Looking for some prayer board ideas for the new year?
Drawing close to God through prayer time and study of His Word is a great privilege you have as a Christian! There are many different ways to do this. Some like to listen to God’s Word, take prayer walks, or read a Bible passage and journal their thoughts to God.
Another creative way to focus your heart and mind on God is to create a prayer board. There are a lot of different prayer board ideas, ranging from poster board you can get from a dollar store, to elaborately decorated bulletin boards, with many different options in between.
Having a prayer board in your home can be a great reminder to keep your worries and concerns in prayer. Take a look at these 21 prayer board ideas to see if setting up a prayer board would be helpful for your prayer life!
This post may contain affiliate links, please see our full disclosure for more information.
What is a Prayer Board?
A prayer board, which is usually on a small bulletin board, is a visual reminder of your prayer time with God. Prayer is just a conversation with your Heavenly Father, pouring out your heart to Him and listening to Him.
This conversation of prayer has a few distinct parts, seen in the ACTS prayer model – Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication (prayer requests). Confession isn’t usually included on a prayer board, so focus on the other aspects of ACTS for yours.
On a prayer board, most people concentrate on prayer requests, for their own requests and the needs of others. This is the simplest version of a prayer board. Other prayer boards add a section for praises to cover both adoration and thanksgiving.
To use a prayer board, you can incorporate it into your devotional time in the presence of God, referring to it for prayer requests as you pray, and reminding you to praise God. If you use it this way, it would be best to locate it by where you usually have your quiet time.
You can also use a prayer board to remind you to pray continually, whenever you pass by it. The answered prayer will also remind you of what God has done for you. The ideal location for this type of prayer board would be in a central place in your home.
Prayer Board Ideas for Sections
As you plan your prayer board, consider setting up these sections. You can group them together and write or print out headings for your prayer board.
Prayer Requests. This includes personal prayer requests, as well as praying for others (intercession). Writing down the prayer request on your heart, praying through it, and posting it on the board can help remind your heart that you are surrendering this prayer request to God (Philippians 4:6-7).
Not all your prayer requests have to be written. Photos of family members and friends, missionary photo cards, and even souvenirs from places you want to pray for can be great prayer reminders.
Praises. What are you thankful for in your life? What characteristics of God are you grateful for? This is the perfect spot to write down your praise and thankfulness for who God is and what He has done.
Answered Prayer. This spot is where you would move prayer request cards that have been answered. Putting an envelope here to contain the answered prayers is a nice way to remember answered prayer and make room for new requests.
Spiritual Growth. This takes many forms, as you incorporate items that remind you of the Good News of Jesus Christ in your life. Bible verses, sentence prayers, or God’s promises are just a few of the things you can post on your board to encourage your spiritual growth.
Decoration. This is an optional but fun part of a prayer board to explore. Whether you like attaching your prayer requests with fancy pushpins, adding beautiful flowers, or creating a vintage aesthetic, it can be really satisfying to create a beautiful prayer board. Let it reflect some of that personality that God created you to be!
How to Make a Prayer Board
If you’re wondering how to make a DIY prayer board, this will take you through the process step by step!
Choose your location. You don’t need a whole prayer room (or “war room”, as some have called it), an entire wall, or even a prayer corner to have a prayer board. You just need enough room on your wall for a bulletin board of nearly any size.
If you don’t have a lot of room on a wall or can’t hang things on your wall, consider a smaller option like a poster board you can put away.
Or you can even choose a digital option like this one that you can use on your phone or tablet, or print out to tuck in a prayer journal. A digital board would be a great option to use digital stickers.
The perfect solution for those tight on space could be the inside of a cabinet door. You may or may not be able to mount a bulletin board inside it. Without a bulletin board, simply tape your prayer cards to the surface, or you could even use post-its.
The best place to have one is a personal choice, and depends on how private you want it to be. Putting it in a prominent place is great if you want everyone in the house to be praying along with you, but isn’t the perfect place if you have private prayer requests listed.
Choose your prayer board. The most common prayer board is a simple bulletin board. If you’d like to keep costs down, you can pick up poster board from the local dollar store. Some people like using a dry erase board.
A more decorative and expensive option would be a glass window-type hanging decoration, using the glass as a dry erase surface. This can be a beautiful and useful piece of decor in your home.
For church or classroom settings, large bulletin boards or chalkboard walls can be a great choice.
Choose your headings. Consider what sections you would like to have on your board, and if you would like headings on them. Printable headings for these sections are included in prayer board kits like this one. Or, you can write your own, especially if you like hand lettering.
Choose your prayer cards. What do you want to write on for your prayer requests, praises, and other prayer board items? The most popular choice is index cards, which are both inexpensive and neutral in design. You can also use post-its, tags, or even just scraps of paper.
