Free printable prayer request cards
Print the cards on card stock, cut them along the marks and set them out with a few pens. The set has a card for asking, a card for the answer and a slip for telling someone you prayed. It's free to download, with no email form.
Free printable · PDF
Prayer Request Cards
Five pages for small groups, churches and families, with a privacy line on every request card so people can say who may read it.
US Letter size. There's also a plain, ink-saver version for church copiers. Printing on A4? Get the A4 version or the plain A4 version.
Want the next printable? We'll email you when there's a new one.
Preview all 5 pages
The business-card page lines up with standard 10-up perforated business-card sheets, so you can skip the cutting. Looking for something else to print? Every free kit we make is on the prayer printables page, including a printable prayer journal for your own requests.
How to use prayer request cards in a small group
Cards solve two problems most groups know well: prayer time gets swallowed by sharing time, and by Thursday nobody remembers what anyone asked for. Here's a simple rhythm.
- 1
Hand out cards as people arrive
Leave a card and a pen on each chair, or pass a stack around with the snacks. People write while the room fills up, so nobody has to think of a request on the spot.
- 2
Collect them in one place
A basket works, or an envelope. Fold each card in half if it's marked "leaders only," so it stays private while it's passed along.
- 3
Swap the cards for prayer time
Shuffle the cards marked "the group" and let everyone draw one. Each person prays aloud, or silently, for the request in their hand. People who are nervous about praying aloud find this much easier, because the words are already in front of them.
- 4
Take one home
Ask everyone to keep the card they drew and pray for it each day until you meet again, or copy it onto their prayer list. Next week, the person who carried it can ask how it went.
- 5
Hand back the answers
When a request is answered, the person fills in a praise report card and reads it out, or the leader does. Pin the praise cards somewhere the group will see them all year.
If praying aloud is new for your group, our guide on how to lead group prayer covers silence, long prayers and other formats.
Keeping prayer requests private: leaders only, or just pray
Most request cards ask what you need. Ours also ask who may read it, because the honest requests are often the ones people won't say out loud.
Every request card in the printable has three boxes:
- The group. Anyone in the group may read and pray for this. It can be read aloud or drawn at random.
- Leaders only. The leader, or the two or three people who lead together, read it and pray. It is never read aloud or passed on, except to keep someone safe.
- Just pray, don't share. The person wants prayer but not a conversation. The leader prays over the card without mentioning it to anyone, including the person who wrote it, unless they bring it up first or someone's safety is at stake.
There's one exception, and it's worth saying out loud as you hand out cards, before anyone writes. The cards themselves say it: "If someone is in danger, we'll make sure they get help." If a card tells us someone is in danger, or a child may be at risk, it goes to the person responsible for keeping people safe, even if it was marked private. Praying for someone and protecting them go together.
The boxes only work if the leader keeps them. If a "leaders only" card ever turns up as a hint in someone's prayer ("and Lord, You know what's happening in a certain marriage"), people stop writing honest cards. Say the rule out loud whenever the group starts up again in the fall, and keep it every week.
- Keep private cards in a sealed envelope, not loose in a Bible or a bag.
- Don't type private requests into a group chat or an email to the prayer team.
- Requests about someone else (a sister, a coworker) should leave out details the other person hasn't agreed to share.
- Shred old cards once the group has stopped praying for them, unless a card raised a safety concern (see below). Don't put them in the recycling whole.
When a card worries you
A card that is meant to stay private can still tell you someone is in danger. If someone is in immediate danger, call 911. If a card mentions wanting to die, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) and talk to your pastor that day. If someone is being hurt by a partner, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.
If a child may be at risk, follow your church's safeguarding policy. If you don't have one, report it to your local child protective services, or call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453. In many states, church workers are required by law to report. Don't investigate or confront anyone yourself. That goes for a child's card at home, too. Any card that discloses abuse goes to your safeguarding lead and is kept as your policy requires, not shredded. Getting someone help is part of praying for them.
What to write on a prayer request card
A good card fits in about thirty words. It says who, what and when, and leaves the rest to God.
- Your first name and the date. The date lets you see later how long you prayed, and when the answer came.
- The real need, in a sentence or two. "Job interview Friday at 2" helps the group more than "work stuff."
