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Japanese “Lord, [name] is locked up tonight, and I cannot reach [him or her]. Keep [name] safe, honest before the court and close to you, and be with all of us who wait outside. Amen.” The church has prayed for prisoners since Peter’s arrest, when “prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him” (Acts 12:5).
Alongside the praying there is practical help to give. Letters and visits matter to someone inside, so learn the jail’s rules for mail and visiting and ask for the chaplain. Questions about the charge or the sentence are for a lawyer. If [name] talks about suicide or self-harm, tell the jail staff at once, and call or text 988 in the US or Samaritans on 116 123 in the UK and Ireland. In England and Wales, families can call the Prisoners’ Families Helpline on 0808 808 2003. There are more Christian and crisis lines too.
Prayers for someone in jail or prison
Wherever you see [name], put in the person’s name. The prayers fit a husband, wife, son, daughter, parent or friend, whether the person is held before trial or serving a sentence.
In the first days after an arrest
Lord, everything changed so fast. [Name] has been arrested, and we still do not understand all that happened. Keep [name] calm and safe in the cell tonight. Give [him or her] the sense to tell the truth and to listen to the lawyer, and hold our family together while we wait for news. Amen.
Before a court hearing
God of justice, [name] goes before the judge soon. Give the judge a fair mind and the lawyers clear heads. Bring out the truth, whatever it is, and give [name] the courage to stand there and hear the decision. Give us the strength to sit in that courtroom. Your word says, “The LORD looseth the prisoners” (Psalm 146:7). Amen.
There are more prayers for a court case, for a trial and the days before a verdict.
For safety inside
Lord, a jail can be a dangerous place. Keep [name] from violence and from people who would use [him or her]. Give [him or her] the wisdom to stay out of fights and the strength to say no to gangs, even when joining looks safer. Send one person inside who can be trusted. “The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul” (Psalm 121:7). Amen.
When [name] did what the charge says
Father, [name] did wrong, and people were hurt. Do not let [him or her] hide from it, and do not let the guilt crush [him or her] either. Lead [name] to honest repentance, to make whatever amends are possible, and to your forgiveness: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins” (1 John 1:9). Comfort the people who were harmed. Amen.
When [name] says the charge is false
Lord, [name] says [he or she] did not do this, and you know the truth. Bring it into the light. Send the evidence and the witnesses that are needed, and keep [name] from bitterness while the case drags on. “Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee” (Psalm 79:11). Amen.
When the days are long and lonely
God, the days inside are long, and [name] feels forgotten. Be near [him or her] in the cell and through the night. Let our letters arrive, and let [name] hold on to your promise: “he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee” (Deuteronomy 31:6). If dark thoughts come, give [him or her] the courage to tell someone. Amen.
For old wounds
Lord Jesus, much of what brought [name] here started long ago, in things done to [him or her] and things [he or she] learned too young. You heal “the broken in heart,” and you bind “up their wounds” (Psalm 147:3). Heal what happened before the crime, so that the same pattern does not follow [name] out of prison. Amen.
For faith behind bars
Lord, Paul and Silas prayed and sang in their cell at midnight, and the other prisoners heard them (Acts 16:25). Give [name] a Bible, a chaplain worth listening to and the will to pray. You promised, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you” (Ezekiel 36:26). Do that work in [name]. Amen.
For the family on the outside
Father, we are serving this sentence too. Give us the money for the bills, patience with one another, and the right words when the children ask where [name] is. Keep the children from shame, and keep [name]’s love for them alive across the distance until they are together again. Amen.
Before release
God, [name] will soon walk out through the gate. Go ahead of [him or her]: to a safe place to live, to honest work, to a church that will welcome an ex-prisoner, and away from the old friends and habits. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Amen.
A prayer to say in prison
Lord, I am in prison, and I am afraid of what comes next. Remember me, as you remembered the thief on the cross who asked, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom” (Luke 23:42). Keep me safe today, look after my family, and let me leave here better than I came in. Amen.
Traditional prayers for prisoners
“For Prisoners,” from the Book of Common Prayer
The Episcopal Church’s 1928 prayer book prints this prayer among its occasional prayers, and the words in square brackets are the book’s own, though you may leave them out.
