Know a teen girl? Then you are gonna LOVE today’s guest post and giveaway by my good friend and ministry partner Lynn Cowell.
Here she is now, sharing from her heart and about her new devotional for teens:
Sometimes I’m motivated to action by statistics. Like this one: 70 – 75 % of teen youth walk away from their faith after high school (see data from Barna ). As a mom of three young adults and teens, this is way more than a startling statistic. It is a fact I have to face it and choose to be actively doing something about it. As my friend, Erin Bishop of The Whatever Girls says, “I have to teach God’s word with intention and not hesitation.”
But that is easier said than done! Commitments and schedule gobble up my family’s time. Energy at the end of the day is all but gone, leaving me a mom who just wants to crawl in bed and call it a day. How can I make what is truly important a real priority?
I have to be intentional. I have to look for and take any opportunity to share God’s truth with my kids. On the way home from practice, while making dinner, and even waiting in line at the store; any time can be turned into a good time to talk about Jesus.
While making the most of those spontaneous times are great, I’ve learned that structured time to read God’s Word with my kids is a must.
Yet a look at our family’s schedule makes it appear impossible. I’ve found the morning is one of the rare open spaces in our days so I choose to read God’s word to my kids while they eat their breakfast.
The year I started this, it didn’t go over well too well! As teens, the last thing they wanted to do was get up earlier so that we could all be at the table at the same time. But with a little compromise here and a tweaking of the alarm clock there, we made the commitment and followed through.
Pouring small amounts of truth into my daughters before they hit their school halls has become a big priority. Am I fitting in a chapter of the Bible each day? No. But speaking even just a portion of God’s unfailing love helps prepare my daughters for the trials and temptations they face each day. My girls can’t quote large chunks of Scripture but, little by little, truth is sinking in; their lives are reflecting change. And God’s truth is sinking into my heart too!
You can teach a young person in your life God’s Word, too. It’s doesn’t take half an hour a day, but just a few minutes. Start with texting all of your kids a verse a few times a week. Keep a devotional book in the car, having one of your children read out loud on the way to school. Create a habit of reading right after you all brush your teeth. The time of the day isn’t important. What is important is finding time and making it a priority.
To help you get started, I am offering a free 7 Day Faith Builder. These devotions are straight out of my new book, “Devotions for a Revolutionary Year; 365 Days of Jesus’ Radical Love for You.” When you sign up, each day you will receive a short devotional to read to your girl. It only takes 2 – 3 minutes!
Should you find you want more than 7 days, you want 365, just send me your receipt for “Devotions for a Revolutionary Year” before October 1st to freebies@lynncowell.com and you’ll receive a link with over $75 in free resources including three sessions from my “His Revolutionary Love” conference never before released!
And, one of you who comments on this post will get a copy of Devotions for a revolutionary Year. Just tell us about a teen girl you’d love to give the book to. Winner announced Monday. 
I would give the book to my beautiful niece, Nikki, she loves our Lord!
There are so many girls out there that need to know God is there He is the Heavily Father.
My Niece is 12 and she is in that awkward stage of pre-teen and in middle school. I would love for her to have this book. Her dad has walked out of her life and what better way to fill this void but to learn how much Her Heavily Father loves her. She can go to him in times of fear, frustration, angst, and in return receive his love, his comfort. When she runs in to mean girls and insecure situation he is there to pull her through.
Thanks
Lynn – this is an amazing way to share God’s word with the young women in our lives. Thank you!
I have a great neice I would love to give this book too! She is in her last year of high school and I would love to see her take this book to college!
I would love to give this to my daughter who has been estranged from myself and my whole family. She has walked away from all of us thinking she knows what is best and has gone to live with her dad. I am a women of Christ who has to the hardest thing a mother can do and that is let go. I now know what God fills like when His children walk away from their faith and into living a life for themselves. How His heart aches for all of His children. And just like the prodical son I will wait and will celebrate when that time comes for her to come home again. First and foremost I want her to know the depth of God’s love for her. Thanks.
I love hearing your hearts to pour the truth that Jesus is wild for them into the precious girls in your lives!
I would love this book! I have 2 tween daughters…it would be used now and be a great resource in the years ahead.
I would love my daughter to read your Devotions for a Revolutionary Year. She is 12 turning 13 in November. I believe this would be a great help for her in middle school and all of her life. Thank you!
Thank you for caring about our girls. My oldest daughter is in 7th grade and it breaks my heart to see the struggles that she deals with every day. These kiddos need hope in such a difficult world.
