How to Make Printable Prayer Cards

A prayer card is one request on one piece of card: who, what, and room to write what happened. A set of them in a box, a wallet or a Bible cover is the oldest prayer list there is, and it still works because a card is easy to pick up, hand over, shuffle and retire. This guide covers what to write, which size to cut, what paper to use, and how to print a set in a few minutes with the free printable prayer cards tool.

What to write on a prayer card

Keep each card to one request. A card that carries three needs is hard to tick off, and a card that is answered should be able to leave the box on its own.

• The name. A person, a family, a church, a city. Large type, at the top, so a card can be read at arm's length.
• The need, in a line. "Knee surgery Tuesday," not a paragraph. Details go in the notes.
• The date you started. Months later this is the line that tells you how long you carried it.
• A verse, if one belongs. A reference is enough on the card; you will know the words or look them up as you pray.
• Space to write. Ruled lines for updates ("moved to rehab 3 Nov"), and a row of boxes to tick each time you pray. When a prayer is answered, write how and the date across the bottom.

Choosing a size

Cut the cards to fit where they will live. On US Letter or A4 paper with a 0.4 inch printer margin, three cuts cover nearly every use.

A4 cards are a little narrower and taller than their Letter equivalents. If the set will share a box with bought 3 × 5 index cards, the 4-a-page cut is close enough to stand in the same row.

Paper and ink

• Card stock, 65 lb cover (about 175 gsm) or heavier, survives a month in a pocket. 80 to 110 lb (215 to 300 gsm) feels like a real index card; check that your printer's manual says it can feed that weight.
• Copy paper is fine for a week's small-group set that gets replaced next meeting.
• Cream stock gives the look of the Vellum style with no colour ink. A black-and-white printer does well with the Plain style on cream or white card.
• Dark styles (the Vigil card, navy with gold rules) print the whole card as a solid field. Use them for a few special cards rather than a stack of forty.

Printing a set in five steps

1. List the requests, one per line. Write the name, a dash, then the need: Ruth - chemo starts this month (Ps 23). The tool puts the name in large type and the reference in italic.
2. Pick the style and the cut. Add a heading such as the group's name and the date if the set is for a meeting.
3. Check the preview. Long requests shrink their type to fit; if one is still too long, shorten the line and put the detail in your notes.
4. Print at 100%. In the print dialog set margins: none, scale: 100%, and turn on background graphics. Choose the same paper size in the dialog as in the tool. To keep a PDF, choose Save as PDF as the printer.
5. Cut on the gaps. Every card on a sheet is the same size, so a paper cutter along the dashed gaps gives even cards. Round the corners with a punch if they will live in a wallet.

Keeping the box alive

A card set works when it changes. Draw a few cards each morning rather than reading the whole box; put the ones you prayed at the back so the least-recently-prayed come round first. Add a card the day you say "I'll pray for you," before you forget. When a prayer is answered, write how it was answered and the date on the card and move it to an Answered section at the back. That section, read once a year, is the best argument for the whole habit.

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