Making Heaven Crowded
Tampa, Florida
Submit a prayer request in Tampa
Tell us what you would like prayed over. We will pray, and we will not publish it.
The short answer
How to ask for prayer
To submit a prayer request in Tampa, fill in the Making Heaven Crowded prayer request form on this page. It takes about a minute, it costs nothing, and you do not have to belong to a church or explain yourself. The team reads it and prays over it. Requests are never published on this site or on social media.
You can write one line or a page. Some people send a first name and the word “work.” Some people send the whole story. Both get prayed for, and neither gets edited into a testimony for anybody else to read.
Please read this first
If this is an emergency
Making Heaven Crowded is a volunteer ministry. The prayer form is not monitored around the clock and it is not a crisis line. If you are in immediate danger, call 911. If you are thinking about harming yourself or you are in emotional crisis, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is free, confidential and answered twenty four hours a day by calling or texting 988.
If what you need is practical — somewhere to sleep tonight, food this week, help paying a bill — the faster route is 211 Tampa Bay, an independent service that connects people in Hillsborough County to local programmes at no cost. We have also listed a few on homeless resources in Tampa. Ask us for prayer as well by all means. Just do not wait on a form when a phone call gets you help today.
Why we pray with strangers
It is most of what happens downtown
Praying with people is not a side activity for this ministry. On a Saturday in downtown Tampa, volunteers walk with food and bottled water, start ordinary conversations, and ask one question more often than any other: is there anything we can pray with you about? A surprising number of people say yes, right there on the pavement, having never met the person asking.
That is the reason this page exists. Not everybody is downtown on a Saturday. The form is the same offer, made to people who will never cross paths with a team on the street.
- Every number represents a person made in the image of God.
- Every meal represents an opportunity to serve.
- Every conversation represents an opportunity to proclaim the Gospel.
The instinct behind it comes from Matthew 25:40. Jesus explains to us: how we treat the least of our brothers and sisters in Christ, is how we treat Him.
Other ways to connect
If you want more than a form
Plenty of people who send a request end up wanting to meet the team. You can see what an outreach looks like on street evangelism in Tampa, read the wider picture on Christian outreach in Tampa, or find out how the ministry started on our story.
If you would rather be on the other side of the prayer — the one asking a stranger the question — that starts at volunteer opportunities in Tampa or get involved. Nobody is sent out alone, and SENT Sessions exists for anyone who wants to be equipped before they go.
And if you simply want to talk to a person rather than fill in anything at all, that is always allowed. Email or call, and somebody will answer.
Questions
Prayer requests in Tampa
- How do I submit a prayer request in Tampa?
- Use the prayer request form linked on this page. It is the same form the Making Heaven Crowded team already uses, it takes about a minute, and you can write as little or as much as you want. There is no cost and no requirement to belong to a church.
- Who reads my prayer request?
- The Making Heaven Crowded team. Requests are not published on this website, not posted on social media and not passed to anyone outside the ministry. If you would rather not write anything down at all, call (941) 718-2867 or email Makingheavencrowdedtampa@gmail.com instead.
- Do I have to be a Christian to ask for prayer?
- No. People ask the team to pray with them on the street in downtown Tampa every week, and plenty of them would not describe themselves as religious. You are not agreeing to anything by asking, and nobody will chase you afterwards.
- Will somebody pray with me in person?
- Often, yes. The Tampa team offers prayer in person during street outreach downtown, and will pray with anyone who wants it right there. If you would like that rather than a written request, say so in the form and someone will follow up about the next outreach.
- What if I am in crisis right now?
- Please do not use a form. Making Heaven Crowded is a volunteer ministry, not an emergency service, and nobody watches the inbox around the clock. If you are in danger or thinking about harming yourself, call or text nine eight eight, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, which is free and answered twenty four hours a day.
- Can I ask for prayer for somebody else?
- Yes, and many people do. Share only what that person would be comfortable having shared, since you are writing about someone who has not asked for it themselves. A first name and a sentence is enough for the team to pray specifically.
Questions? Email Makingheavencrowdedtampa@gmail.com or call (941) 718-2867.