Bless you!
I have a niece who will be 16 at the end of October. She is like a daughter to me. I would love to give this to her for her birthday.
Thank you for doing this I would LOVE a copy for my 18 year old daughter!! She is finished with High School and now trying to find her place in this world as a Christian young lady trying to stay PURE in every area of her life and finding it difficult to relate to others whom just don’t seem to cherish these values any longer!! God Bless you for the work you are doing!!!
I would love to give the book to a girl at my church. She just lost her mom to cancer and I’m sure a year of devotions would be a huge blessing for her.
I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this book. I have one daughter (& 3 boys) and she loves God and she still asks me to read to her. She turns 13 on October 1st and I would love to read this with her.
I would Love this book for my daughter & would love to read it with her as well!
I would give it to my daughter.
Thank you so much for sharing. My husband is a youth pastor and these tips are great to pass on to our parents. I lead our jr high girls Sunday school class, I would use it with them.
I would love to give this book to my tween daughter. She is hitting the finding yourself stage and I want to purposely remind her that she is beautifully made.
I would love to give this to my best friends daughter, Ashley.
I am so glad to know that Lynn is finding ways to reach our teens. Each person that can use their godly gifts is to be blessed for sure! Thanks for the opportunity to get the book!
I’d give it too my daughter to encourage her & strengthen her faith. Thanks for the giveaway.
My grandchildren live with me. My granddaughter will be twelve on Saturday. She has been in and out of my home for the past couple years due to her mom’s addictions. Her dad was just recently released from prison for domestic abuse. Unfortunately, she has not had parents that are good role models. She has complained about my church as it is very small. The past couple weeks she has finally seemed to mesh with the children at church. They range from her 3 year old brother to older teens. That has become a plus as most of them are homeschooled and make good choices. I would give the book to her. Thank you.
Id love to share this book with my girls Sunday School class.
I have 2 nieces and a daughter. I have already ordered one copy for my niece and would like the other to have a copy also. The one I bought for is in college. Eventually I’ll buy for my daughter, she’s 11. My nieces are 18 and 16. They love the Lord but struggle with typical teen issues and pressures. Thanks for such a great and easy way for teens to stay connected to God!!
I would love to give this book to my daughter. It will be on her Christmas list this year!
I would give the book to my daughter, she will be 13 next month.
What a wonderful plan for devotions! Thanks. I would love to give the book to my oldest granddaughter who graduated from high school in June.
I would love to have this book to give to my granddaughter who is struggling with her first year in middle school. She has already experienced other kids bullying her, which in turn she has not wanted to go to school. I have gave her several Bible verses and told her to turn to God when she thinks this is starting that He is there for Her!
would love this for my niece Arianne…thanks for the post and opportunity
My friend’s daughter is almost 12. She used to attend church with a neighbor but has been visiting her mom on the weekend lately, and can’t go with her neighbor. I would love to give her your book. She is already headed down the wrong path.
Blessings
I’d love to share this book with my daughters, Jenna and Kimberly!
I’m going to go ahead and order one for my daughter and a friend. Would love to win one to give to another friend!
I am so looking forward to the 7 day faith builder and to start being intentional with my kids. I have a 13 year old (and 11 year old) daughter that I would love to bless with this book.
This is a wonderful book to give to my daughters. It sounds like the book would be a great guideline and opportunity to talk about Jesus.
Awesome….Would love to give this to my oldest baby. She is a junior in high school and before you know it she will be leaving to college. She battles so much with self esteem and identity. We’ve talked so much about this. We encourage her through God’s word and speak life into her. Some days are better than others for her but God is good and continues to give us wisdom with her. I know this would be an awesome blessing for her!!!
I would give it to my son’s girlfriend.
Thank you, thank you…with two teenagers at home, I needed this. I do send daily scriptures, so thanks for the encouragment.
I started the Good Morning Girls Bible study this week and my 13 year old daughter asked me if there was one she could do. This is just what we were looking for!
Thank you for your ministry.
I would love to give this to my two nieces who are 16 and 14. They are also sisters so they could read the devotional together.
My daughter would love this. She went to Wednesday night church a few weeks ago, but felt lost because the teachers were using words that she wasn’t sure what they meant (she is dyslexic) and now she is discouraged and doesn’t want to go any more. I told her this past weekend, maybe we could look for a devotion book for girls that she could read.
