Disciples of Jesus Pray

Lesson 13 February 23 Disciples of Jesus Pray Bible Verse: Lord, teach us to pray. (Luke 11:1) Bible Story: Matthew 6:9-13 FaithPoint Jesus not only taught his disciples to pray, but he also gave them an example that we use today. For Teachers Understanding God s Word The Bible provides a rich witness to the importance of prayer in Jesus life. When Jesus was tired, he found a place to pray. When Jesus needed direction, he found a place to pray. When Jesus was discouraged, he found a place to pray. When Jesus needed strength, he found a place to pray. Jesus disciples watched as he found strength and renewal in prayer. They wanted such strength and renewal so they asked Jesus to teach them to pray. Jesus responded to his disciples with what we now call the Lord s Prayer. The Lord s Prayer is our example and guide. Understanding Your Kids Children will benefit from learning to greet God in the morning and to praise God at the close of the day. They can learn to express their thanksgiving for food and for all the provisions of life. Children can learn that every situation they face can be taken to God in prayer. Children need to know that God is always accessible to them through prayer. Children, like adults, Devotions Read Mark 1:35; 6:41-42, 46; 14:22-23; Luke 11:1-4. Although public prayer is an integral part of worship, it is also important for us to find quiet places for personal reflection and prayer, just as Jesus did. Are there places where you feel closer to God, where you can pray easily? How do those places help you pray? Jesus prayed for everything and in every circumstance. He often removed himself from the hustle and bustle of the world to talk to God. The prayer that Jesus taught was a simple one. Read the prayer again, replacing the we pronouns with the I pronouns. Meditate on the prayer as it applies to your life. Do you feel that God truly hears your prayer? can be intimidated by the flowing words of formal prayers. Help them to understand that prayer is talking to God in normal language. Make prayer a comfortable and often-used experience in your classroom. Say short sentence prayers, such as Thank you, God, for the rainbow. Let the children know that prayer is a personal way to communicate with God that anyone can do at any time and in any place. 112 February 23 ONE ROOM SUNDAY SCHOOL, Teacher

LESSON Overview Learning Experiences Resources Supplies Before Class 1. START Here (5 to 10 minutes) Learn the Verse in Rhythm rhythm instruments, Bible Verse Fish (Class Pak p. 21), tape, The Lord s Prayer poster (Class Pak pp. 15 & 18) Open With Praise rhythm instruments, Cassette and player, Songbook 2. Open Your BIBLE (10 to 15 minutes) Listen to the Bible Story Bibles, Activity 85 Talk About the Bible Story none 3. LIVE God s Word (20 to 25 minutes) For Everyone Learn Motions for the Cassette and player, Songbook, Activity 86 Lord s Prayer Bake Bread frozen dough, facilities to bake the bread, knife, Prepare the dough for baking. cutting board, butter and honey or jam, paper plates, napkins, The Lord s Prayer Poster (Class Pak pp. 15 & 18) For Nonreaders Make a Prayer Booklet Activity 87, crayons, scissors, stapler For All Readers Color a Wall Hanging Activity 88, crayons, markers, colored pencils For Beginning Readers Spin and Pray Activity 89, crayons, pencils or pens, scissors, metal brads For Skilled Readers Unscramble the Lord s Prayer scissors, envelopes Make copies of the Lord s Prayer on page 119 and cut into strips. Fill in WITNESS Words Activity 90, pencils 4. RESPOND to the Bible Message (10 minutes) Complete the WITNESS Poster WITNESS poster (Class Pak p. 3), alvation strip (Class Pak p. 2), tape Learn About Different Kinds of Prayer Activity 91 (top), scissors, tape, paper, pencils Worship With the Activity 91 (bottom), Cassette and player, Songbook, Lord s Prayer Litany Class Pak pp. 15 & 18 Are you a last-minute substitute? See p. 15. 113

1. START Here Learn the Verse in Rhythm rhythm instruments, Bible Verse Fish (Class Pak p. 21), tape, The Lord s Prayer poster (Class Pak pp. 15 & 18) As the students arrive, assign each a rhythm instrument and divide the class into five groups. If you do not have rhythm instruments, either improvise with household items (pots and pans, containers of beans, and so forth) or assign each group a simple rhythm to be clapped or beat out on the table. Gather near the mural. Choose a volunteer to attach today s Bible Verse Fish (Class Pak p. 21) to the mural. Say the verse together once. Then tell the students that you will all say the verse again, but leave out the first word. Instead of saying the first word, have one of the rhythm groups play their instruments. Say the verse again, this time leaving out the second word as well and substituting another group s rhythm sound. Continue until each group is playing in the place of a word, then reverse and add back one word at a time until the class is once again reciting all of the words. Gather the instruments. Ask: Who do you think is speaking to Jesus in our Bible verse for today? (one of Jesus disciples) Draw attention to The Lord s Prayer poster (Class Pak pp. 15 & 18) and tell the Class Pak pp. 15 & 18 students that this is the special prayer that Jesus taught his disciples when they asked him how to pray. Say: We still say this prayer today. Let s pray the Lord s Prayer together. Pray the Lord s Prayer using the motions shown on the poster, if you like. Class Pak p. 21 Open With Praise rhythm instruments, Cassette and player, Songbook Hand out the rhythm instruments once again. Play Awesome God and allow the children to sing and play their instruments. Try different ways of playing the instruments: way up high; down low; certain instruments on certain parts; quietly; loudly; while turning around; while marching. Ask the children for suggestions. 114 February 23 ONE ROOM SUNDAY SCHOOL, Teacher

