Jesus Taught About Prayer

Hi there parents! Welcome back! Or if you're new here, welcome! The following blog is here to be a tool for you to help your kids grow in their faith while Children's Church is not meeting. Please feel free to use as much of it as you choose. You know your kids and are the best possible teacher for them. God has given you the power of the Holy Spirit to enable you to do more than you think possible (Eph 3:20). 

  This weeks lesson is on prayer. Prayer is personal communication with God. Many people aren’t sure how to pray or feel uncomfortable praying. To pray effectively, then, we must be taught how to pray. This is why Jesus’ disciples asked Him to teach them to pray.

Jesus began with the Lord’s Prayer, not to establish the words we should use but to show how we should pray and what we should pray about. Through prayer, we demonstrate our dependence on and faith in the Lord. We should approach God as a Father and pray for His kingdom first and then for ourselves and others.

Then Jesus told a story about a man who went to his friend in the middle of the night to ask for food for a visitor. The friend did not want to be bothered but because the man did not give up, the friend finally gave him what he needed. God is not a sleepy neighbor. If a grumpy friend will reward persistence, how much more so will God! He cares about His children and is happy to give us what we need when we ask.

In a similar way, a human father who loves his child would not give him a snake if he asked for a fish. Will God give us everything we ask for? No, but when we are persistent with our prayers, we can trust Him to answer according to His glory and our good.

Jesus used another parable in Luke 18: A judge was unwilling to grant a widow’s plea for justice, but the woman did not give up. So the judge gave her justice. We should not give up praying if we have not received an answer from God. God is not like a wicked judge. When we pray consistently, God will give us justice and He will act quickly.

  As we begin to explore this weeks lesson, may I encourage you with a verse from Deuteronomy about teaching your children the scriptures? Chapter 6 verse 9 says, "You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise." Maybe you don't have time to sit and have an hour of Bible time all at once, or maybe your children are to young to sit for that long. Take the key points and ask God to give you opportunities to speak them into the hearts of your children throughout the week. Let the Bible become a part of your day to day. Be blessed this week my friends!  

Each week we will include songs, activity pages, the bible lesson video, memory verses and possibly a craft or 2. We pray this will help you find ways to engage your kids spiritually. It is written in script form from the K-2nd grade lesson so you can read directly from it or change it up to suit your children. Take a few moments to print the activity pages as well as the additional activities and review the lesson so you can make adjustments as needed. I have included the Bible and Discussion questions along with a breakdown of the Gospel in the Older Kids Activities pages and loads of activities and crafts on the Preschool Extra Activity Pages. Once you are ready, go ahead and start with these songs if you'd like or pick some of your favorite worship songs and then jump right in! Have fun! And remember, this does not need to be done in one sitting! Feel free to break it up over the course of the week. Please contact me if you have any questions or suggestions. I'd love to hear from you!

So let's get started. I like to begin each week with Blessings and Bummers. Tell me, what have you seen the Lord doing in your lives during this time at home? What have your greatest blessings been? How about your biggest bummers? 

  Parents share your blessings and bummers, and encourage the kids to do the same. Here is mine. My blessing this week has been God's protection over my family as we enjoy our summer activities. One of my kids broke their arm yesterday, just a minor fracture. I am so thankful that it wasn't worse! 

  Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father God, we love you Lord. You are so good to us even though we don't deserve it! Thank you for continuing to bless us Lord. Thank you for protecting us, keeping us safe under your wings. Thank you for being our shelter and our strength. Thank you for our friends as well as our families. Help us to appreciate all you do for us and to look to you in all that we do. In Jesus name, Amen. (please add to or customize prayer time to fit your family)

  Praise the Lord for hearing our prayers! Let me ask you a question: Do you like to talk on the phone? Who do you like to talk to? If you want to speak with a person who is not with you, you can call that person on the phone. Modern technology even allows us to video call each other! But did you know that when it comes to speaking with God, things are even more convenient? We’ll learn more about talking to God today.

 Optional Session Starter Activity (Pick one of two options, or do both, this is your party ) (In activity pages attached above) 

As we get to the story, let’s take another look at the big picture question.

