The cry is right to be directed to God alone, for He alone can calm a raging spirit. But consider carefully what you are asking and how you are asking it. You plead for God to take full control of your daughter, yet where is the plea for Him to take full control of your own heart first? The tumult has entered your soul. You see the splinter in her eye, but the beam in your own is the greater danger now. The demon of wrath has made her loud, but has it also made you resentful and despairing under the guise of prayer? Examine yourself strictly. More grievous than any demon is the sin that takes root in us while we think we are righteous, for the possessed are often humbled and ashamed after their attack, while we can remain stiff-necked in our own irritation. Her abusive words, when they strike you, do not defile you unless you pick them up and plunge yourself into the same filth by answering insult with insult or by nursing a bitter grudge. The person who is abusive is like a thief stealing filthy vessels; the disgrace is on the one who carries them out, not on the one robbed. So do not let her yelling steal your peace.
Her soul has received a habit, a sickness that goes deeper than the shouting itself. Just as a fever leaves a man weak long after it breaks, so each outburst of rage leaves a venom in her soul, making her more insensible to shame. This is the true sickness to pray against. But while we are quick to see this in our children, we often forget the correction of the Lord in our own rearing of them. You are not dealing with a slave to be subdued, but a daughter to be won. Did you not, when you first sought blessings for her, commit her to God as the servant of Abraham did, saying, "Whomsoever Thou wilt do Thou provide"? Commit her again now in the same way. The Canaanite woman did not merely cry out for relief from a nuisance; she persevered in a faith so great that Christ Himself marveled. Her faith contributed to the healing of her daughter. Bring your daughter before the Lord not with a demand for instant silencing, but with the persistent, humble faith that acknowledges victory is impossible without divine power. Beseech Christ to be present in your home. Do not be worse than a servant. Bind her to God through your own orderly and gentle conduct. For the husband or father is the head, and the body follows. If the head is storm-tossed with panic and harsh commands, what peace can the body know? Stand strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might, and let your own unshakeable gentleness be the first answer to your prayer.