These Christian prayers for Palm Sunday help you welcome Jesus into the week that leads to the cross and the empty tomb. Pray the main prayer on the morning of Palm Sunday, before church or while you hold a palm branch, or read it aloud as written. You are also free to use it as a starting point and speak in your own words where your heart leads you.
Christian Prayers for Palm Sunday
Lord Jesus, we come to you the way the crowds did on that first Palm Sunday, with branches in our hands and hope in our hearts. Some of us arrive this morning with real joy, grateful for your faithfulness. Others come carrying heaviness we have not been able to name: a diagnosis we are still absorbing, a relationship that feels broken, a worry about money or work, or the quiet fear that we have failed you again this year. Meet us in all of it, and let us see you clearly as the one who comes in humility, not as the king we expected.
Teach us to keep our praise honest. The crowds shouted in the street and then, within days, many of them were silent or against you. Keep our hearts steady so that our worship does not depend on how we feel or how the week goes. Let the palm branches in our hands remind us that you are worthy of our devotion even when the road ahead is hard. Walk with us through the days that follow, through the upper room and the garden, all the way to the cross and to the morning of resurrection. Amen.
A Shorter Version to Pray in a Moment
Jesus, you are coming into my week, and I want to welcome you. Forgive me for the times I have cheered you on with my lips and held back my heart. Steady me for the days ahead, and let my praise be sincere whether the road feels joyful or heavy. Walk with me to the cross and beyond it, and help me trust that you are King even in my ordinary Monday. Amen.
Scriptures to Pray Alongside
Matthew 21:9
The multitudes who went in front of him, and those who followed, kept shouting, “Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
(WEB)
Pray this verse slowly when you think about the crowd that shouted Hosanna. Ask God to make your own praise as wholehearted and sincere as you want theirs to have been, and to let your welcome of Jesus shape the way you live this week.
Zechariah 9:9
Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
(WEB)
This prophecy describes a king who comes humble and riding on a donkey. Use it to ask God to help you recognize the kind of king Jesus is, and to let go of any picture of power you have been clinging to.
Psalm 118:26
Blessed is he who comes in the LORD’s name! We have blessed you out of the LORD’s house.
(WEB)
The crowds on the road to Jerusalem quoted this psalm as they welcomed Jesus. Pray it as a blessing over the people you love who are walking through this week, asking God to bring them into his presence with joy.
Philippians 2:8
And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross.
(WEB)
This verse traces the humility of Christ all the way to the cross. Pray it when you feel tempted to measure your faith by comfort, asking God to shape your heart to be willing to follow him where the road leads.
Romans 8:38-39
38 For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from God’s love, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(WEB)
Paul names everything that might seem able to separate us from God and then declares that nothing can. Pray these words over whatever you are carrying this week, trusting that Christ’s love holds you through the darkest days ahead.
How to Pray This Prayer
Many people find it helpful to pray this prayer first thing on Palm Sunday, before the day fills up with plans and noise. If you can, hold a real palm branch or a small cross in your hands while you read, so that your body joins your words. Sit somewhere quiet, such as a kitchen table or a chair by a window, and read the prayer slowly, pausing after each paragraph to let the words settle.
You can also pray it with others. A family can take turns reading the paragraphs aloud around the dinner table, or a small group can pray it together before the church service begins. Invite the person beside you to add a short sentence of their own, naming someone they want God to meet this week. Praying together turns a private moment into a shared walk toward the cross.
A Blessing to Close
May the King who rode into Jerusalem on a humble donkey go with you into this holy week. May he steady your heart when the crowd grows loud or quiet, and may his love hold you from the palm branch to the empty tomb. Walk in his peace, knowing that the one who came to Jerusalem is faithful to finish what he began.