As we get into our story, let’s review the big picture question and answer we have been learning. What did Jesus teach when He was on earth? Jesus taught about God and His kingdom. He taught that all Scripture is about Him. Jesus came to earth to live a perfect life, die on the cross for our sins, and rise again to defeat death. He also came to show us a perfect example of who God is. His teaching helps us know much more about God and what God’s plans are for the world. Jesus helped explain how all Scripture points to Him.

Two weeks ago, we learned about the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus taught people how to live in God’s kingdom. We learned that the attitude in your heart is just as important as the behavior you show on the outside. Last week, we learned that following Jesus is not easy, but He is worth it. Jesus taught people that to follow Him, they might have to give up everything and would have to put Him first—even over their families or their own lives!

Let's watch today's video to learn more about how to pray (Note: We are going to use the Jr Church Bible Story for both PreK and Jr Church this week):

One thing I love about how Jesus taught is His use of analogies. An analogy is like a comparison—a brief example used to help you understand something. 

Each time Jesus gave an example of a human who gives something good to another human, He reminded people that God is much greater than a human. If humans—who are broken by sin and often choose wrong, evil actions—will respond to requests when we are reminded again and again, we can be absolutely certain that God will answer our prayer. He always does what is good and right, and He never forgets anything. 

Sometimes we pray and it may feel that God didn’t listen or hasn’t answered, but God always answers prayers. He may not do exactly what we want Him to do, but His plans are perfect. That means when God does something different from what you asked, His choice is better. Everything He does is for His glory and our good. 

God loves to give us wonderful gifts. He sent Jesus to die for our sins, which is the most wonderful gift ever. We can pray in faith, knowing that God will give us what is best whether it’s the thing we prayed for or not. God loves to hear from His children.

Jesus taught us to pray. Because of Jesus, we can pray to God as a Father and ask for what we need. We can trust that God is good and loving, and we can count on Him to do what is right.

 Bible Time! 

  Help your kids find Luke 11; 18. Remind them that Luke is in the Gospels division.

 Ask the following questions. Lead them to discuss:

Why did Jesus say the friend would help his neighbor even late at night? (His neighbor asked boldly, Luke 11:8)

What did Jesus say a father would not give his son? (a snake, a scorpion; Luke 11:11-12)

Why did the unjust judge do the right thing for the widow? (She kept asking, Luke 18:4-5)

How do these parables encourage us to pray? Guide kids to see that in each case, the person being asked was a sinner and still did the right thing. Jesus wanted people to see that because God is much greater than people, He can be trusted to hear our prayers and respond in the perfect way.

Can you think of a time you prayed for something specific? What happened? Guide kids to provide specific examples from their lives. Do not allow any kids to shame kids for asking for things that may seem silly or unimportant. Encourage kids to discuss honestly if they got the answer they wanted and how they knew.

What are some things you are praying about now? Encourage kids to share their requests with the group if they want to. Write them down. Offer time for the kids to pray for one another. Close the time by thanking God for always doing what is best. Challenge the kids to pray for one another throughout the week.

Say • Jesus taught people how to pray. Jesus wanted people to understand that God loves His children. He enjoys giving us the good things we need. We can pray in faith, knowing God always answers.

Here is a fun activity to help us remember this units memory verse:

Develop hand motions to go with the key passage. You may use the motions for suggested phrases below.

Spoken—Raise your index finger near your mouth, then move it away.

Holy Spirit—Make your left hand into an O shape. Hold together your right thumb and index finger with the other three fingers sticking out. Move your right hand upward in a spiral away from your left hand.

Father—Open your right hand wide and place the thumb against your forehead. 

Teach—Hold both hands with the thumb pressed against the other four fingers, like a pinch. Move both hands back and forth from your temples outward. 

Say • Jesus taught people how to pray. The Holy Spirit also helps us pray and remember Jesus’ words.

Let's pray:

Lord, thank You for the amazing gift of Your Son, Jesus. And Thank You that You hear all our prayers. Help us trust You to always do what is best. Give us faith to talk to You about everything we think, feel, want, and need. Amen. 

 Thanks for joining us! See you next week!

 Thank you to Lifeway's Gospel Project for providing this material and allowing us to publish it.