Start with the request
People can ask for prayer by phone, a website form or a card handed to a pastor. Send each request to the same coordinator and name a backup who checks it when that person is away. Put the church's response hours beside the number so someone waiting for a call knows when to expect it.
The prayer chain and prayer line guide includes setup instructions, text messages and an email you can copy. A prayer chain is the group that prays; a prayer line is how a request reaches that group.
Print the prayer request card
Download the prayer request card PDF, with four cards on a letter sheet. The person asking can choose pastors only, the pastors and prayer team, or the printed prayer list. Keep an unanswered sharing choice with the pastors.
Keep private requests private
Share only the details the person agreed to share, and ask permission before naming another person. Keep reports of abuse, threats and injuries out of the prayer chain. Follow the church's state reporting law and preserve the original report in a restricted incident file.
Use cOS Prayer Requests
cOS Prayer Requests is our free app for receiving requests and choosing who may read them. Read the sharing choices before putting a request on the church prayer wall.
If you need help now
Contact your local church for prayer. In the United States, call or text 988 for suicide or mental health crisis support. Call 911 for immediate danger. A church prayer line needs its own response hours and cannot promise an emergency response.