abiding. And there’s a mystery to it. I’m gonna tell you, I don’t know how it works. I don’t know how God hears me and how it all works in. I don’t have all the answers, but I know that it does work. I know that when I pray, it stops my spiral. If I am stressed, worried, anxious, fearful, it’s the quickest way to stop my spiral. It brings me peace and it grows my endurance. So the next time I come to something that’s hard, and let’s just say in relationship to parenting my girls, okay, the last time I was here, the last time I was anxious, the last time I went through this, God restored my peace. He sat me up straight. I was able to focus in on his word and pray. And what prayer does is it reconnects me to him and it makes life livable because I have this instant access to him. So we know scripture wants us to pray. We know that it’s beneficial for us to pray. So the real question is what’s keeping us from praying? Time, busyness, distractions, mean all the things, pride for sure. But I think when we really decide that prayer is where we’re gonna meet with the Lord and where we deliver all of our doubts to him, that’s when it really starts to impact our lives and change us, think, from the inside out.
Rachael Adams (31:00.558)
Absolutely. You mentioned one of the chapters in your book is about pursuing the heart of your daughter and so I think that leads really well into one of my last questions for you about is there a biblical concept of love that you think applies to this topic today?
Stacey Thacker (31:16.67)
Yeah, I think one of the things I’ve always thought about with my girls is if they really understood the depth and the height and the width, which is from Ephesians, of God’s love for them, that they would never ever be tempted or stray from that love. That they just understand that the quality of God’s love is so different than the world offers. It’s so transformational. It’s so rich.
And so I’ve prayed really, I just want my girls to have a better love story than the world wants to offer them. I mean, you can be a Swiftie, you can sing all the songs on the radio about love and true love, or he loves me or whatever, but that quality of the love that God has for his beloved daughters is so different and so beautiful that I thought, I just want them to be truly satisfied in him when they find their true heart’s desire is Him, that everything else will fall into line as it needs to because they have pursued Him at first because He pursued them first. That’s what scripture tells us, that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. That eternal life is not just in heaven someday. It’s right now. It’s an abundant full life right now. And that’s the kind of love I want my girls to have first and foremost.
Rachael Adams (32:37.422)
Me too, and if I would have only realized that sooner it would have saved me a lot of heartache and so we want to save them from the heartache. Hopefully so tell us something that you are loving right now
Stacey Thacker (32:49.292)
Something that I’m loving right now, I’ve been doing a list on my blog, doing this, sharing this with my newsletter followers, and so I’ve been cultivating a list. A couple things, I am loving being in the Psalms, I mentioned that before, I’ve been using Daily Grace Co. has a great series on the Psalms. I’m gonna be in Psalms all year. I knew this was gonna be a year of pouring out, and I thought, I just really need to be poured into Psalms, I’ve never studied it as a book necessarily, so Daily Grace Co. has these beautiful journals. I think there’s five, maybe five journals in the series and you just get a new one. I’m just gonna keep doing it, I’m gonna be on repeat. I also just discovered this amazing coal brew and I know that they have them in others. I think they originated in my town, but it’s called Fox Tail Coffee. I just had the best cup of best cold brew coffee this morning that I have ever had. So if you have a foxtail in your community, get some of their cold brew. It’s really, really good. So those are a couple of things.
Rachael Adams (33:47.338)
Okay, we’re gonna have to link those in the show notes. I’m intrigued by both. So I know I want to stay connected with you. I’m sure listeners are going to want to they’re going to want to get a copy of this new book. So tell us how they can do that.
Stacey Thacker (34:00.426)
Yeah, you can come to stacethaquer.com slash teens, T-E-E-N-S, and find out more about the book. There’s also a book called Praying for Teen Boys that our good friend Brooke McLaughlin wrote. And so both books are listed there. They’re coming out together on April 22nd, 2025. So you can grab those pre-orders or if this is after the date, you can grab that at any time. And then also I hang out on Instagram a lot at Stacy Thacker, S-T-C-E-Y Thacker. You can find me there posting about the book. You can also go to Praying for Teen Girls on Instagram. It’s his own Instagram as well.
Rachael Adams (34:35.872)
Awesome. Well, I will include that in the show notes that would you pray for us as we close today?
Stacey Thacker (34:41.874)
I would love to. Father God, thank you so much that your heart is for us. Thank you that you love us so much that you sent us Jesus. Thank you that you’re a good father. Thank you God that you bend down to listen to your children, that your heart is positioned towards us just waiting for us to pray. And because your heart is towards us, Lord, we want to be people who pray as long as we have breath. And so Father, we come to you, we give you our hearts, we give you our girls, our children, Lord, they’re yours anyway.
Thank you for allowing us to parent them and love them in the season. Pray for their hearts that you would pursue them and that they would seek what is true. God, would you make them strong? Would you keep them soft? Would you surround them? Would you give them friends that endure? And Lord, would you light their path? We want to be moms who pray for our girls and don’t fight against them, but fight for them. And I pray that you would give us the strength and endurance to do that for the long haul. And pray this in your name, Jesus, amen.
Rachael Adams (35:35.666)
Amen. I just had the vision in my mind of us as God’s daughters and how Jesus is praying and interceding on our behalf too. And so I’m just so grateful for that truth and so grateful for you and sharing your wisdom and your experience to help us to pray and with for our teen daughters and a parent with intentions. So thank you so much.
Stacey Thacker (35:57.142)
Thank you, Rachel, so much for having me. It’s been a great conversation.
Rachael Adams (36:01.71)
Friends of today’s conversation encouraged you, would you take a moment to share it with someone who might be struggling to navigate the teen years with their daughter? Prayer is such a powerful tool and you can make a difference in your relationship by partnering with God. Thank you for listening to the Love Offering Podcast. If you have enjoyed this episode, please leave a review and visit me at rachellekadams.com for more resources, including the Love Offering Calendar and the What Makes You Loveable quiz. Don’t forget to pick up a copy of Everyday Prayers for Love and Stacey’s new book, Praying for Teen Girls, Partner with God for the Heart of Your Daughter, available wherever books are sold. A special thanks to Life Audio for making this podcast possible. For more inspiring shows, visit LifeAudio.com. Until next time, let’s make our lives an offering of love.
*Transcript is AI generated.
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