Collect the instruments and tell the children that praying is not always quiet. Praising God is a form of prayer. The song they just sang and the instruments they played were a prayer. One of the many things prayer can do is to make us happy and ready to go out into the world to serve God as Jesus disciples. 2. Open Your BIBLE Listen to the Bible Story Bibles, Activity 85 Show the children where today s Bible stories, Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:1-4, are located in the Bible. Say: Wouldn t it be wonderful to be able to have Jesus right there next to you so you could ask him questions and he could answer you? Well, of course we can pray and talk to Jesus anywhere and anytime. This is prayer. And we are glad that the disciples asked Jesus questions and wrote down his answers in the Bible for us to read. Let s read the Bible story where Jesus answers a disciple s request, Lord, teach us to pray. Read Activity 85, Teach Us to Pray, aloud. Talk About the Bible Story none Activity 85 Ask: How did Jesus say the disciples should not pray? (They should not show off when they prayed. They should not pray long prayers.) How did Jesus say the disciples should pray? (in private; short prayers) Did you recognize the words to the Lord s Prayer in the Bible story? The prayer may have sounded a little different than what you are used to hearing in church. The Lord s Prayer has several different versions. Different churches may use different versions. The words are a little different, but they all mean the same thing. 3. LIVE God s Word For Everyone Learn Motions for the Lord s Prayer Cassette and player, Songbook, Activity 86 Ask: Moving your body can be a beautiful way to praise God in song or in prayer. Hand out Activity 86. Practice the motions several times. Sing The Lord s Prayer through once without the motions. Add Activity 86 Winter 2002 2003 February 23 115

the motions. Repeat the song several times. Bake Bread frozen dough, facilities to bake the bread, knife, cutting board, butter and honey or jam, paper plates, napkins, The Lord s Prayer poster (Class Pak pp. 15 & 18) Prepare the dough for baking before class. Put the bread in the oven at the beginning of class. Share the finished bread with the students. While the students are eating, ask them if they remember anything about bread in the Lord s Prayer. Refer to The Lord s Prayer poster (Class Pak pp. 15 & 18). Ask them what they think Give us this day our daily bread means. Does it mean we want bread every day? Say: God wants to provide for our needs. And God wants to use us to help provide for the needs of others. Jesus disciples are to help other people in need and to tell other people about God s love. For Nonreaders Make a Prayer Booklet Activity 87, crayons, scissors, stapler Say: Talking to God helps us to feel closer to God. We can talk to God anytime about anything. What are some ways you can pray? (standing, sitting, kneeling, singing, walking, running) Today we will make a special booklet that you can take home. Keep this in a special place and use it to remind you to pray for the special things in your booklet. Allow the students to color the pictures on Activity 87. Assist the children in cutting out the pages and assembling them in booklet fashion. Staple along the binding to keep the pages together. Practice using the booklet in prayer. Ask the children to follow you in their booklets as you pray for the item on each page. After you have prayed, ask if there is anyone who would like to pray using the prayer booklet. Activity 87 Color a Wall Hanging For All Readers Activity 88, crayons, markers, colored pencils Distribute Activity 88 and tell the children that the disciples often saw Jesus talking to God. They were curious. What kind of prayer did Jesus use when he spoke to God? The Lord s Prayer is the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples. Do you think this is the prayer Jesus might have used when he spoke with God? Make the coloring materials available to the children so that they can color Activity 88. Tell them they may hang this on the wall near a Activity 88 116 February 23 ONE ROOM SUNDAY SCHOOL, Teacher

place where they like to pray at home. If you have the resources available, you may want to laminate the wall hangings. Spin and Pray For Beginning Readers Activity 89, crayons, pencils or pens, scissors, metal brads Remind the children that anytime is a good time to talk to God. Allow the children to fill in each day of the week on the spinner with something they will pray about on that day. They may also color the spinner. After everyone has had a chance to assemble a spinner, instruct everyone to turn the spinner to today s day of the week. Ask each person to share what they have written on this day. You may begin the sharing with, Dear God, we pray for. For Skilled Readers Unscramble the Lord s Prayer scissors, envelopes Activity 89 Before class, photocopy the Lord s Prayer on page 119. Make one copy per team for the following game, cut apart the groupings of words, and place each set in an envelope. Divide the students into four teams and assign each a place in the room. Give each team an envelope. At your signal, have each group work together to assemble the words of the prayer in order. The first team to have the words in the correct order wins. Say: Did you know that Christians all around the world pray the Lord s Prayer? In our closing we will learn about the different parts of the Lord s Prayer. This will help us to understand what the words mean as we pray the prayer. Fill in WITNESS Words Activity 90, pencils Ask: What word have we been using during this unit as an acrostic? (WITNESS) Can anyone tell me what the words are so far? (write, invite, teach, nurture, encourage, serve) What do each of these words help us to remember? (how to be a witness of God s love to other people) Tell the students that today s word is salvation. They will hear more about this word in the closing. Hand out Activity 90 and allow the students to work on the crossword puzzle. Activity 90 Winter 2002 2003 February 23 117