We have 3 teen daughers and 1 almost teen daughter (12 going on 19!). I would love to share this devotion with all of them!
I have a teenage daughter, who I thank God for daily, she is still not dating because she believes that God has a man for her, although being in a public school is difficult when everyone else is going out on dates and double dates, and here she sits at home, or hangs out with her girlfriends. It is hard at times, and she says that we have a wall between us most of the time, but we are trying to get past the wall and get back to enjoying each other again, this would be great for her.
Thank you,
Jenny
God has given me 5 beautiful, wonderful daughters to raise for him. I believe a devotional book like this would be awesome for them!
Reading this brought tears to my eyes. My 13 year old daughter has struggled so much the past two years. She was bullied for a year and half in middle school by the same group of girls. I was so absorbed in my own health issues to even see what it was doing to her. Her grades slipped, she became withdrawn…this eventually led to her trying to take her life. This was a girl who loves God…but as a parent, I had failed to make time to teach her that God loves her too. Things are improving, we are taking it one day at a time. I would love for her to have this book. Even if I don’t win a copy, I will still purchase it. Thank you so much!
I have a couple of girls in my small group that I would love to give
this devotional to. One girl just opened up last night in small group
about her mom and the lies she tells…that there are a lot of
disagreements between mom and dad (who are divorced) which makes
her and her sister very sad. Another girl is the oldest of 3 siblings and
talks about disliking her siblings. We were talking about compassion last
night and the girls were having a hard time with the concept of
having compassion for others. We talked about Jesus feeding the five
thousand because He saw a need. We also talked about Jesus dying on the
cross for us as a show of compassion. It broke my heart that the girls didn’t seem
to understand the concept of compassion. My prayer is that God opens their
hearts to compassion. They are a great group of girls and this was only our third time
for small groups so I’m encouraged that we will come back to and conquer
compassion.
I would love to give the book to a dear teenager who was part of our church before. She loves the Lord so much. This year she’s in a very stormy situation in life. Her siblings and she were transferred to different foster homes due to abusive parents. That’s why she’s not with us at church anymore but we still keep in touch with her often. For sure your book would be a great help for her spiritual growth. Thanks so much in advance!!!
I’d love to have this book in my classroom for my girls to check out!
I would love to use this book with my 14 year old daughter who just started high school.
What a great book to give to my 15 year old niece. A great idea for a Christmas gift!! Lots of girls could use this book.
I would love to be able to give a copy of this devotional to my youngest sister for Christmas. She is 19 years old. Although she made a decision to accept Christ when she was younger and has been baptised, for the past two years, she has been very antagonistic towards anything do with the Lord. She says she doesn’t believe any more. I’ve been writing to her for some time now–just loving her and praying that God will work on her heart. Just last week, she wrote me and said “although I am not totally enthused towards God, I am not feeling the animosity really at all that I was feeling before.” Praise the Lord! He is at work in her heart!
I have a 15 year old who is loving the Lord right now and I think she’d love this devotional!
I would love to give this book to my 15 year old cousin!
I’d love to do the devotion with my daughter.
This sounds like an awesome devotional! I have so many girls I could choose from, but there is one girl in my youth group who is going thru a rough family time & is so hungry for the word!
I would love a copy of this book to share with my two daughters ages 11 and 15.
I have 3 daughters and this sounds perfect for the oldest two – 16 and 10. It is so important to me that they truly understand God’s “Revolutionary” love for them! I so want them to find their identity in Christ alone!
I would share this with a friend’s daughter. Thank you.
I would love to be able to give the devotional book to a young lady, but I was blessed with only boys! ;o) Having three of them with ball schedules of all kinds from elementary through college with devotions thrown in has always been a challenge for us. I would like to encourage all the moms and dads out there to try to do just that! My husband has played taxi the entire time our boys have gone to school and to games. He has used the radio or taped version of our daily bread (luckily it fit into their drive to school while living outside Nashville), he’s let them take turns reading from our ‘devotions for boys’ devotional (cant remember the name) when they were a little older and then he started doing more of the ‘life lessons’ when they hit middle school and high school. It’s been a blessing to me to hear all the little ‘boy things’ they would discuss – from friends, to peer pressure, to how to date a girl the RIGHT way and yes,, even sex and the changes ‘mom is going through right now’. We actually have started reading the ‘daily bread devotional’ in the mornings before school and the ‘checking in’ with our boys to determine just how God blessed their day around the supper table. It’s SO important for families to spend time with each other and God on a daily basis; leaving it for a Sunday School teacher once a week is so not enough. I pray God’s blessings on you all and encourage you to have devotions with your children (or grandchildren if you are blessed with caring for them) while they are still young and then make it a daily ‘habit’. Start now, even if they are older; they may… no WILL grumble, but if you are persistent and they see you are taking an interest in them and then see God’s blessings in their lives by answered prayer… seeds are being planted for a lifetime commitment and for eternity. What better gift can you give them for five minutes a day?? WOW!