O God, who sparest when we deserve punishment, and in thy wrath rememberest mercy; We humbly beseech thee, of thy goodness, to comfort and succour all prisoners [especially those who are condemned to die]. Give them a right understanding of themselves, and of thy promises; that, trusting wholly in thy mercy, they may not place their confidence anywhere but in thee. Relieve the distressed, protect the innocent, awaken the guilty; and forasmuch as thou alone bringest light out of darkness, and good out of evil, grant to these thy servants, that by the power of thy Holy Spirit they may be set free from the chains of sin, and may be brought to newness of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Book of Common Prayer (1928), Prayers, “For Prisoners,” p. 46
An Orthodox prayer from Compline
In the Orthodox evening service of Great Compline, the litany includes the petition “For the release of prisoners,” and the closing prayer asks God to remember them:
Remember, O Lord, our brethren who are in captivity, and release them from all the difficulties which beset them.
Hapgood, Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic (Greco-Russian) Church (1906), The Office of Grand Compline, p. 163
“O Key of David”
In the last days of Advent, from 17 to 23 December, Catholic Vespers says one of seven “great antiphons” before and after the Magnificat. This one belongs to 20 December, and it asks Christ to “bring out the prisoner from the prison.”
O Key of David, and Sceptre of the house of Israel; that openeth and no man shutteth; and shutteth and no man openeth: come to bring out the prisoner from the prison, and them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death.
A Manual of Prayers for the Use of the Catholic Laity (1888), Antiphon for the 20th of December, p. 605
Which saints are asked to pray for prisoners?
Catholic and Orthodox Christians ask the saints to pray for them, while most Protestants pray to God alone. Russian Orthodox prisoners and their families ask the prayers of Saint Anastasia, and some of the churches built inside Russian prisons are dedicated to her. Some ask the prayers of Saint Nicholas as well.
Saint Anastasia is called in Russian Uzoreshitelnitsa, “the one who loosens bonds.” The Russian Orthodox Encyclopedia explains that she was given the name because she eased the sufferings of imprisoned Christians, visiting them in prison and spending her money on their care. It dates her martyrdom to 290 or 304. The Orthodox Church keeps her feast on 22 December, which falls on 4 January in the civil calendar. In Greek she is called Pharmakolytria, one who heals from poisons. The Catholic Encyclopedia of 1907 treats most of her story as legend, and the one fact it holds certain is that a martyr named Anastasia died for the faith at Sirmium, in present-day Serbia.
Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, bishop of Myra in the fourth century, is linked with prisoners through the stories told about him. The Golden Legend, a thirteenth-century collection that William Caxton printed in English in 1483, says Nicholas took the sword from an executioner and freed three innocent men. It also says he appeared to the Emperor Constantine in a dream to demand the release of three princes condemned on a false charge. The Catholic Encyclopedia says little is historically certain about Nicholas beyond his being bishop of Myra, and treats the miracle stories as the growth of a long tradition. The Orthodox short hymn, or kontakion, for his day remembers that he saved the innocent from death:
In Myra, O Saint, wast thou shown forth a sacrificing priest; for fulfilling the Gospel of Christ, O Holy One, thou didst lay down thy life for thy people, and didst save the innocent from death. For which cause thou wert proclaimed a Saint, as one deeply initiated into the mysteries of the goodness of God.
Hapgood, Service Book (1906), The Typical Psalms, Collect-Hymn (Kontakion) of St. Nicholas, pp. 61–62
Prisoners in the Bible
Several of the people God used most were locked up. Joseph was held in Pharaoh’s prison on a false accusation, and “the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison” (Genesis 39:21). Jeremiah was let down into a dungeon where “there was no water, but mire” (Jeremiah 38:6). John the Baptist sent his questions to Jesus from prison (Matthew 11:2).
Paul wrote several of his letters in chains. He ended Colossians with “Remember my bonds” (Colossians 4:18) and wrote to Timothy that he suffered “even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound” (2 Timothy 2:9). The Letter to the Hebrews tells the church to “Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them” (Hebrews 13:3), and Jesus counts a prison visit as a visit to himself: “I was in prison, and ye came unto me” (Matthew 25:36).
