I watched God answer prayers the church never got to see.

I was the full-time worship leader at a small church in a hurting town. It was truly a mission ground and I had the honor of praying with many people that would walk in on the worst day of their lives, looking for prayer, for comfort, for help with whatever they were carrying.

We saw people at their lowest, but we were also so blessed to be the first place RAN to when God turned everything around. They would run into the building to tell us what God had done, we would celebrate with them and it was honestly such a privilege. We saw God provide, minds renewed, lives and families restored and even bodies healed.

But something about those years never sat right with me. I got to see it, and the church didn’t. The tears, the emotion you can’t fake from a person whose whole life had just changed, not just from the change of circumstances, but from the reality that God sees them, loves them and was moving on their behalf. We were honored to stand in those moments. But the congregation that had been praying for these people usually never heard how it ended, and if they did, it was a quick mention from the front.

Later, my home church set aside twenty-one days for prayer and fasting and put up a physical prayer board. We were bold enough to write our prayers where everyone could read them, and we crossed each one off when God answered. I loved that board, but I’d get busy and forget it was even there. Every so often I’d stop and notice how many had been crossed off/answered, and I’d wish I’d been there with them when they crossed it off so I could celebrate with them what the Lord had done.

At the start of this year (2026), getting ready for our twenty-one days again, I set out to build something simple, a way for our church to take part in prayer together with better access than a board in the back of the room. But I quickly saw something bigger in it. This could put God’s answers in front of the whole church, a way to share the testimonies, to glorify Him and build one another’s faith. That was all the motivation I needed.

So that’s what Prayer Board is. The same board, rebuilt so the answers can’t be forgotten. When God answers, the whole church gets the news, and every testimony is saved for your church to look back on. People share on their own terms, only as far as they choose and when you can see the tears in someone’s eyes, you’re not just hearing about the miracle. You’re in the room for it.

My prayer is that your congregation steps into prayer on a new level, that they feel a new sense of community as this opens a door to do life together, and that the testimonies start pouring in.

Technology itself won’t change lives or strengthen faith in your church, but I pray that this tool helps you create/support a culture of prayer, supporting one another, and glorifying God, because that will!

— Dereck Johnson