- Who it's for, if it isn't you. A first name or "my neighbor" is enough.
- What you're hoping for. Healing, a clear answer, a hard conversation that goes well, sleep.
- Who may read it. Check one box.
It's fine to write "I can't explain yet. Please pray for peace." A card with no details is still a real request. For wording ideas by topic, from health and family to school and grief, see our prayer request examples.
Praise report cards for answered prayers
Groups are good at asking and bad at reporting back. The praise card closes the loop, so the people who prayed get to hear what God did.
The praise report card has space for the date, what you prayed for and how God answered, with the same choice of who may read it. Hand one back to anyone whose request card has been in the basket a while, and ask them to fill it in when there's news. Partial answers count. So does "the test results aren't back, but I've slept every night this week."
Not every card ends in the answer someone hoped for. When a request ends in a loss or a no, a praise card can still say "God was with us," if that's true for the person. Never push anyone to write one. A group that can hold a hard ending gently is a group people trust with the next card. If a praise card mentions a loss, check with the person privately before anyone reads it aloud.
Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer.
A shoebox of praise cards becomes a record of your group's prayer life. Read a handful aloud at the last meeting before Christmas or the summer break.
"I prayed for you" slips
Most people who ask for prayer never find out whether anyone prayed. A short slip tells them.
The slip has a "To" line, space to write what you asked God for, a box to check for each day you prayed and a "From" line. Tuck one in a mailbox, leave it on a desk, hand it over after church or slide it into a lunchbox. In a group, the person who drew a card can give the writer a slip the next week.
Respect the privacy box here too. If the card said "just pray, don't share," don't send a slip. If it said "leaders only," only a leader should send one.
For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.
When the person is far away, a text does the same job:
I had your card this week and I've prayed for you every morning. No need to reply.
Prayed for you today, about Friday. Let me know how it goes, if you'd like.
Just so you know: our group has been praying for your mom. We haven't stopped.
Prayer request cards for families
Cards work at the kitchen table as well as in a fellowship hall, and kids like having a card of their own.
- Sunday cards. Everyone writes or draws one request on Sunday night. Clip them to the fridge and pray through them at dinner all week.
- Swap with a sibling. Each child prays for a brother's or sister's card at bedtime. It's harder to stay mad at someone you've just prayed for.
- A card for grandparents. Mail a filled-in card to a grandparent who lives alone, and ask them to send one back.
- Praise night. Once a month, read every praise card in the shoebox before dessert.
The privacy boxes matter for kids too. A teenager who checks "leaders only" means Mom and Dad, not the whole table. For a family wall with envelopes and verse cards, see our prayer board ideas.
For church leaders: a prayer request table
A prayer request table gives people a quiet way to ask for prayer without walking up to the front. It takes ten minutes to set up and a little faithfulness to keep.
Setting up the table
- Where: somewhere people pass but don't stand in line, like a side wall of the lobby or the door to the prayer room.
- What's on it: the "Prayer requests here" sign, a stack of request cards (a short prayer request form people can fill in in a minute), a few praise cards, pens that work and a basket or a box with a slot. A locked box tells people you take their privacy seriously.
- Who empties it: name two people, not one, so the box is emptied even when someone is away. They should be people your pastor trusts with private things.
- When it's prayed for: the sign says "Our prayer team prays over every card, and keeps them private." Write your day underneath. "Every card is prayed over on Monday morning" is more reassuring than "we'll pray."
After the cards are collected
- 1
Sort by the privacy box
"The group" cards can go to the wider prayer team or the prayer chain. "Leaders only" cards stay with the pastoral team. "Just pray" cards are prayed over by the person who emptied the box and nobody else.
- 2
Pray over every card that week
Read each one by name. A promise to pray that quietly lapses does more harm than no table at all.
- 3
Follow up where you're allowed
If someone left contact details and checked "the group" or "leaders only," a short note or call a few weeks later means a lot. Our guide to starting a prayer chain covers passing requests on carefully.
- 4
Shred cards after 30 days
Unless the person asks you to keep praying, retire each card after a month and shred it. The exception is a card that raised a safety concern: give it to your safeguarding lead and keep it as your policy requires.
