Feeling scattered or disorganized during your prayer time happens to everyone at some point. Remembering what you said you would pray for, or continuing to pray for long-term prayer requests, can leave you feeling like you are coming up short on your prayer commitments.
Thankfully, there are a lot of different ways to organize your prayer requests and thoughts, and a prayer box is a great way to bring your prayer needs into one place to pray through them.
Prayer boxes can be simple or elaborate. Sometimes people make them for themselves, but others give them as gifts.
Take a look at these 17 prayer box ideas and see which one is right for you!
What is a Prayer Box?
Prayer boxes are boxes or other containers that hold prayer requests or praises for yourself or others.
Prayer boxes you put together for yourself often are filled with your ongoing prayer needs, written on notecards, random scraps of paper, or assorted material.
Prayer boxes that you might give as a gift often are more organized. Ones that you are giving for someone to use are usually more cohesive in look and theme.
Prayer boxes that you are giving as a gift for an occasion are often compiled at a group gathering such as a toddler’s birthday, a baby shower, a wedding shower, or a wedding anniversary party.
For those gifts, people write on cards with prayers they are praying for the recipient(s), then the cards are presented in a prayer box as a meaningful keepsake.
While prayer boxes aren’t in the Bible specifically, the concept of a prayer box is biblical. God wants us in prayer with Him. Jesus told the disciples the parable of the persistent widow to remind them that they should “always pray, and not give up.” (Luke 18:1)
Why use a prayer box?
Choosing to use a prayer box can be helpful for the Christian who loves to pray for ongoing needs but finds it hard to remember what they are supposed to be praying for. It can also be a great way to review older prayer requests to see how God has answered them.
Using a prayer box can also symbolize how we give our prayers to God. 1 Peter 5:7 tells us to be “Casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you.” Writing down our needs and putting them away in the box reminds us to put them aside and leave them with the Lord.
This isn’t a perfect analogy, as a prayer box is often used as a prayer tool to review requests. But the symbolic act of writing the prayer request out and giving it to God in prayer can be a tangible reminder of this truth.
Prayer boxes can be a great tool to remind you to be in prayer over new and older prayer needs, and can encourage you in prayer.
Prayer boxes aren’t “magical”, to be clear. God is the One who answers our prayers, and using a prayer box isn’t going to get your prayers answered any faster or slower. But it may help you be more diligent in prayer and aid you in remembering prayer requests.
To use a prayer box, you can choose to pray through several prayer requests in the box, or you can choose one for the day. Add new prayer requests as needed, especially if you have committed to faithfully praying for someone.
What do you need for a prayer box?
There’s not one special right way to make a prayer box, but this list can help you get started on bringing your prayer box together.
A container. This could be a plain box you have on hand, a decorative box you purchase, a recipe card-sized box, an Altoid tin, or something else entirely. It’s simply a holder for your prayer requests.
Paper to write down the prayer requests. The choice for the paper you use may depend on your container. A common paper that fits in a lot of the suggested boxes is the index card. The best paper to use is often the one right in front of you. It’s better to actually pray than worry about using the wrong paper.
Organizing dividers (optional). This will also depend on the container, but in an index card/ recipe card container, you might want index card dividers between the different areas of your life/family members you are praying for.
In a larger box, you could use envelopes to move current prayer requests into an answered prayer request category when you see God answer that prayer. What a great way to reflect on God’s provision!
If you like to pray using the ACTS Prayer Method (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication), you could have dividers with those headings.
Decoration (optional). This is not the most important part of having a prayer box, but it can be a meaningful part for some people. Adding in printed cards, souvenirs, or encouraging notes can add special meaning to your prayer box.
17 Prayer Box Ideas
The variety of ideas listed here will help you get started in finding the right prayer box option for you. Don’t worry about getting it perfect, just figure out what works best for you!
Prayer Boxes for You and Your Family
These boxes would be one that you would use by yourself or as a family. We’ll explore options to buy or to make. Use them during your personal prayer time, during meal times as a family, or during a weekly family devotional.
Making Your Own with Printables
We’ve made a few examples of prayer boxes so you can see what they are like and what option could be a good fit for you. You’ll find links to the boxes in the prayer box descriptions below.
They use items from our printable digital download Prayer Box Kit, which includes 5 x 3, 6 x 4, and 3 x 2 prayer request cards, thankfulness cards, and Bible verses on prayer. It comes with printable .pdf files, or .jpgs of the single cards.
If you just need the prayer request cards for now, pick those up for free in our Gumroad shop.
If you already have our prayer board kit, you could probably use some of the elements from that kit in the prayer box.
Decorative Prayer Box
We chose this decorative box to have a roomier box that could fit larger pieces of paper, pens, and other special items.
Recipe Card Prayer Box
If you like the organization of a recipe card box, this could be the right choice for you. You could use a standard index card box or an oversized one like we chose here. Having the slots on the top of the box to stand up a prayer card is an added bonus.