Prayer for Divine Protection
A jail can be a dangerous and frightening place to live. This prayer asks God to be a shield and a fortress for your loved one. It asks him to protect them from harm to the body and from people who would lead them astray, and to keep them safe in his care, which never leaves them.
Heavenly Father, the ultimate Protector,
I lift up my loved one to You today and ask for Your divine protection to surround them. In a place filled with potential danger and darkness, I pray that You would be a shield they can feel and a fortress they can run to.
Please guard their body from violence, their mind from fear, and their spirit from despair. Protect them from sickness, from unfair treatment, and from the harmful schemes of others. Assign Your angels to watch over them, to stand guard in their cell and in every corner of that facility. Let them feel Your presence as a tangible force, pushing back against anything that would seek to harm them.
Your word promises in Psalm 91:4, “He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.” Let them rest in this truth. May they know with deep certainty that even behind bars, they are hidden and secure under the shadow of Your wings. Watch over them as they sleep and as they wake, keeping them safe in Your mighty power, In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
God hears a prayer for safety, for he is a loving Father who watches over his children even in the darkest places. Keep holding on to his promise that he is their refuge and strength.
Prayer for Unshakeable Hope
Despair creeps easily into the heart of someone behind bars. Here we ask God to fill the one we love with a hope that rests on his promises, which do not change, rather than on how things look today.
Lord of all Hope,
In a place where hope can feel lost and the future looks bleak, I pray that You would pour out Your Spirit upon my loved one. I ask that you would pull them out of any pit of despair and set their feet on the solid rock of Your promises.
I rebuke the lies of the enemy that say this is the end of their story. Instead, I ask You to plant a seed of supernatural hope in their heart—a hope that defies logic and sees beyond the concrete walls. Remind them of Your promise in Jeremiah 29:11, that you “know the plans you have for them, plans to prosper them and not to harm them, plans to give them hope and a future.”
Let this truth be an anchor for their soul. When dark thoughts come, let the light of Your hope shine brighter. Help them to believe that this season is not their final destination, but a painful chapter that You can redeem and use for their good and for Your glory, In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
When you pray for their hope, you are helping to strengthen their spirit against despair and to remind them that God’s plans are greater than any trouble they face now. He is a God of second chances.
Prayer for Forgiveness and Release from Guilt
Guilt can weigh as heavily as any prison sentence. This prayer asks God to help your loved one truly accept his forgiveness, and to find the strength to forgive themselves for what they did in the past.
Merciful and Gracious God,
I come before You today with a heavy heart for my loved one, who may be crushed by the weight of guilt and shame. I thank You for the promise of total forgiveness that is found in Your Son, Jesus Christ.
I pray that this truth would break through any wall of denial or self-hatred. Help them to confess their wrongs not in shame, but in the confidence of Your grace. Let them feel the cleansing power of Your forgiveness wash over their soul, making them clean and new. Your Word in 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
Lord, I also ask that you help them to forgive themselves. Silence the voice of the accuser that replays their mistakes. Replace it with Your voice of love, acceptance, and redemption. Free them from the prison of their own guilt so they can begin to walk in the freedom that You offer to all who believe, In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
God’s forgiveness is complete and unconditional. When you pray this for your loved one, you are asking for a freedom of the spirit that no jail cell can take away, and that is the first step toward true healing and restoration.
Prayer for Inner Strength and Endurance
Day after day, prison life wears a person down and discourages them. In this prayer we ask God for a strength and endurance that only he can give, so that the one we love can get through each day with grace and keep going.
Almighty God, my Rock and my Strength,
I pray for my loved one today, asking You to fill them with a strength that does not come from them, but from You alone. The monotony, the stress, and the emotional toll of each day can wear down even the strongest person.
Please be their source of endurance. When they feel weak, lift them up. When they feel like giving up, whisper words of encouragement to their spirit. Help them to face each challenge, each lonely hour, and each difficult interaction with a calm and resilient heart. Let them find their power in You, remembering the truth of Philippians 4:13, “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”
Give them the mental strength to resist negativity, the emotional strength to manage their feelings in a healthy way, and the spiritual strength to keep their eyes fixed on You. Renew their energy day by day, moment by moment, so they can stand firm until their time is served, In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness. Your prayer brings your loved one to him, so that they can endure in his strength in a place designed to break the human spirit.
