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© 2026 Prayer Pew

Made with love in South London. Rooted in Christ.

Writing on prayer

Unhurried, honest writing for people who want to pray and are not sure how to start. Every Scripture reference here is checked against the text before it is published.

Still Praying for the Grown Child You Can't Help

Latest

Still Praying for the Grown Child You Can't Help

A prayer for parents of adult children in trouble, for the ache of loving someone you can no longer fix, control, or rescue, only hold in prayer.

18 October 2026 · 5 min read

Can You Pray for the Dead? Christians Still Disagree
Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox Christians don't agree on praying for the dead. We lay out each view honestly, without picking a side for you.
17 October 2026 · 5 min read
Praying for someone who hurt you, without faking it
We don't ask you to feel warm toward someone before you pray for them. Here is a way to pray honestly while you are still angry, without faking peace.

15 October 2026 · 6 min read

Praying for the Relative Who Left the Faith Behind

Praying for the Relative Who Left the Faith Behind

For the relative who left the faith, or the friend who would rather you stopped. What to actually ask for, and why it isn't about changing their mind.

14 October 2026 · 5 min read

Praying for a Friend's Marriage That Is Falling Apart

Praying for a Friend's Marriage That Is Falling Apart

Watching a marriage you love come apart is its own grief. Here is what is yours to pray, and what is not, when it is not your marriage to fix.

13 October 2026 · 6 min read

Praying for a Friend Who Just Got a Hard Diagnosis

Praying for a Friend Who Just Got a Hard Diagnosis

A short, honest guide for what to say to God and to your friend after a diagnosis, without promising an outcome neither of you can control. Something small you can actually do today.

12 October 2026 · 5 min read

A prayer for the school gate, when your child is scared

A prayer for the school gate, when your child is scared

A short prayer for the school gate, for parents and for the anxious child beside them, on the first morning when everything feels too big and too fast.

10 October 2026 · 6 min read

Saying grace when not everyone at the table believes

Saying grace when not everyone at the table believes

Grace before meals isn't a performance. Here's where the tradition comes from and a few simple rhythms for tables where not everyone prays the same way.

9 October 2026 · 6 min read

Praying Again After the First Prayer Went Unanswered

Praying Again After the First Prayer Went Unanswered

We know what it costs to ask again when the first prayer ended badly. Here is a small, honest way to pray after that, without pretending it did not happen.

8 October 2026 · 5 min read

Paul Wrote 'Do Not Be Anxious' From Inside a Prison Cell

Paul Wrote 'Do Not Be Anxious' From Inside a Prison Cell

Paul wrote this verse from a cell, to a church falling apart. We look at what he actually promised, and why it was never meant to fix your anxiety.

7 October 2026 · 5 min read

New Year Prayers for Whoever Isn't Ready to Make Resolutions

New Year Prayers for Whoever Isn't Ready to Make Resolutions

A prayer for the turn of the year that skips the resolutions and the self improvement talk, including one for a year you are dreading more than hoping for.

6 October 2026 · 6 min read

A Quiet Prayer for Mothering Sunday When It Hurts

A Quiet Prayer for Mothering Sunday When It Hurts

For anyone who has lost a mother, longed to be one, or had a hard one, Mothering Sunday can ache. We sit with that here, without rushing you past it.

5 October 2026 · 5 min read

The Lord's Prayer, explained one line at a time

The Lord's Prayer, explained one line at a time

The prayer everyone half-knows, taken phrase by phrase, including why it's shorter than you remember and what each line is actually asking for.

4 October 2026 · 5 min read

I Believe, Help My Unbelief: What That Prayer Means

I Believe, Help My Unbelief: What That Prayer Means

A father tells Jesus he believes and he doesn't, both at once. We sit with what that prayer actually means and how to pray it honestly when you're unsure.

3 October 2026 · 5 min read

What to give up for Lent when life already took so much

What to give up for Lent when life already took so much

If life has already taken things this year, giving something up for Lent can feel like too much to ask. We offer a different way to hold the season.

2 October 2026 · 5 min read

Lectio Divina: One Short Passage, Read Slowly Four Times

Lectio Divina: One Short Passage, Read Slowly Four Times

What is lectio divina. We walk through reading one short passage four times, slowly, and what it feels like when your mind will not settle, every time.

1 October 2026 · 6 min read

Lamentations 3:22-23: What Comes Before the Famous Verse

Lamentations 3:22-23: What Comes Before the Famous Verse

Before "his mercies are new every morning" there are forty verses about a city that fell. We read what came before the famous line, and what it might mean for you now.

29 September 2026 · 6 min read

A Prayer List That Doesn't Become Another Chore

A Prayer List That Doesn't Become Another Chore

We show you a simple, low-pressure way to keep a prayer list, so remembering people stays easy and doesn't turn into one more task you dread doing.

27 September 2026 · 5 min read

Jesus Wept: He Knew the Ending and Cried Anyway

Jesus Wept: He Knew the Ending and Cried Anyway

He was about to call Lazarus from the grave, yet he wept at the tomb. Why did Jesus weep? Because hope doesn't cancel grief, it stands beside it.

26 September 2026 · 6 min read

Jeremiah 29:11 Wasn't Written for a Graduation Card

Jeremiah 29:11 Wasn't Written for a Graduation Card

Before it hung on dorm room walls, this verse was spoken to people who would die in exile. We look at who Jeremiah 29:11 was actually written to.

25 September 2026 · 5 min read

Is It Wrong to Pray About Money? An Honest Look

Is It Wrong to Pray About Money? An Honest Look

We look at what Scripture actually says about money and prayer, between prosperity promises and the idea that finances are too small to bring to God.

22 September 2026 · 6 min read

Is It Selfish to Pray for Yourself When Others Have It Worse?

