How to Pray the 5 Finger Prayer {free Printable}

The five finger prayer (made popular by Pope Francis) is a great prayer to pray on your own, or with the kids in your life. This simple prayer method acts as a visual aid that helps us remember who to pray for. Each finger represents a category of people for whom we can pray. This practice is also a great way to teach young children how to pray.

And to be honest, the 5 finger prayer method isn’t just for kids. How often do we all get into prayer habits, where we consistently pray for certain people? Getting into a habit of praying for the same people all the time can be a great thing, but it also means that we might forget certain people who need our prayer.

The five finger prayer method helps to categorize people, and it can act as a reminder to pray not just for friends and family, but for those in leadership, for our pastors and those in government, for teachers and coaches, and for the poor and needy.

Use the five finger prayer method on your own, if you’d like, or with any of the children in your life. It’s a great way to help kids put their prayers for other people into their own words, and it gives them prompts for who to pray for if they get stuck.

You can teach the five finger prayer in Sunday school, in the classroom, or at home. This makes a great homeschool lesson, or a quick and easy way to teach kids how to pray or to remember who to pray for.

If you want another five finger prayer practice, also be sure to check out the Five Finger Daily Examen Prayer. That prayer uses each finger on your hand as a prompt to think about your day, to thank God for your blessings, ask for what you need, and look ahead to tomorrow. It’s a great way to pray through your day and look for the fingerprints (haha) of God in your life.

Make sure to read this whole post to get your free five finger prayer printable at the end.

The 5 Finger Prayer

When I teach children to pray at school (where I’m a chaplain), I find it’s really easy for them to pray for their own needs and for their friends and family. Often they need prompting to pray for people who aren’t close to them. That’s why I love this prayer method: it reminds us to pray for people who are close to us, as well as people in need and people in leadership positions in our schools, communities, and around the world.

This prayer method is really simple. Each finger represents a group of people for whom you can pray. You start with those closest to you, like friends and family, and then pray for those who point you in the right direct, leaders in your community and around the world, the needy and vulnerable, and finally for yourself.

You can open your prayer time with “Dear God,” or however you normally open prayer. (We usually alternate between “Dear God,” and “Hey, God…” depending on how formal – or informal – we are feeling that day.)

As you pray, go through each of the fingers (and thumb) on your hand. Pray for the people those fingers represent.

Thumb: Pray for those closest to you: your family and friends.

Pointer finger: Pray for those who point you in the right direction: your teachers, and other leaders in your life. Pray for wisdom and support.

Third finger (tallest): Pray for those that lead us: those in government, in business, in church leadership. Pray for guidance and wisdom.

Ring finger (weakest): Pray for those who are poor, sick, in pain, in trouble: those most in need.

Pinkie finger (smallest): Pray for ourselves and out own needs.

Download your free 5 finger prayer printable here.

Want more prayer methods for kids? Check out the Lego Prayer here. It’s one of my favourites.