Moving from paper cards to a shared prayer board
Paper cards have limits. Only one person can hold a card at a time. Nobody who wrote one can see that it was prayed for. Answers get lost, because the praise card has to find its way back to the same box.
A shared online board keeps what works about the cards (a short request, a choice about who sees it) and fixes the rest. People post from their phones on a Tuesday, the prayer team sees each request the same day and the person who asked can see that people prayed. The table sign has a space for a QR code, so you can offer both: a card for those who want paper and a link for everyone else. PrayerBoard has a prayer board for churches that works this way.
Prayers for praying through the cards
For the leader with a stack of cards, the person who drew one at random and the card that has no details at all.
Over a stack of prayer request cards
Father, I'm holding the needs of people who trusted us enough to write them down. Some cards are in neat handwriting and some are scrawled in a hurry before the service started. You know every one of these people, and You knew these needs before anyone picked up a pen.
Hear each request as if it were the only one. Where a card asks for healing, heal if it is Your will. Where it asks for a job, a reconciliation or a night's sleep, be generous. Where it says only "please pray," You already know the rest. Keep these cards safe in our hands, and keep the people who wrote them close to You. Amen.
Before the cards go around the group
Lord, we're about to read each other's needs. Make us careful with them. Let nobody here feel exposed, and let nobody feel forgotten. Give us words for the card we draw, even if we've never prayed out loud before. Amen.
For a card marked "just pray, don't share"
God, I don't know what this is about, and I don't need to. You do. Whatever [Name] is carrying tonight, carry it with them. Give them the help they need and the people they need, and keep what they've trusted us with safe. Amen.
For a card you drew at random
Holy Spirit, I didn't choose this card, but maybe You did. I don't know [Name] well, so pray through me for what they really need. Give them a good week, and help me remember to ask how it went. Amen.
For a request that's been in the box for months
Jesus, this card is getting worn at the corners. [Name] is still waiting and so are we. Don't let us grow tired of asking, and don't let [Name] think we've stopped. Give them strength for another month, and give us patience to keep showing up. Amen.
When a praise card comes back
Lord, look what You did. We wrote it on a card in [March] and here's the answer in [Name]'s handwriting. Thank You. Let this card remind us, the next time we're worried, that You listen. Amen.
Short prayers to write on the back of a card
- Lord, You read this card before I did. Amen.
- Father, meet [Name] in the thing they couldn't write down. Amen.
- Holy Spirit, give [Name] what they need this week. Amen.
- Jesus, thank You for the answer on this card. Amen.
PrayerBoard for iPhone and Android
For the requests that don't fit on a card
PrayerBoard is a private circle for the few people you pray with. Post a need from your phone and see which friends have prayed. It's free while in beta on iPhone and Android.
Now in beta on iPhone and Android. Free, with no ads and no tracking.
Questions people ask
What do you write on a prayer request card?
Your first name, the date, the need in a sentence or two and who may read it. Name the real thing ("my dad's scan on Tuesday") rather than "unspoken," if you're comfortable. Our prayer request examples page has wording for health, family, work and more.
How do you collect prayer requests at church?
Put cards, pens and a closed box on a table near the entrance or the prayer room, with a sign. Name one or two people who empty the box after each service, pray over every card that week and keep them private.
Is a prayer request card the same as a prayer request form?
For most churches, yes. A form is usually a full page or a web page. A card asks the same questions (name, date, the request and who may read it) at a size people will fill in during a minute before the service.
How do you keep prayer requests confidential?
Let the person choose who reads the card, and honor that choice every time. Only the people who need to see a card should handle it, and old cards should be shredded rather than thrown away. Tell people up front about the one exception: a card that shows someone is in danger gets passed to whoever keeps people safe.
What is a praise report?
A praise report is the follow-up to a prayer request: a short note telling the people who prayed what happened. It can be a full answer, a partial one or simply "we got through it."
What size are prayer request cards?
Most are about 4×5 or 4×6 inches, which leaves room for a few lines. Business-card size (3.5×2 inches) fits a pew rack, a wallet or a small basket. Ours are quarter-page cards (about 3.85×4.7 inches on Letter), four to a sheet, plus a business-card page.
Can I print these cards for my church?
Yes. Print as many as you need for your church, group, school or family. Please don't sell them.
