Prayer Cards

“Will you pray for me?”

Yikes! How many times have you said, “Yes, of course!” but doubted that you’d ever remember to do it?

I’d like to share a simple way to live up to those prayer commitments that also provides an opportunity to involve your family in the ministry of prayer. All you need is a deck of 3×5 cards, a 3×5 card box, and a pen.

Step 1. Personalize the card.
Write the name of the person on one side of the card and the prayer request (if needed) on the back.

You may want to go ahead and make cards for the people you normally pray for…and those who have not asked for prayer but you pray for anyway.

Included in our deck is each member of our family, one card for each extended family unit, the elders of our church, the President of the U.S., state and federal legislatures, neighbors, missionaries, friends, and ministry supporters.

Step 2. At breakfast or dinner have a child randomly pick one of the cards and pray for the person named.

Our 4 year old absolutely loves picking the card each morning which provides a simple way for him to participate in our family worship time. It’s very clearly—HIS JOB—if you know what I mean. Usually, I will have one of the other children pray for the request. If the prayer request is of a particularly sensitive nature, I usually limit the information and pray myself.

Step 3. Put the date that you prayed for the person on the back of the card.
Writing the date on the back of the card allows you to know how long you’ve been praying for that particular person. You may also want to write updates on the back of the card.

Step 4. After praying, put the card in a section of the card box that is separate from the other cards so that everyone is prayed for once per cycle.

Step 5. Add/Remove cards as needed.
We rarely remove cards but simply change how we pray for that person.
Other comments: We often pray for people with exigent requests, regardless. As in one case, we were praying for a young father who was deployed in the Middle East for about 4 months. We prayed for him almost every day.

To get through the deck faster, pick a card at breakfast and one at dinner or simply pray for more than one person at a time.

Individuals and couples without children can benefit from this system. I actually have a separate deck of cards that I use for my personal devotional time.

Remain faithful to your prayer commitments! Lord willing, this simple tool will encourage you to that end.

To receive more encouragement in your prayer life, I suggest attending a Prayer Life Seminar by Paul Miller’s See Jesus Ministries. Three years ago, I took my two teenage daughters to one. It was a great experience as well as an influence for this idea.