Prayer form for churches: requests and a clear privacy choice

Prayer cards pile up in a basket, and nobody knows who wrote which one or who may read it. I would rather ask for the request and the sharing choice together. Then the person decides, and your team knows how to treat every line.

The request. The prayer itself, who it is for, and a few topic choices so your team can sort.

The privacy choice. Pastoral staff only, the prayer team, or the whole congregation. It matters most, so it is required.

Follow up. An optional name, email and phone, plus a box for "please contact me". You see who wants a call and who wants quiet prayer.

Who fills it and who reads it

Anyone in your congregation or community can fill it in. You or a pastor read the answers as JSON or CSV. The form records the choice a person made, but it does not hide rows from anyone. Share the CSV only with the people that choice allows.

A tip

Leave health details to the person. Do not add questions about illness. A visitor's AI would ask "What would you like us to pray for?" Then "Who may read this?" Then "Would you like someone to contact you?" It shows the answers and sends only after a yes. See agent-fillable forms.

More ideas are in forms for churches. A volunteer application helps you grow the prayer team, and a potluck sign-up suits the meal after the gathering.

Questions

Can people send a request without a name?

Yes. This template leaves the name and the contact fields optional. Make a name required only if your team always follows up in person.

How do I sort urgent requests?

Filter the CSV on the urgent column and read those first. The topic column groups the rest, so a pastor can take grief while the prayer team takes the others.

Can my AI agent send a request for me?

Yes. The visitor copies the prompt from the public form into their own AI chat. The AI asks what is missing, shows the answers and submits only after a yes.

Or paste the JSON

Give this to your AI. It needs the AI Form API MCP server or an API key. It makes the form and sends you the link.

text

Create this form with the AI Form API create_form tool (or POST https://aiformapi.com/v1/forms with my API key). Then reply with the public_url.

{
  "title": "How can we pray for you?",
  "description": "Share as much or as little as you like. You choose who may read your request.",
  "fields": [
    {
      "id": "prayer_for",
      "label": "Who is this prayer for?",
      "type": "single_choice",
      "options": [
        "Me",
        "A family member",
        "A friend",
        "Someone in our community",
        "Our church"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "prayer_request",
      "label": "What would you like us to pray for?",
      "type": "long_text",
      "required": true,
      "max_length": 2000
    },
    {
      "id": "prayer_topics",
      "label": "Does it fit any of these?",
      "type": "multi_choice",
      "options": [
        "Strength and healing",
        "Family",
        "Work or money",
        "A decision",
        "Grief",
        "Thanks and praise",
        "Peace"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "who_may_read",
      "label": "Who may read this request?",
      "type": "single_choice",
      "required": true,
      "options": [
        "Pastoral staff only",
        "The prayer team",
        "Please share with the whole congregation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "first_name",
      "label": "Your first name",
      "type": "short_text",
      "help": "Leave it blank to stay anonymous.",
      "max_length": 80
    },
    {
      "id": "reply_email",
      "label": "Email, only if you want someone to reach out",
      "type": "email"
    },
    {
      "id": "reply_phone",
      "label": "Phone, only if you want a call",
      "type": "phone"
    },
    {
      "id": "wants_contact",
      "label": "I would like someone to contact me",
      "type": "checkbox"
    },
    {
      "id": "urgent_this_week",
      "label": "This is urgent this week",
      "type": "checkbox"
    },
    {
      "id": "update_later",
      "label": "May we ask for an update later?",
      "type": "single_choice",
      "options": [
        "Yes",
        "No, thank you"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Or call the API

bash

curl -X POST https://aiformapi.com/v1/forms \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $AIFORMAPI_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"title":"How can we pray for you?","description":"Share as much or as little as you like. You choose who may read your request.","fields":[{"id":"prayer_for","label":"Who is this prayer for?","type":"single_choice","options":["Me","A family member","A friend","Someone in our community","Our church"]},{"id":"prayer_request","label":"What would you like us to pray for?","type":"long_text","required":true,"max_length":2000},{"id":"prayer_topics","label":"Does it fit any of these?","type":"multi_choice","options":["Strength and healing","Family","Work or money","A decision","Grief","Thanks and praise","Peace"]},{"id":"who_may_read","label":"Who may read this request?","type":"single_choice","required":true,"options":["Pastoral staff only","The prayer team","Please share with the whole congregation"]},{"id":"first_name","label":"Your first name","type":"short_text","help":"Leave it blank to stay anonymous.","max_length":80},{"id":"reply_email","label":"Email, only if you want someone to reach out","type":"email"},{"id":"reply_phone","label":"Phone, only if you want a call","type":"phone"},{"id":"wants_contact","label":"I would like someone to contact me","type":"checkbox"},{"id":"urgent_this_week","label":"This is urgent this week","type":"checkbox"},{"id":"update_later","label":"May we ask for an update later?","type":"single_choice","options":["Yes","No, thank you"]}]}'

JSON definition

json

{
  "title": "How can we pray for you?",
  "description": "Share as much or as little as you like. You choose who may read your request.",
  "fields": [
    {
      "id": "prayer_for",
      "label": "Who is this prayer for?",
      "type": "single_choice",
      "options": [
        "Me",
        "A family member",
        "A friend",
        "Someone in our community",
        "Our church"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "prayer_request",
      "label": "What would you like us to pray for?",
      "type": "long_text",
      "required": true,
      "max_length": 2000
    },
    {
      "id": "prayer_topics",
      "label": "Does it fit any of these?",
      "type": "multi_choice",
      "options": [
        "Strength and healing",
        "Family",
        "Work or money",
        "A decision",
        "Grief",
        "Thanks and praise",
        "Peace"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "who_may_read",
      "label": "Who may read this request?",
      "type": "single_choice",
      "required": true,
      "options": [
        "Pastoral staff only",
        "The prayer team",
        "Please share with the whole congregation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "first_name",
      "label": "Your first name",
      "type": "short_text",
      "help": "Leave it blank to stay anonymous.",
      "max_length": 80
    },
    {
      "id": "reply_email",
      "label": "Email, only if you want someone to reach out",
      "type": "email"
    },
    {
      "id": "reply_phone",
      "label": "Phone, only if you want a call",
      "type": "phone"
    },
    {
      "id": "wants_contact",
      "label": "I would like someone to contact me",
      "type": "checkbox"
    },
    {
      "id": "urgent_this_week",
      "label": "This is urgent this week",
      "type": "checkbox"
    },
    {
      "id": "update_later",
      "label": "May we ask for an update later?",
      "type": "single_choice",
      "options": [
        "Yes",
        "No, thank you"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

A prayer form that respects who may read each request