4 th /5 th Grade Oct 1 Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread Teach Us to Pray Lesson 5 Bible Verse Jesus replied, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. (John 6:35) Teacher Enrichment This lesson is the fifth in the Teach Us to Pray series which emphasizes the practice of prayer using The Lord s Prayer. Each week will examine a stanza of The Lord s Prayer, what it tells us about God and how it directs our prayer life. Today s lesson explores Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread. Note that we have skipped to this stanza because this week is World Communion Sunday. The previous stanzas of The Lord s Prayer emphasized praising God. Today s stanza begins the portion of The Lord s Prayer that petitions God, with this particular line petitioning God for our daily bread. This part of the prayer shows us that it is okay to ask God for the things we need. Looking closely at this line reveals much about petitioning God. When we ask for daily bread we are asking for things we need today, in this moment. We are not supposed to store up lots and lots of stuff, we are supposed to trust that God will provide everything we need every day. When we ask for bread, we are asking for a basic, essential need. This petition of the Lord s Prayer, then, teaches us to come to God in a spirit of humble dependence, asking Him to provide what we need and to sustain us from day to day. We are not given license to ask for great riches, but we are encouraged to make our needs known to Him, trusting that He will provide. Today s lesson provides children with examples from the Bible of God providing for His people s needs: God provided manna to Moses and the Israelites and Jesus fed five thousand people with only a few loaves of bread and a handful of fish. Children will gain an understanding of needs versus wants and how to petition God for their needs when they pray. Teach Us to Pray Lesson 5
Before Class Begins Place the Sign In sheet and a pen where parents can see it upon arrival. Place the Joy & Concern cards, Time & Talent cards and pens where students can see them upon arrival. Check that you have supplies for this lesson: Arrival Activity, The Lord s Prayer Crossword 1 per child Magazines Needs versus Wants poster Sample Restaurant Menus Cardstock 1 per child Place an arrival activity at each place on the table. Do NOT hang up the Needs versus Wants poster; children should not see this until later in the lesson. Welcome SUPPLIES: Sign In sheet, Joy & Concern cards, Time & Talent cards, Attendance chart, stickers, pens, The Lord s Prayer Crossword Greet each child individually as they arrive. Introduce yourself by name. Help children find or add their name on the attendance chart. Provide each child with a sticker to place in today s column on the attendance chart. Encourage children to complete a Joy or Concern card if they have a particular joy or concern they would like to express. Collect completed Joy & Concern cards. Encourage children to complete a Time or Talent offering card if they gave their time to God or used their talents to serve God or others during the previous week. Children should keep their own completed Time and Talent cards. If children bring monetary offering, they should keep it with them. Direct children to complete the The Lord s Prayer Crossword. Encourage conversation among the children and with you! Get to know the children in your classroom by asking about their week including school, activities and families. Introduce new children to each other and encourage friendships. Children s Worship
SUPPLIES: Sign In sheet, Joy & Concern cards, Time & Talent cards Arrive at Ruth Hall at 9:20 or 11:05. Bring the Sign In sheet and completed Joy & Concern cards to Ruth Hall. Hand the Joy & Concern cards to the Children s Worship leader as you arrive. Have children bring their completed Time & Talent cards and any monetary offering. If additional children arrive while in Ruth Hall, have parents complete the Sign In sheet and remind parents that pickup is in Room 110. Encourage children to participate in Children s Worship and provide re-direction if necessary. Assist the Children s Worship leader as needed. At the conclusion of Children s Worship, have children line up and return to Room 110. The Lesson SUPPLIES: Needs vs Wants Poster, magazines, cardstock, sample menus, markers, scissors, glue stick Note: Do not hang up the Needs versus Wants poster until noted in the lesson; children should not see it until the appropriate time. SAY: Today we talked about God giving us our daily bread. We can pray to God to ask for things asking God for something is called a petition. We are going to take some time today to find pictures of things for which we want to petition God, or ask God. Provide magazines for the entire class to share. Instruct children to look through the magazines and cut out pictures of things they want to ask God for. Do not make a distinction between them cutting out needs versus wants; let the children cut out anything they want without any direction from you. Allow 5 minutes for children to make choices. After the time is up, hang up the Needs versus Wants poster. SAY: Let s take a look at the things you have cut out. I have a poster here that has a Needs column and a Wants column. Let s look at each item and determine which column it should go in.
Show each cut out picture to the class and have the children determine as a group if it should go in the Needs column or the Wants column. Glue the pictures in the appropriate columns. After all items have been glued, ask the children if there is anything else they want to add to the Needs column. Examples are food, shelter, clothing, friends, medicine, doctors, money, a bed to sleep in, family, love. Write the word in the Needs column for anything they choose to add. SAY: We have a lot of things in our Needs column! There are many things in our life that we depend on God to provide for us. When we pray, we can ask God to make sure we have enough (fill in with items from the Needs column food, clothing, shelter, friends, etc.). We should also pray that everyone has the things they need. We may have enough food, but not everyone does. We may have enough friends, but not everyone does. We should pray for our needs and for other people s needs. ASK: But what about the Wants column? If something is in the Wants column does that mean we cannot pray for that thing? SAY: No, we can still pray for things that we want, but God does not always give us those. It may not be the right time in our life to have those things. When we pray, we should focus on asking God for the things we need. ASK: We ve added a lot of things to our Needs column, but can you think of any qualities that might go in this column? An example might be patience. If we are dealing with an uncertain situation or a difficult person, we might pray to God to ask for patience. Can you think of any other qualities you need? Use a sharpie to write any qualities the children think of (including Patience). Examples include Kindness, Peace, Self-Control, Courage, and Generosity. SAY: I think we ve filled up our Needs column with lots of great ideas. Now we are going to make a Needs Prayer Menu that you can take home to use when you pray. I ve brought some sample menus from restaurants. You can see that they list all the menu items, some with descriptions, some with prices. Some menus put the items in categories. Take a look at these menus and then create your own Needs Prayer Menu using the ideas from our Needs column. Feel free to add your own ideas that may not be up here. (You can even create a little Wants section kind of like the dessert section )
Place the sample restaurant menus on the table so children can look at them for inspiration. Provide each child with a piece of cardstock. Encourage children to write Needs Prayer Menu somewhere on their menu. It can be incorporated in a creative way (name of their restaurant, title inside, a catch phrase for their restaurant, etc.). While children are creating their Needs Prayer Menu, ask them about the items they are including on their menu. Closing Lead the children in a closing prayer. You may say your own prayer, ask one of the children to say a prayer or use the one below. God, Please give us the things we need every day. Help other people to have the things they need. Thank you for being generous. Amen If time remains before parents arrive, encourage children to return to their The Lord s Prayer Crossword if they did not complete it. Also encourage conversation between children and with you. This is another opportunity to build relationships with the children in your classroom!