How women conduct their daily lives exerts enormous power for good or for ill in the world. It all hinges upon the matter of worldliness, whether they are of God or of the world. God established womanhood for His glory and it is one of the most powerful forces in the world. It cannot be underestimated. The Bible makes it clear that a women's view of beauty is at the heart of her influence. John Adams captured this when he said,

"From all that I had read of history and government, of human life and manners, I had drawn this conclusion, that the manners of women were the most infallible barometer to ascertain the degree of morality and virtue in a nation...The Jews, the Greeks, the Romans, the Dutch, all lost their public spirit, their republican principles and habits, and their republican forms of government, when they lost the modesty and domestic virtues of their women."1

It is hard to overstate the value of biblical womanhood in the preserving Christian culture in our times. The contribution of a Christian woman is set by her fidelity to the Lord Jesus Christ. Here are thirteen things I am praying for the women in the church.

1. Gospel:
Daughters who know and embrace the gospel of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, not trusting in their works, but solely on the shed blood of Jesus Christ and living faithfully and fruitfully in the world.

2. Conformity:
Daughters who are not conformed to and walking in the ways of this world, but rather are transformed by the renewing of their minds to the ways of God for womanhood, and willing to endure the slanders of the world. Rom. 12:1-2

3. Doctrine:
Daughters who understand the doctrine of womanhood, and fathers and mothers who are teaching the details of its various elements of the glory of God in womanhood.

4. Keepers at home:
Daughters who are poised to be keepers at home, and fathers and mothers who demonstrate godly patterns and facilitate biblical home life. Titus 2:3-5

5. Teaching:
Daughters who are preparing themselves to be teachers, ordering their time for the pursuit of sound doctrine and the other matters that equip them to teach the rising generation, and to become an older woman who is qualified to teach the younger women.

6. Helpers:
Daughters who are preparing to be helpers, and fathers and mothers who are carefully deploying their energies. This, whether or not they are married, they are refining their serving of their families, the body of Christ and the community. Titus 2:3-5

7. Dominion:
Daughters taking dominion, spending their years of youth in meaningful labors, being fellow laborers for the kingdom of God, and fathers and mothers who have a vision for the dominion mandate in their realm. Gen. 1:26-28; Matt. 28:18-20; Matt. 10:42; Mark 9:41; 3 John 5

8. Boldness:
Daughters who are not cowering in fear and timidity, but controlled by God and confidently taking their place in the world, entering into prayer boldly, boldly declaring the truth of God, bold in obedience, boldness in serving God, and boldness in living for God in the midst of a wicked and perverse generation. Phil. 1:19-20

9. Authority:
Daughters who understand the proper use of authority in the home, in the church, and in the world; knowing the details of the authority a woman has in her home and the responsibility she has in the church, and her role in industry and the politics.

10. Modesty:
Daughters who understand the importance of adorning the doctrine of femininity, the covering of shame, the “shamefacedness,” and the purity that clothing displays, and recognizing who they are when they stand in front of a mirror, and who they are trying to glorify and impress. 1 Peter 3:3-6; 1 Tim. 2:8-14; Deut. 22:5

11. Glorification:
Daughters who act and dress and talk and live for the glory of God alone, not seeking to glorify themselves but God alone.

12. Beauty:
Daughters who have an awareness of true beauty, grasping how salvation, the work of the Holy Spirit, and holiness beautifies, and the dangers of inordinate attention to outward appearance. 1 Peter 3:1; Ps. 149:4-5; Is. 61:3; Ps. 96:9; Prov. 31:30; Is. 53:2

13. Contentment:
Daughters who are content with what God has brought to them, believing that godliness is gain and finding joy in the life God has given, not godless coveting or yearning for what God has not given.1 Tim. 6:6-8; Rom. 14:7; Heb. 13:5; Heb. 4:10-12