You’ll need to fasten these items from your prayer list to your prayer board, but it will depend on what you are using for your prayer cards. Pushpins, mini clothespins, and tape (or washi tape) are just a few of the choices you can use.
Add decorations. This can be a fun and creative part of making a prayer board. Go through some of the items you may have on hand, like Bible verse cards, craft supplies you’ve been saving for “something special”, and meaningful items that remind you to pray.
If you have a larger prayer board, you might have room for Bible verse wall art that you haven’t found a place for. You could also attach decorative trim to your board using hot glue or pushpins.
Printable decorations are easy and fun to add, like these stickers.
If you find the decoration part stressful but still want to decorate it, use one of the prayer board ideas later in this post for your inspiration. This can reduce the amount of design decisions you need to make, and save you a lot of time.
Prayer Board Ideas
As you learn more about prayer boards, you might be worried about making the “perfect” prayer board. There is no such thing. The perfect prayer board is simply one that reminds you to be in prayer in your quiet times or throughout the day.
If you want some great ideas and examples to get started, these prayer board ideas will give you the inspiration you need.
Prayer Board with Answered Prayers Envelope
From Julia Poe Peterson on Instagram, this is a great example of a prayer board made with a few easily available supplies. Just add post-its, index cards, envelopes, markers, and thumbtacks to your bulletin board. You might even have all these supplies on hand!
Prayer Board Grid
This idea from Southern in Law is not a prayer board idea per se, but is a pretty way to arrange your prayer board. While it might look like ribbon, it’s actually washi tape and thumbtacks, with the letters attached with hot glue.
Floral Prayer Board
If floral decorations are more your style, this prayer board by OnTrekMom combines beautiful wood flowers, twine, and mini clothespins. It’s an excellent example of making a beautiful and useful prayer board in your own personal style.
Window Prayer Board
If you like the idea of a dry erase prayer board, and love fun DIY projects, this tutorial by Renovated Faith is a great way to keep track of your prayer list.
Prayer Board Using a Printable Kit
This prayer board from Hope Filled Faith uses a printable kit from Etsy to assemble a prayer board quickly, with a bulletin board from Hobby Lobby and wooden push pins from Amazon.
Prayer Board for a Prayer Room
Cassidy Marie vlogs over on YouTube to show how she made this gorgeous prayer board. She followed an example on Pinterest, which can be an endless source of inspiration when looking for prayer board ideas!
Prayer Corner
If you aren’t able to buy supplies right now or hang things permanently on the wall, this prayer corner idea by Jaylie might be a great alternative to a prayer board. Prayers are kept in a prayer jar. It’s perfect for a dorm room.
Decorative Prayer Board
TheRealKymCo on Instagram shares this prayer board, which uses a combination of prayer lists, requests, and decoration to create a meaningful prayer board.
Prayer Poster
Creating prayer posters might be a good low-cost alternative for your prayer board. This example from tchr2tchr on Instagram is for a classroom, but title it with “Prayer Requests” and it will be a great personal or even group prayer activity.
Prayer Flip Book
Need a prayer reminder option that is more private or more portable than a prayer board? Take a look at this prayer flip book idea from the Something Beautiful blog. Index cards, a hole punch, a book ring, and markers are the only supplies you’ll need.
Chalkboard Prayer Wall
If you are looking for prayer wall ideas for your church, this Prayer Wall inspiration from ChurchTrac could be a good choice. It offers a lot of space for many prayer requests. You may need to monitor this a little more closely if you are letting many people contribute to it.
It could also be great for a Christian school or Sunday School classroom. What a great way to cover the whole school year in prayer!
Deciding if a prayer board is the perfect fit for you is a personal decision. If having a “perfect” prayer board will stress you out and distract you from the time you will spend with God, then don’t do it.
Using a prayer board is supposed to add to your prayer life, not hinder it.
Are you looking for some tools and tips to boost your prayer life? If so, be sure to visit our Prayer Resources Library where you’ll find everything you need to become a powerful prayer warrior!
Having your own prayer board can be a wonderful addition to your prayer life. Being able to change it easily as your prayer requests and even taste in decor change is a great advantage to this versatile prayer tool.
Whether you are praying for a strong relationship with a family member, ministry needs, or worries you have a hard time releasing, a prayer board can be useful in keeping your mind on your prayers.
If you’ve been wanting to make a habit of prayer, having a prayer board can help! Let it be a testimony to you of the power of prayer as you see God answer these prayers.
Juliana Gordon is a writer with a passion to help others live a life of hope and grace. She is a pastor’s wife and lives in Southern California. Read more at Hope Filled Faith and Church Ministry Help.
