Teach us, Jesus, How to Pray (A Year in The Lord s Prayer and other Bible Basics) A Children s Church, Sunday School or Mid-Week Children s Curriculum For Kids ages 4-10
Teach us, Jesus, How to Pray (A Year in The Lord s Prayer and other Bible Basics) Introduction In the next 52 lessons children will learn the basics of the Christian Year, The Lord s Prayer, the Ten Commandments and the 23 rd Psalm. The title of the Year is Teach us, Jesus, How to Pray because the focus of the Units will be on the Lord s Prayer and one of the goals each week will be to conclude each lesson with this age old prayer. Hopefully, by the time the children repeat this prayer 52 times, they ll know it by heart and it will become a model for their daily prayers. Each week will feature a variety of activities to help you reinforce the lesson. You ll find songs, skits, video clips, games, illustrations, experiments, crafts and more. Choose activities that best fit your skills, personality and time frame. And don t forget to have fun! 52 Week Overview Unit 1: Our Father in Who Art Heaven Week 1: A Father Who Wants to Talk To us Week 2: A Father Who Loves Us Week 3: A Father Who Forgives Us Bonus Week 4: Communion Unit 2: Hallowed by thy Name Week 5: God s Name is not Art or Howard Week 6: Week 7: God s Name is Worthy of our Praise Unit 3: Thy Kingdom Come Week 8: Week 9: Week 10: Unit 4: The Church Year I Week 11: Thanksgiving Week 12: Advent Week 13: Advent Week 14: Christmas Week 15: Christmas Week 16: New Year/Wise Men Unit 5: Thy Will be done Week 17: Jesus Baptism Week 18: Week 19: Unit 6: On Earth as it is in Heaven Week 20: Week 21: Week 22: Unit 7: Give us this day our Daily Bread Week 23: Week 24: Lent Israel Manna Week 25: Lent Jesus 40 days Unit 8: Forgive us our debts as we Forgive Our Debtors Week 26: Week 27: Week 28: Unit 9: The Church Year II Week 29: Palm Sunday Week 30: Easter Unit 10: Lead us not into temptation Week 31: Week 32: Week 33: Unit 11: Deliver Us from Evil Week 34: Week 35: Week 36: Week 37: Pentecost Unit 12: For Thine is Kingdom, Power & Glory Forever Week 38: Week 39: Week 40: Bonus Week 41: The 2 Greatest Commandments Unit 13: The 10 Commandments & 23 Psalm Week 42: Commandment 1 & 2 Week 43: Commandment 3 & 4 Week 44: Commandment 5 Week 45: Commandment 6 & 7 Week 46: Commandment 8 Week 47: Commandment 9 Week 48: Commandment 10 Week 49: Psalm 23:1-3 Week 50: Psalm 23:4 Week 51: Psalm 23:5-6 Bonus Week 52: Back to School Party
As you prepare for these lessons, I encourage you to look over the lesson at least 7-10 days before you re going to present it. Put a check mark beside each part of the lesson that you d be most comfortable using and make a list of supplies you might need. If you need the Children s Church coordinator to get anything for you, be sure to contact him or her as early as possible. If you need the secretary to make copies you ll want to be sure to let that person know early also. The first page of each lesson will give you an overview of what you can expect to find in the following pages. I suggest you take the scripture listed on that page and make it a point to read it at least every other day the week of the lesson so you re very familiar with what the Bible says about what you will present. In the lesson itself you ll find a child sized synopsis of the Bible Lesson that you can read word for word or inflect your own personality into. You may even want to read it right from the scripture or a Children s Bible. If you do any reading be sure to make your voice as interesting as possible to keep the kids attention. The crafts, games and illustrations you ll find with each lesson were designed to reinforce the Key Phrase. If you feel the need to change any of these elements just be sure that you can tie them in with the lesson. If you need help tying something in or would like more suggestions, ask other Children s leaders or the Children s church coordinator. Statistics show that most people who don t accept Christ before they graduate from High School never will. This ministry that you are doing is vital to the eternal future of these kids lives. Don t dismiss it as a babysitting hour or a story telling time. We are working together to make true disciples for Jesus Christ so that as they make their way into adult hood they ll have Christ to help them through the truly tough times. If a child comes to you and asks how to be a Christian or how to make Jesus their Savior, here are a few simple steps: 1. Make sure that they understand that God created them and they are special to Him 2. Help them see that no matter how hard we try to be good we can t be good enough all by ourselves. Romans 3:23 3. Be sure they understand that Christ was perfect and only a perfect sacrifice can make us good enough to live with God forever. (Romans 5:8) 4. Tell them that if we believe in Christ s death on the cross for our sins, if we believe that He died and rose again and if we ask God to forgive our sins, we can be saved. (1 John 1:9 Romans 10:9) 5. It s very important we share our new faith with someone. Tell them to make sure they tell the Pastor, their parents or grandparents or their friends. 6. Lead them in a prayer that includes something like this: I believe that you died for my sins. Forgive me for.... Please be my Savior. There are no special words or magic formula, just a sincere heart.