Is It Selfish to Pray for Yourself When Others Have It Worse?

We sit with the guilt of praying for something small while others are suffering more, and look at what the Psalms actually do with that discomfort.

21 September 2026 · 5 min read

Prayers for the Parent Awake in the Hospital Chair

Prayers for the Parent Awake in the Hospital Chair

When your child is sick and you cannot do anything but wait, here are small, honest prayers you can pray in the hospital, one breath at a time.

20 September 2026 · 4 min read

Praying About Money When You Can't Open the Letter

Praying About Money When You Can't Open the Letter

The letter is still sealed on the counter. This is not a prayer for a windfall. It is a place to start when the bill is real and shame is louder than the debt.

19 September 2026 · 6 min read

It's Allowed to Be Angry With God, and Here's How to Pray

It's Allowed to Be Angry With God, and Here's How to Pray

We think anger at God must be hidden or fixed first. The Psalms already say it out loud. Here is how to bring the real thing to prayer, without editing it down.

17 September 2026 · 6 min read

A Prayer for the First Weeks After Someone Leaves

A Prayer for the First Weeks After Someone Leaves

The flat is quiet now in a way it never was before. Here is something small to pray in the first weeks, when the ordinary tasks feel impossible and no one prepared you for this.

16 September 2026 · 5 min read

A Prayer for the Days Between the Test and the Call

A Prayer for the Days Between the Test and the Call

There is nothing to do now but wait. We wrote this for the days between the test and the phone call, when there is nothing left to decide, only to get through.

15 September 2026 · 5 min read

A Prayer for the Anniversary Nobody Else Remembers

A Prayer for the Anniversary Nobody Else Remembers

The date comes round every year and nobody else remembers. Here is how to pray on the anniversary of a death, without pretending it is any easier.

14 September 2026 · 6 min read

Praying in a Waiting Room Without Anyone Noticing

Praying in a Waiting Room Without Anyone Noticing

Twenty minutes on institutional carpet, strangers close by, no privacy. A plain way to pray silently, without moving your lips, while you wait.

10 September 2026 · 5 min read

A Prayer for the Car Park Before Your First Day

A Prayer for the Car Park Before Your First Day

Sitting in the car park before you go in, nervous and unsure who you'll be at this new job. A short prayer for the moment before the first day starts.

8 September 2026 · 5 min read

A Prayer for the Ten Minutes Before That Conversation

A Prayer for the Ten Minutes Before That Conversation

You are about to knock on the door or pick up the phone. Here is what to pray in the ten minutes before, including for the person you are dreading.

7 September 2026 · 5 min read

Not Sure What Happens When a Church Prays for the Sick

Not Sure What Happens When a Church Prays for the Sick

Anointing oil, laying on of hands, prayer lists, healing services: each tradition prays for the sick in its own way. Here is what each one is doing, and why.

6 September 2026 · 6 min read

Grace and mercy are not the same, and here's why it matters

Grace and mercy are not the same, and here's why it matters

Grace and mercy are not the same request. We look at what each word actually means, and how knowing the difference changes what you ask for.

5 September 2026 · 5 min read

Does God Hear You If You're Not Sure You Believe?

Does God Hear You If You're Not Sure You Believe?

For anyone praying with more doubt than certainty, we take the question seriously: does God actually hear you, or are you just talking to yourself in an empty room?

4 September 2026 · 5 min read

Does God Answer Every Prayer? What We Actually Don't Know

Does God Answer Every Prayer? What We Actually Don't Know

We won't give you yes, no, or not yet. Here is what we honestly don't know about unanswered prayer, and one small thing worth doing anyway.

3 September 2026 · 5 min read

Do You Have to Forgive Someone Who Isn't Sorry?

Do You Have to Forgive Someone Who Isn't Sorry?

We look at what forgiveness actually asks, why it differs from reconciling, and why forgiving someone who is not sorry does not mean you have to stay close.

2 September 2026 · 6 min read

Can You Still Pray If You Left Church Years Ago?

Can You Still Pray If You Left Church Years Ago?

A plain answer for anyone who drifted, left, or was pushed out: yes, you can still pray. No guilt trip, no push to come back, just what prayer can look like right where you are.

1 September 2026 · 5 min read

Breath Prayer: One Line for When You Can't Concentrate

Breath Prayer: One Line for When You Can't Concentrate

When you cannot hold a whole prayer together, one line on an in-breath and an out-breath still counts. Where breath prayer comes from, and how to try it now.

31 August 2026 · 5 min read

An empty wooden chair beside a sunlit window

A prayer for a friendship that ended without a goodbye

A written prayer for the friendship that just faded, when there was no fight, no funeral, and no card to send for grief with no name.

30 August 2026 · 5 min read

A Prayer for Someone Starting Chemotherapy Treatment

A Prayer for Someone Starting Chemotherapy Treatment

One full prayer for someone starting chemo, then a line by line look at what each part is doing, so you can write your own before chemotherapy begins.

29 August 2026 · 5 min read

A Short Prayer for the Changing Room Before Work

A Short Prayer for the Changing Room Before Work

For nurses, carers, drivers and anyone whose day runs on a rota, a short prayer to say before the shift starts, in the changing room, not in a study.

29 August 2026 · 5 min read

A Prayer to Say When You Know You Wronged Someone

A Prayer to Say When You Know You Wronged Someone

A confession you can pray by name, not a category. Honest words for when you know exactly who you hurt and need to say it to God, plainly and without excuse.

21 August 2026 · 6 min read

A Prayer for Your Last Night in the House You're Leaving

A Prayer for Your Last Night in the House You're Leaving

A short prayer for the last night in a home you are leaving, built line by line so you can say it slowly before the door closes for the last time.

20 August 2026 · 6 min read