By Dannah Gresh, Founder of True Girl
When I first saw the results of the national survey I conducted in 2018, my heart sank. When I was writing Lies Girls Believe, I asked the moms of 1,500 churchgoing tween girls a simple question: “Does your daughter read the Bible regularly?” Only 30% of them were confident the answer was yes. The others answered "no" or "I don't know."
Only thirty percent. These are girls in our churches. Our youth groups. Our homes.
When I asked their moms why, two answers rose to the top:
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The Bible felt too hard to understand.
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There just weren’t enough age-appropriate tools to help them engage.
One study found that when a child—or an adult—engages with the Bible on their own four times a week or more, their behavior changes dramatically. Anxiety and depression drop. Porn use becomes far less likely. Meanwhile, positive habits increase: they’re more likely to volunteer, do better in school, and even share their faith with others. That’s the power of God’s Word at work—and it’s why I’m so passionate about helping our girls open their Bibles every day.
In other words, do everything you can to get your daughter engaging with her Bible regularly!
I couldn’t ignore it. That statistic from my survey became a holy burden. I knew I had to do something.
Since then, my True Girl team and I have been on a mission to change that number. We launched a four-year initiative focused on one goal: helping girls develop a lifelong habit of reading and understanding God’s Word. Not just as a checklist—but as a joy.
At the center of that initiative is our True Girl subscription box. It’s more than a cute package in the mail—it’s a spiritual tool filled with daily devotions, hands-on Bible studies, and conversation starters to help moms and daughters connect deeply. And at the heart of it all is something we created just for girls: the 4Z Method of Bible Study.
While we offer a special event to train your daughter to use this magnificent method, we've made it simple enough to do it yourself. It’s basically a simplified version of the inductive Bible study method that even 8-year-olds can use.
Here’s how it works:
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Zoom Out to see the big picture (so we know the context and use it correctly)
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Zoom In on a key word or phrase (to dive deeply into one or more important details)
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Zero In on what God is saying to you (so we are not just hearers, but doers of the Word)
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Zip It Up with a prayer (asking for God's help to respond to His Truth)
It’s memorable. It’s effective. And it’s even changing the way moms study their Bibles!
I believe with all my heart that getting your daughter into God’s Word is the most powerful thing you can do for her spiritual life. Research confirms it—Bible reading is the #1 indicator of spiritual growth in a child’s life. It beats church attendance. It beats youth group. It beats Christian school.
But here’s the thing: our girls won’t grow in the Word unless we teach them how.
That’s why we’re taking this mission on the road.
This year, the True Girl Pop-Up Party is coming to four regions across the country—bringing the 4Z method to life through a joy-filled weekend of live worship, fun activities, and deep, interactive Bible study designed for moms and daughters. You’ll laugh. You might cry. You’ll definitely grow closer to each other—and to Jesus.
If you’re longing to see your daughter fall in love with God’s Word, come join us.
Let’s make sure she’s not part of the 70% who are ignorant of the critical importance of daily time in God's Word. Instead, she can be part of a generation of girls who knows how to find truth, hope, and direction in the pages of Scripture.