Teach us, Jesus, How to Pray (A Year in The Lord s Prayer and other Bible Basics) Unit 1: Our Father Who Art in Heaven Week 1: A Father Who Wants to Talk To Us Overview of the Lesson Today we ll begin learning the Lord s Prayer. You will have this opportunity to introduce the prayer to the group and for the first time have them repeat it line by line after you, so they can begin to memorize it. In this first unit the children will learn about their Father in heaven. It s our job as adult leaders to help them understand that we are not just repeating words, we are talking to our Dad. The Lord s prayer is a conversation between God and us. Whenever you have an opportunity, reiterate the key phrase, so that every child will go home repeating, God wants to talk to me and He wants me to talk to Him. KEY PHRASE: God is our Father. He likes to talk with us SETTING UP THE LESSON 5-10 Minutes Introduction: It s hard to communicate without words (You can also use the Illustration, Video, Song, Skit, etc. for the set up) PRESENTING THE LESSON Scripture Basis: Luke 11:1-4 (also found in Matthew 6:9-13) MAKING IT REAL TO KIDS TODAY (Pick as many as you have time for) Game: Charades or Win, Lose or Draw Craft: Prayer Boxes Video: Finding Nemo Clip Song: New verse to Jesus Loves Me WRAPPING IT UP SENDING IT HOME Clean Up Time: Prayer Time: 10-15 Minutes 5-10 Minutes 15-20 Minutes 1-5 Minutes 3-5 Minutes 3-5 Minutes 3-5 Minutes
Week 1 Key Phrase: God is our Father. He likes to talk with us SETTING IT UP 5-10 Minutes Introduction: It s hard to communicate without words (You can also or alternately use the Video, Song, Skit, etc. for the set up) As you begin today, don t use any words. Get the kids attention by waving or banging on the table. Make them figure out what you are saying. You might make signs to indicate we aren t going to talk right now. Try getting the children to follow you around in a Follow the Leader type game without talking. Gently drag one child out behind you and indicate they should follow, but no talking. After you walk around a time or two with that child add another until all or most have figured it out. You may need to let ask the other adult to be prepared to act like they have figured it out so they can follow too and demonstrate what to do. After a time or two around the room with all the children motion for everyone to stop and sit back down. Say Whew, we made it! Now we can talk (if they all begin to talk at once you might say, OH Wait a minute, I meant I could talk ). Ask the kids: How difficult was it for you to understand me when I was only motioning? Do you like being quiet and not talking? What does it make you feel like if someone won t talk to you, even by accident? Someone will probably relate to being ignored by a friend or even a parent. It makes us feel terrible. Say: Yes, we feel bad when our friends or family ignore us or are mad at us. How do you think God feels when we go a whole day without even saying a word to Him? (allow for discussion). God wants to communicate with us so badly that He sent Jesus to get to know us and then Jesus told us the best way to talk to His Father. That s what we re going to talk about not only this week, but most of the next year. Your Father up in heaven (God) wants to talk to you. PRESENTING THE STORY Scripture Basis: Luke 11:1-13 (also found in Matthew 6:9-13) You do not have to read this directly from the Bible use the story form below or reword it to fit your personality 10-15 Minutes One day when Jesus and the 12 guys He hung out with all the time were by themselves... Wait a minute, do you know what we call those 12 guys? (Wait for responses) The disciples. Yep. One day when Jesus and his 12 disciples were hanging out by themselves Jesus was praying. When He got done His twelve friends ask Him a question. They said, Jesus, teach us to pray. So Jesus began to teach them a simple prayer that they could use to remind them of the things they need to remember to talk to God about when they pray. Here s the prayer He taught them. Why don t you repeat each line after me? Let s bow our heads and fold our hands. (be sure to pause after each line so the kids can say it helper, lead the kids in the repeat ) Our Father which 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 debts... As we forgive our debtors... Lead us not into temptation... But Deliver us from evil... For Thine is the Kingdom... The power and the glory forever... Amen
Week 1 Key Phrase: God is our Father. He likes to talk with us That was great! Yep, that s the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples. He wanted them to know how important it is to talk to God because just like He is Jesus Father, God was the disciples Father. And you know what? He s our Father, too. God is our Father and He wants us to talk to Him every day. How would you feel if you went to school and your friend didn t talk to you? (allow for response) It makes God sad when we don t talk to Him everyday. Ask some questions about talking to God use these as starters or come up with some of your own: How often do you talk to God? When do you talk to God? What are some things you say to God when you talk to him? Why should we pray? (Because God is our Father and He wants us to talk to Him) Today we re going to make something/play a game to help us remember that God wants to talk to us. MAKING IT REAL TO KIDS TODAY 17-25 Minutes The easiest way to bring a lesson home for kids is giving them a hands-on project or experience. Choose from a game, a video clip and/or a craft for the kids. GAME - Charades or Win, Lose & Draw Prior to your meeting prepare slips of paper with phrases or words that the kids will be familiar with. This can be anything because the point of the game is to discover how difficult it is to communicate without talking. Be sure to have at least one slip for each child. Some examples: Baseball bat School Bus Mickey Mouse Happy Meal Bedtime Tooth Fairy Hot Dogs (be creative come up with as many as you can) Gather the children into a circle or semi-circle. Allow each to have a turn acting out or drawing clues to get the group to guess the phrase or thing that they draw. The child who guesses can be the next artist/actor if that child has already had a turn allow them to choose the next artist/actor. Be sure to emphasize that they aren t allowed to talk or make noises. The Teaching Moment: After everyone has had a turn (or you need to quit because of time) talk to the kids about how hard it was to figure things out or make others understand without talking. Remind them that God is our Father and He wants us to talk to Him because He loves us and wants to know what we re doing. VIDEO CLIP From Finding Nemo This clip is from the beginning of the Movie. Nemo is excited about school and doesn t want to take time to listen to his dad. He s in a hurry to have fun. The clip ends just as Nemo gets taken by the diver. The Teaching Moment: Ask the kids: Do you sometimes get in a hurry and forget to listen to your parents? What happens when you do that? When we learn to pray we ll find out that God wants to talk to us too. What can we do to make sure that we take time to pray everyday and listen to God in case He has something important to tell us.