2 Vol. 9 No. 2 Winter 2002 2003 ONE ROOM SUNDAY SCHOOL, CLASS PAK (ISSN 1094-1371): published quarterly by Abingdon Press, 201 Eighth Avenue, South, P.O. Box 801, Nashville TN day. 37202-0801. This Class Pak is part of the ONE ROOM SUNDAY SCHOOL resource kit that includes a teacher book, reproducible activities, class pak, and cassette. Kit price: $52.00 per quarter (ISSN 1094-1347). Copyright 2002 by Abingdon Press. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. fax your request to 615-749-6128. 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 If you have questions or comments, call 800-251- 8591, a toll-free service available Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 4:00 Central Time. Calls at other times are recorded for response the next working For information concerning permission to reproduce any material in this publication, write to Permissions Office, 201 Eighth Avenue, South, P.O. Box 801, Nashville TN 37202-0801. You may Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America, and are used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations identified as Good News Translation are from the Good News Translation in Today s English Version Second Edition. Copyright 1992 American Bible Society. Used by permission. 2002 Abingdon Press Editorial/Design Team Peg Augustine...Development Editor Martha Hutchinson...Production Editor Gillian Housewright...Designer Administrative Team Neil M. Alexander...Publisher Harriett Jane Olson...Vice President, Editor, Church School Publications R. E. Osborne...Production/Design Manager Developed by the Editorial Team Written by Susan Finehout Cover Photo: Ron Benedict Cover Design: Ray Osborne 3 4. RESPOND to the Bible Message Complete the WITNESS Poster WITNESS poster (Class Pak p. 3), alvation strip (Class Pak p. 2), tape Indicate the word WITNESS down the left side of the WITNESS poster (Class Pak p. 3). Remind the students that Jesus calls us, as his disciples, to tell others about God s love. Our Bible verse today is Lord, teach us to pray (Luke 11:1). Say: Talking to God helps us feel closer to God. Prayer is very important in the life of a Christian. We have learned that following Jesus is being a disciple. The disciples noticed that Jesus spoke with God quite often. They wanted to be like Jesus, so they asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. They were following Jesus example. We have learned in this unit to share God s love in six ways (point to the words on the WITNESS poster as you say them): write, invite, teach, nurture, encourage, and serve. Today we have learned another way people can learn about God s love. Choose a volunteer to complete the last word on the poster by adding the strip from Class Pak p. 2 printed with alvation after the last S to form the word Salvation. Say: Salvation is when a person accepts Jesus into his or her heart and life. When a person begins a personal relationship with God, that person can learn more about God and God s love. All of the words for WITNESS are ways that we can help a person decide to ask Jesus to come into his or her life. We do all we can to show other people God s love. We hope and pray that those who do not have Jesus in their lives will choose salvation that they will ask Jesus into their hearts and will receive the gift of eternal life. Sometimes God will even ask us to be the one to share with someone that he or she can have Jesus in his or her life. Another good word for this week would be send. God sends us out into the world to share God s love, so that people will ask Jesus into their hearts and lives. WITNESS Poster Lessons 7 13, January 12 February 23 W I T N E S S Class Pak p. 3 WITNESS Words Lessons 7 13, January 12 February 23 One Room Sunday School Winter 2002 2003 File Church: Ministry, Service, Witness Art: Marvin Jarboe 2002 Abingdon Press One Room Sunday School Winter 2002 2003 File Church: Ministry, Service, Witness RITE NVITE EACH URTURE NCOURAGE ERVE ALVATION Class Pak p. 2 Learn About Different Kinds of Prayer Activity 91 (top), scissors, tape, paper, pencils Say: There are different kinds of prayer. We can find all these types in the Lord s Prayer. Read through the types of prayer on Activity 91 (top) one at a time, and then choose a volunteer to label each part of prayer as it can be found in the Lord s Prayer on the Lord s Prayer poster. Cut apart the types of prayer listed on Activity 91 (top) and use these as the labels. Pass out paper and pencils. Ask the children to write a sentence prayer for each of the kinds of prayer. 118 February 23 Activity 91 ONE ROOM SUNDAY SCHOOL, Teacher

Worship With the Lord s Prayer Litany Activity 91 (bottom), Cassette and player, Songbook, Class Pak pp. 15 & 18 Lead the class in the Lord s Prayer Litany on Activity 91 (bottom). Close by singing The Lord s Prayer. Don t forget to include the motions, found either on Activity 86 or Class Pak pp. 15 & 18. If time allows, sing other favorite songs learned in this unit. Evaluate Is there evidence that your children have learned something new about prayer? Has your own understanding about prayer been enriched by teaching children about prayer? Activity 91 Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever. Amen Winter 2002 2003 February 23 119