The cry of your heart is heard. You are in the very place where prayer becomes not a form, but a desperate, breathless pleading with the Most High. You need not borrow a form of words, but go straight to God and spread your case before Him. It is a blessed sign that you turn to the Lord in this trial, for from your inmost soul you breathe your penitent prayer to Him, and He will grant you the desire of your heart.
Yet, remember that the prayer which prevails is the prayer which pleads the promises of God. Your request is for God to take full control. This is a right and wise plea, for it acknowledges that your own wisdom and strength are at an end. But true prayer is pleading with the Most High, spreading our case before Him, and then pressing our suit with all the arguments we can muster. Press your suit, then, not with the loudness of your daughter’s yelling, but by humbly crying, “Lord, You have promised to give the Holy Spirit to them that ask You. Lord, You are the God of peace. You have said, ‘Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near.’ Lord, remember Your Word to Your servant, for You have caused me to hope in it.”
Know, however, that prayer is the shadow of a coming blessing, and the answer may not come in the way you expect. The Lord in His wisdom may not simply force silence upon your daughter in the manner of a muzzle upon a beast. His working is deeper. He may answer you by first doing a work of quickening in your own soul, for a spiritually dead parent cannot stir a spiritually dead child. This trial may be the goad to drive you to your knees anew. Intercessory prayer is the sweetest prayer God ever hears, for Christ’s own prayer is of this same character, never for Himself, but always for His own. As you plead for your daughter, you are standing in a holy place. Do not pray as Peter prayed in his first fright, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man,” as though the Savior’s answer to your sin was to grant you distance. Humility in this case would take a different shape. Cry out rather, “Lord, abide with me, come nearer to me, for I am a sinful man, and my daughter is a sinful daughter, and we both have need of You.”
There is a peace to be had here, even while the storm still rages. He will keep in perfect peace, peace, peace, the mind that is stayed on Him, because it trusts in Him. When your daughter yells, let the blood of Jesus whisper peace within your own heart first. To do the will of Jesus in this trial, to bear this sorrow with Him, this is rest. Strive, then, not first for a change in her volume, but for a steadfast mind in yourself. And then, from that place of peace, continue your mighty wrestlings. Prayer will yet prevail if it has but time. Never forsake the closet. Never give up private devotion. Spurn the dark suggestion that prayer is fancy. Cry still, both in the daytime and at night, for the Lord will still hear your prayer.
And do not pray this prayer alone. It is at the prayer meeting that discouraged people are encouraged, and where divine power is received. Go where two or three are gathered, and continue with one accord in prayer and supplication for your household. Let the saints surround you with intercessory help. This is the most essential thing in turning any sinner from the error of their ways. Jesus has vanquished death and all its powers; He can vanquish this unclean spirit of rage. Lay hold upon the promise: you will surely prevail. It is enough. Earth’s struggles shall soon cease, and Jesus calls us to Heaven’s perfect peace. Even now, let that peace garrison your soul while you wait and wrestle.