Week 1 Key Phrase: God is our Father. He likes to talk with us CRAFT Prayer Boxes SUPPLIES: Small boxes Slips of paper (about 2.5 x4 ) Markers Jewels, sequins, ribbons, foam shapes Scissors Glue You may want to put a hole in the top of the box prior to meeting with the children. Give each child a small box and decorating elements. On the top of the box all the children to write their name name s and Prayer Box. Allow them to decorate the box any way they d like. The Teaching Moment: As they decorate ask them what kind of things they say to God when they talk to Him. Help them write these things on the slips of paper and let them put them in the box. Ask each child to have one slip that is a praise to God and another that has the name of someone in this group. Remind them that when we talk to God we need to praise Him and thank Him for our friends as well as pray for them. SONG Jesus Loves Me 3-5 Minutes Use the tune of Jesus Loves Me with these words sing it through a few times so they ll get the words. If you d like signs for the original verse, let Lynne know. Jesus Loves Me when I pray (SIGNS Jesus: Point to the center of each hand, Loves: Cross arms over chest, Me: point to self, Pray: fold hands like praying) He wants to hear me everyday (SIGNS He: point heavenward, Hear: hand near ear, Me: Point to self, Everyday: Put right elbow in left hand with arm straight up then put right hand down into left elbow like the sun is setting) Morning, noon and nighttime, too (SIGNS Morning: Put left hand inside right elbow with arm straight out then lift arm toward body, Noon: Hold right arm straight up on top of left hand, Nighttime: Keep right elbow in left hand and Cup right hand and drop it in front of right wrist Every moment all day through. (SIGNS- Every Moment: Wave both hand from center out, All day through: Start like noon above and then put right hand down into left elbow like the sun is setting) Yes, Jesus Loves Me (3x) (SIGNS Yes: make fist with right hand and then hold it up and nod it up and down (like shaking your head yes), Jesus: Touch the center of your left then right palm, Loves: Cross arms over chest, Me: Point to chest) The Bible Tells me So (SIGNS The Bible: Touch center of palms as for Jesus then make your hands into a book, Tells: index finger or three fingers start at chin and move away Me: Point to chest, So: Make a big sweeping motion with index finger from forehead pointing forward then toward floor)
Week 1 Key Phrase: God is our Father. He likes to talk with us WRAPPING IT UP SENDING IT HOME 5-10 Minutes Cleaning Up We want the children to learn to be responsible, so be sure they help with the clean up, but remind them not to go anywhere, the group is going to talk to God together one more time. Closing Worship and Prayer You can either gather the children in a circle holding hands or allow them to sit down to pray. If you choose to join hands remember that it s OK if some children prefer not to join the circle. Just ask them to be respectful of others as they pray and not make any noise. You can help them get quiet by singing the new verse to Jesus Loves Me found earlier in the lesson (even if you used it before) As you close ask the children if there s anything that they would like you to pray about for them. Remember that no prayer is ever too small, however, children will tend to keep going and be inspired by other prayer requests, so feel free to stop taking requests and tell them they can say anything that didn t get said out loud quietly to God themselves while you re praying. You may close with your own prayer or use the one below for help. End with we pray as Jesus taught us to pray and the Lord s prayer for these first few weeks allow the kids to repeat after you. Encourage the helper to pray with the kids. If you need some guidance for your prayer, you can use this: Father in Heaven (allow kids to repeat after each phrase). I m so glad that you want me to talk to you. Help me to remember to talk to you everyday. Please bless all of these things the kids have asked prayer for today (or you can mention them individually) as we pray the way you taught your disciples to pray: (end with the Lord s Prayer one line at a time). Remind the kids to take their Prayer boxes and share them with their parents.