Six Ways to have a Day of Prayer

Written By Hillary Krippaehne-Fernandez

Did you know the first Thursday of May is National Day of Prayer? I want to encourage you to take time to pause and spend extra moments talking to God and interceding for others on that day.

“Hear, Yahweh, my prayer. Listen to the voice of my petitions. In the day of my trouble, I will call on you, for you will answer me.” (Psalm 86:6-7) 

I created a printable to help guide your prayer time. Starting with a prayer for the world, then prayers for the United States, followed by prayers for your church, and ending with personal prayers at the end of the day. You can add the prompts to a prayer journal to help keep you focused during your prayer time. 

The free printable for Day of Prayer you can download in the freebie hub!

Click here to log into the Creative Faith freebie hub where you can download the printable.

Here are the hourly prompts: 

  • 8 am: Pray for the world

  • 9 am: Pray for your country: Government

  • 10 am: Pray for your country: Military

  • 11 am: Pray for your country: Media & Entertainment

  • 12 pm: Pray for your country: Education

  • 1 pm: Pray for your City

  • 2 pm: Pray for your church: Leadership & Staff

  • 3 pm: Pray for your church: Mission Projects

  • 4 pm: Pray for church: Children & Youth Ministries

  • 5 pm: Pray for your church: Adult Ministry

  • 6 pm: Pray for your church: Congregation Members who are Sick or Struggling

  • 7 pm: Pray for your Family

  • 8 pm: Pray for Yourself

Here are several ways you can spend National Day of Prayer, or any day you want to dedicate to prayer.

Idea #1: Create a prayer journal for the day

I love prayer journaling because it helps me stay focused while praying. I also love looking back and seeing my past prayer journal pages. You can click below to watch and see how my prayer journal came together on YouTube.

Here’s a list of the supplies I used to set up my prayer journal:

I love what EM Bounds has to say about prayer. He wrote one of my favorite books about prayer. Click here to purchase on Amazon (affiliate link). Here are a few of my favorite quotes of his. These would be great to copy down and add to your prayer journal. 

  • "He who is too busy to pray will be too busy to live a holy life. Satan had rather we let the grass grow on the path to our prayer chamber than anything else."

  • “Walking with God down the avenues of prayer we acquire something of His likeness, and unconsciously we become witnesses to others of His beauty and His grace.”

  • “This is not a praying age; it is an age of great activity, of great movements, but one in which the tendency is very strong to stress the seen and the material and to neglect and discount the unseen and the spiritual.”

  • “Prayer is our most formidable weapon, but the one in which we are the least skilled, the most averse to its use.”

  • “Prayer should not be regarded as a duty which must be performed, but rather as a privilege to be enjoyed, a rare delight that is always revealing some new beauty.”

Idea #2: Host a prayer time with your church/community

I would encourage you to gather with others on Thursday to pray together. Last year our church hosted a prayer time in the park, and people from multiple local churches gathered. It was such a special time. In the past, our church has also held prayer times in the sanctuary on National Day of Prayer. Is God nudging your heart to host a prayer time? Follow His lead. Be bold. Say yes to Him. 

Idea #3: Have a special prayer time with your family

If you don't feel comfortable leading a prayer time with your local church, you can also have a time of prayer with your family, kids, spouse, small group, neighbors, etc. The point is to spend extra time in prayer this Thursday, May 7.

Idea #4: Create a prayer board

Another activity you can do for National Day of Prayer is to make a prayer board. In 2025 I released a printable with prayer board prompts. I still need to update mine for 2026. Click below to watch and see how my prayer board came together. 

Idea #5: Read bible stories about people praying

I created a Scripture reading and writing plan about people in the Old Testament praying. This would be a great thing to look through and study on National Day of Prayer. There is something so encouraging about seeing people in the Bible call on God in prayer and seeing God answer them in His time and in His way. Click here to check out the Scripture writing journal on Amazon (affiliate link).

You can see a flip through of my half-full journal on YouTube below to see what God has been teaching me about prayer recently.

Idea #6: Fast

The final idea for how you can spend National Day of Prayer is to fast. Prayer and fasting go hand in hand together in the Bible. You can fast from food for the day, or you could fast from social media or watching TV. Here are a few Bible verses about fasting and prayer:

  • “So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting. I also wore rough burlap and sprinkled myself with ashes.” (Daniel 9:3)

  • “When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven.” (Nehemiah 1:4)

  • “So we fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would take care of us, and he heard our prayer.” (Ezra 8:23)

I pray these ideas help you have a day of prayer, whether it’s the first Thursday in May or ANY time of year! God wants to hear from you. Cry out to Him!

Hillary Krippaehne-Fernandez
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