It’s easy enough to use index cards for your blank prayer cards, or you can use ones from our prayer box kit.
Altoid Prayer Box
Looking for a more portable option? An emptied Altoid mint tin is a great option for a purse, a desk drawer, or a backpack. They fit cards that are sized 3 x 2.
Give it to God Prayer Box
Unless you are using items you have on hand or can find inexpensively, buying a prayer box ready to go is a decent option. The current price of the “Give it to God” prayer box is fairly reasonable, and it comes with decorative cards.
My Little Prayer Box
Short on space? My Little Prayer Box is perfect for when you don’t have a lot of room.
Index Card File Example
Sara at Lilly and Reid’s Life has an excellent post about how she assembles and uses her prayer box. It’s definitely worth a read, especially if you want a walkthrough of how to use a prayer box.
Other Prayer Box Options
Not all prayer boxes need to be boxes! Take a look at this prayer jar from “When Life Gave Me Lemonade”’s blog post. You may also like the idea of a prayer bowl.
Prayer Boxes as Gifts
While you can give someone a prayer box like you’d use yourself, gift prayer boxes usually contain prayers for the recipient.
This thoughtful gift idea can be perfect for baby showers, wedding showers, anniversaries, and more. They can also be a great gift to give for encouragement during difficult times.
Prayer Boxes as Gifts for a Child
Alexis over at Spiritually Hungry discusses how she gave her nephew a box full of prayers for his baptism, and that she suggested he read the prayers at bedtime with his parents. This considerate gift can help the child know he or she is loved and prayed for.
This is a fantastic way to show that prayer is an ongoing act, for everyday occasions as well as the big events in our lives. It can be a special gift for a 1st birthday, or even as someone graduates from high school.
It could be a great idea at a baby shower, to encourage the parents that their new baby will be loved and prayed for.
Prayer Boxes as a Gift for a Couple
This is an example of a prayer box that would be great to put out at a wedding with special stationary and pens, but it would also be beautiful for a wedding anniversary party.
The couple can be encouraged by the prayers of their loved ones as they begin their married journey, and for years to come. If you are organizing something like this, you may want to include it with a wedding shower invitation so people can take their time on their written prayer.
Prayer Boxes as a Gift of Encouragement
Similar to how you might gather greeting cards together to deliver to someone who is grieving, dealing with a major illness, or going through a crisis, you can also assemble a group of written out prayers in an encouragement prayer box.
This is a meaningful and personal way to let someone know that a group of people is praying for them. Here’s an example of a prayer that you could write out for someone named Lynn who is going through cancer.
“Dear God, I pray for Lynn. I know that You love her and that You are with her. Please bring the comfort of Your mighty presence today. I pray that You would renew her strength (Isaiah 40:31). Help Lynn to rest in You today. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
Make sure to include your name somewhere on the card. This project can be done simply with a pack of index cards and a small box, or more elaborately with fancy stationary and an ornate container.
Prayer Boxes for Ministry
There are a lot of different ways that a prayer box can be a part of ministry. Besides showing others how it can be a prayer tool, it can also be a meaningful craft, a part of a prayer ministry, or a way to build connections in a Bible study
Prayer Box Craft for Kids
S&S Blog has posted a tutorial of a DIY prayer box craft for kids to make their own prayer box. While they offer links to their own products to follow the tutorial, most of it can be acquired at local stores.
There’s also a “Donut Worry” prayer box craft with free printable that you can pick up on the Fun365 site.
Making a prayer box in your Sunday School class, children’s church time, or Vacation Bible School can be a great way to support a Bible story lesson about prayer. They can also be an option for handmade gifts during Mother’s Day or Father’s Day.
Prayer Box Ministry
Whether or not your church has a formal prayer ministry or not, a prayer box can be a great way for a church staff or prayer team to gather prayer requests from the church family.
You could use a box as pictured above, with prayer request cards like these. Decide whether or not you need a lock on the box – some people using it might feel more comfortable.
And choose whether or not one person will be screening through the prayer requests before going through them with others. People may not realize how many people could be praying for them, and some requests may need more discretion than others.
Prayer Boxes for Bible Studies or Small Groups
This is similar to the prayer ministry above, but usually in these smaller groups, everyone is praying together over all the prayers. This might be a great use of the index card prayer box, either filing the prayer requests by date or by person.
Reviewing these cards from time-to-time, or at the end of the year, to celebrate answered prayer can be a great encouragement to your group.
There are a lot of different reasons to have a prayer box, and many different ways to bring one together. But is it right for you?
If the idea of a prayer box is overwhelming, then look for another option. Other tools to look at could be a prayer board or a prayer list.
If you like structure and are concerned about keeping up on your prayer list, then a prayer box might be a great option for you.
Pray about your options. It’s okay to have preferences, and whether you love it or don’t even want to get started on a project like this, it’s fine. God loves you and just wants to spend time with you in prayer!
If you liked reading Prayer Box Ideas, you may also like Bible Journal Ideas and 365 Prayer Prompts.