I would love to be able to give the devotional book to a young lady, but I was blessed with only boys! ;o) so it would have to be given to a lil lady from our church. Having three boys with ball schedules of all kinds from elementary through college with devotions thrown in has always been a challenge for us. I would like to encourage all the moms and dads out there to try to do just that! My husband has played taxi the entire time our boys have gone to school and to games. He has used the radio or taped version of our daily bread (luckily it fit into their drive to school while living outside Nashville), he’s let them take turns reading from our ‘devotions for boys’ devotional (cant remember the name) when they were a little older and then he started doing more of the ‘life lessons’ when they hit middle school and high school. It’s been a blessing to me to hear all the little ‘boy things’ they would discuss – from friends, to peer pressure, to how to date a girl the RIGHT way and yes,, even sex and the changes ‘mom is going through right now’. We actually have started reading the ‘daily bread devotional’ in the mornings before school and the ‘checking in’ with our boys to determine just how God blessed their day around the supper table. It’s SO important for families to spend time with each other and God on a daily basis; leaving it for a Sunday School teacher once a week is so not enough. I pray God’s blessings on you all and encourage you to have devotions with your children (or grandchildren if you are blessed with caring for them) while they are still young and then make it a daily ‘habit’. Start now, even if they are older; they may… no WILL grumble, but if you are persistent and they see you are taking an interest in them and then see God’s blessings in their lives by answered prayer… seeds are being planted for a lifetime commitment and for eternity. What better gift can you give them for five minutes a day?? WOW!
What a great post. Thank-you for sharing with us!! I can’t wait to get the book for us to work with our children!! I also want to get the book for our neighbor who is fostering 2 children. They have been through a lot and our neighbors are making such a difference in their life. Thanks again for ALL YOU DO!!!
I mentor a teen and a tween and I would love to have this book for both of them.
I would love to share this book with my daughter who recently gave her heart to the Lord. I have already began the 7 day Faith Builder with her and it has opened up several new conversations that probably would not have happened otherwise. Thank you!
I would love this book for my daughter – high school junior – finding her way in life with career and college decisions looming on the horizon. This book would be a great source of encouragement we could read together also albessing for our relationship!
Blessings,
~C
I would love to bless my niece, Kelsey, with this book!
I would love to get this for my 15 year old granddaughter so she can share it with a group of her Christian friends who meet during lunch once a week…informally at a public school…I am so proud of her for doing that.
My daughter is in college and I feel like she is pulling away from her faith. I would love to give your book to her along with my prayers for her life.
I would love to give it to my friends neighbor who babysits. She could really use this since she isn’t strong in her faith & has friends that aren’t good influences. I pray for her often.
I would love to win this for one of my daughter’s friends. Things have changed for her this year in going to middle school and she needs to be reminded of God’s love for her!
My daughter still enjoys cuddle time at the end of the day, this would be a great book for us to share!
I would love to win this for my oldest niece!
My first granddaughter, Tava, who is 13 and a half. I just spent 3 weeks with her and family visiting. She has a tender heart and loves God. I just would like her to have a vital relationship with her Savior.
I would love to order a copy to give to my daughter or even win a free copy for her. I am glad I ran into your article and I will definitely try to help her with her faith as it is important part of my life and I want to make sure it is important in her life as well.
Thanks.
i would love to give this to my niece. My foster sister loves the Lord but all the problems with her ex as well as living with a guy who then decided he really did not want to be a husband/father has really taken a toll on my precious niece. Think this could be a big help to not only my niece but perhaps something she & my sister could do together.
I would love to give this to my precious 15 year old granddaughter who lives way too far away – 33 hours. Thank the Lord for telephones and email! Thank YOU for all the offers you extend to us.
I would love to have this for my 14 year daughter who has been exposed to many issues lately that I would have thought might not come around until she reached high school. I’m desperate for something to help her stay focused on what’s important and true. I know this post was from a while back, but I just came across it through an internet search today and though I would still post. Thank you!