Starting a Visual Faith Practice: Prayer Cards

When you first discover Visual Faith®, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. The possibilities for experimenting with this wonderful practice are almost endless. That’s why I recommend starting simple. For me, that was with Prayer Cards. 

In fact, that’s all I did for about a year. Prayer Cards are not complicated and don’t require any artistic skill–perfect for someone like me who is a little shy about drawing. 

How to Get Started with Prayer Cards

First, gather your supplies. 

• Writing instruments: Pen, colored pencils, and/or crayons. The pros teach that it’s best to choose just a few colored pencils to prevent that pesky overwhelm. You don’t need to get fancy (unless you want to get fancy)--a few of your kids’ crayons will do the trick!

• Paper or notebooks. Regular printer paper, index cards, or a sketchbook work great. I like to use good quality paper or cardstock because it makes writing and doodling so much more enjoyable, and I like bound notebooks or sketchbooks for keeping everything together. 

• Bookmarks. Optional. I often buy a pack of 100 blank bookmarks (any color) from Hobby Lobby or Amazon. I can do my prayer doodling on the bookmark and then it becomes something the recipient can use.

Next, begin with a prayer asking the Lord to bless your prayer time.  

Then, write a name in the center of the card or paper. Now doodle! Draw a circle, box, or diamond around the name. Jot the words that come into your mind as you pray for him/her. Color and doodle some more. All the while, you are thinking of them, praying for them, lifting up their heart cries to the Lord. 

Spend as much time as you want on this. There is no one right way to do this. It’s unique to you. 

If it helps, I can tell you what my path is like. Most often, I’ll make a prayer card over several days, starting one day with a few doodles, a few words. That might take me five minutes. I leave the card out on my desk so I can see it often. Maybe that afternoon I’ll add a few more words and pray again. Then the next day, more. The next day, a little more. 

Sometimes, I’ll snap a shot with my camera while the card is in progress to send to my friend to let them know I’m praying. I mail or hand deliver the finished product to the person I was praying for. I know others who take a picture of each card before they mail it, and then store these copies in an album or notebook as a beautiful way to document your prayer life. 

My finished prayer cards look like this, but yours might look very different. How beautiful that we are all so unique!

Resources for Praying in Color

• Praying in Color by Sybil MacBeth

• Praying in Color: Kids Edition by Sybil MacBeth

• Hand Lettering by Marci Donley & DeAnn Singh

• The Art of Drawing Dangles by Olivia A. Kneibler (I love using these for my prayer spaces and prayer cards.)