Prayer Against Loneliness
Of all the pains of being in jail, isolation is one of the deepest. This prayer asks God to make his presence known so strongly that your loved one never feels truly alone, even with no one else there.
Father God, the Friend to the friendless,
One of the most painful parts of being in prison is the profound loneliness. I pray that You would wrap Your loving arms around my loved one right now. Let them feel Your presence in a real and powerful way.
Please be their constant companion. When they feel forgotten by the world, remind them that they are ever-present in Your mind. When they feel isolated in their cell, fill that small space with the warmth of Your Holy Spirit. As Deuteronomy 31:6 promises, “He will never leave you nor forsake you.” Let this not just be a verse they read, but a reality they experience.
Send a kind guard, a compassionate inmate, or a letter from home at just the right moment to remind them they are not forgotten. Break down the walls of isolation with Your perfect love and let them know that even in the loneliest of places, You are there with them, holding their hand and lighting their way, In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Visits and calls may be few, but no one is ever outside the reach of God’s presence. He keeps them company always, and he comforts them in their loneliest hours.
Prayer for Peace That Surpasses Understanding
A jail is full of noise and unrest, and anxiety is never far away. Here we ask God for his own peace to guard the heart and mind of the one we love, a calm place in the middle of the chaos.
Prince of Peace,
I lift my loved one to You, who is living in a place where peace is hard to find. The constant tension, noise, and fear can create a storm of anxiety in the soul. I ask You to grant them Your divine peace.
This is not a peace that the world gives, but the kind of peace that surpasses all understanding, as promised in Philippians 4:7. I pray that this heavenly peace would stand guard over their heart and mind. When anxiety tries to rise up, let Your calm wash over them. When fear whispers lies, let Your gentle assurance quiet their spirit.
Help them to find moments of stillness with You, even in a loud and chaotic place. Protect their sleep, that they might rest without turmoil and wake with a sense of Your comforting presence. May Your peace be a shield that protects their inner world, no matter what is happening in the world around them, In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
In this prayer we ask the Holy Spirit to do what no human effort can, and bring true and lasting peace to a troubled soul. That calm within can be their greatest defense against the strain of being locked up.
Prayer for a Renewed Purpose and a Future
Someone in jail can easily come to feel that their life is over and there is no future left. This prayer asks God to show them his purpose for them, and that he still has a good plan for their life.
God of Redemption and New Beginnings,
I pray for my loved one, who may feel that their mistakes have disqualified them from having a meaningful future. It is easy to believe the lie that their life’s purpose has been lost forever behind those walls.
Lord, I ask You to intervene. Open their eyes to see that you are a God who redeems stories and creates beauty from ashes. Show them that this time does not have to be wasted time. Reveal a new purpose to them, even for this season. Maybe it is to grow closer to you, to become a light to others, or to develop new discipline and character.
Remind them that You are not finished with them yet. As it is written, “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal.” (Philippians 3:13-14). Help them to look forward with hope, believing that You have a plan and a purpose for their life beyond this current situation, In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
When you pray for their purpose, you are asking God to turn a time of punishment into a time of preparation. You are helping your loved one see that their story is not over, and that God is still writing the chapters ahead.
Prayer for Mending Broken Relationships
Prison puts a heavy strain on a person’s ties with family and friends. This prayer asks God to bring healing, forgiveness and reconciliation wherever sin and separation have done damage.
Father of Reconciliation,
I bring before You the broken relationships in my loved one’s life. Their actions and their absence have caused deep pain, creating rifts with family and friends that seem impossible to heal. My heart aches for this brokenness.
Lord, I ask for Your miraculous healing touch. Where there is anger, bring forgiveness. Where there is deep hurt, bring comfort. Where there is mistrust, begin to rebuild bridges of trust. I pray you would soften the hearts of everyone involved, including my own. Give us all the grace to follow Your command in Ephesians 4:32 to “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
Give my loved one the humility to own their part in the pain and the courage to seek forgiveness. For those on the outside, grant us the patience and love to extend grace. Pave the way for healing conversations and restored connections, even if it is just through letters or phone calls for now, In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
God heals broken hearts and broken relationships. In this prayer we bring a painful situation to him, trusting that he can mend what sin and separation have torn apart.
Prayer for a Transformed Heart
Real change goes deeper than behavior, all the way down to the heart. This prayer asks God to do a deep work in your loved one’s soul, and to put new and godly desires where the old ones were.
Creator God, the one who makes all things new,
I pray not just for my loved one’s safety or comfort, but for something much deeper: a transformation of their very heart. I know that true and lasting change comes from the inside out, and only You can do that kind of spiritual surgery.
Please, Lord, perform the miracle that you promised in Ezekiel 36:26: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” I ask you to do this for them. Remove the old patterns of thinking, the selfish desires, and the hardness that led them to this place.
Replace it with a heart that is soft toward you, that desires righteousness, and that feels true empathy for others. Create in them a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within them. May this time in jail be the very place where their old self dies and they are reborn into a new creation in Christ, In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Here you are asking God to redeem this time with a change in your loved one that will last long after they are released.
Prayer to Overcome Fear
In prison fear is always close by: fear of violence, fear of the future and fear of being forgotten. In this prayer we ask that God’s perfect love would cast all fear out of the heart of the one we love.
God of Perfect Love,
I know that my loved one’s heart is likely filled with fear. Fear of other inmates, fear of being forgotten, fear for their family, and fear of what the future holds. This fear can be paralyzing and tormenting.
I come against that spirit of fear in the name of Jesus. I ask you to flood their heart and mind with Your perfect love, which the Bible says in 1 John 4:18 “casts out fear.” Remind them that You have not given them a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. When waves of panic or anxiety wash over them, be their anchor.
Let them hear Your voice above all the others, saying “Do not be afraid, for I am with you.” Give them a supernatural courage to face each day. Replace their fear with a deep and abiding trust in Your sovereignty and Your goodness, knowing that nothing can happen to them outside of Your loving watch, In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Praying for God’s love to take the place of fear is like turning on a light in a dark room, and it brings peace and courage where once there was only terror.
Prayer for Justice and Favor
Courts and prisons can be confusing and frightening places to find your way through. This prayer asks God for fairness, justice and his favor for your loved one, all through their case and their time inside.
God of all Justice,
You are the one who loves righteousness and justice. I place my loved one’s situation into Your hands, asking for Your divine intervention in their legal case and their daily life inside the prison system.
I pray for favor. Let them be seen with compassion and fairness by guards, wardens, lawyers, and judges. Let their case be handled justly. Proverbs 21:1 tells us, “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.” Lord, I ask You to turn the hearts of those in authority to show favor and mercy.
Protect them from unfair accusations and from being overlooked. I pray for truth to prevail in every hearing and every decision made about their future. We trust in Your ultimate justice, but we also boldly ask for Your favor to be upon them in this earthly system, making their path smoother and their burden lighter, In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
We trust God’s plan, and we are also called to pray for justice here on earth. So in this prayer we ask him to move within a human system and bring fairness and favor to the one we love.
Prayer to Feel God’s Presence
More than anything else, the sense that God is near brings comfort, strength and hope. This is a simple prayer that your loved one would know God is right there with them, as surely as if they could touch him.
Immanuel, God With Us,
In the quiet, lonely moments of the day and the long, dark hours of the night, I pray that my loved one would feel your presence in a way that is unmistakably real. More than just knowing You are there, I ask that they would feel You there.
Break through the noise, the depression, and the despair, and let the warmth of Your love settle upon them. Let them feel Your comfort like a blanket. Let them sense Your strength holding them up. Remind them of Your promise from Matthew 28:20, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Let that promise come alive in their cell today.
Whether it’s through a moment of unexpected peace, a powerful dream, or a deep sense of calm in their spirit, make Yourself known to them. Let them know in the core of their being that they are not alone, because the King of Kings and Lord of Lords is right there with them, In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
We are asking that the one we love would meet the living God for themselves, and a meeting like that can change everything.
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