K/1 st Grade Oct 1 Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread 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.
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, Give Us This Day coloring page 1 per child Needs basket, Wants basket Needs/Wants Cards Brown paper bags 1 per child Needs Prayer Bag coloring sheet Place an arrival activity at each place on the table. Welcome SUPPLIES: Sign In sheet, Joy & Concern cards, Time & Talent cards, Attendance chart, stickers, pens, Give Us This Day Coloring Page, crayons 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 color the Give Us This Day Coloring Page. 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 107. 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 107. The Lesson SUPPLIES: Needs basket, Wants basket, Needs/Wants cards, Brown paper bags, Needs Prayer Bag coloring sheet, scissors, crayons, glue sticks Gather all the children in a circle on the carpet. As you are able, sit on the floor with them or use a chair as part of the circle. Set up two baskets, one labeled Wants, one labeled Needs. SAY: Today we talked about God giving us our daily bread. We can pray to God to ask for the things we need every day. We read from the Bible about Moses and the Israelites. Moses helped the Israelites escape from Egypt, but now they were in the desert trying to find a new place to live. It was taking a long time! They were tired and they were hungry. ASK: How did God make sure they had what they needed? (God sent manna from heaven; manna is a type of bread) What happened if the Israelites gathered more bread than they needed for that day? (It spoiled overnight) SAY: God gave the Israelites the food they needed for each day, but He did not give them extra. If they gathered more manna than they needed for that day, it spoiled overnight. God gave the Israelites what they needed. They may have wanted more, but they did not need more.
SAY: We are going to play a game to help us understand the difference between things we need and things we want. When we pray, we should be asking God for the things we need. We should be asking Him to give us our daily bread. Hold up the Needs/Wants cards one at a time. Have the children decide if it s a Need or a Want. Turn the card over to reveal the correct answer. Let children take turns placing the cards in the correct basket. SAY: We have a lot of things in our Needs basket! 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 basket food, clothing, shelter, friends, etc.). ASK: But what about the Wants basket? If something is in the Wants basket 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. 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. SAY: We are going to make a Needs Prayer Bag that you can take home to help you remember your needs. You can use this bag to help you when you pray! Have the children move from the carpet to seats at the tables. Give each child a brown paper bag and a Needs Prayer Bag coloring sheet. Have children color the items on the Needs Prayer Bag coloring sheet, cut them out and place them inside their Needs Prayer Bag. Have children cut out the My Needs Prayer Bag words and glue them onto the outside of the brown paper bag. Have children decorate the outside of their brown paper bag. As children complete their Needs Prayer Bags, encourage them to return to their Give Us This Day coloring page if they did not complete it.
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 helping us. Amen If time remains before parents arrive, encourage children to return to their Give Us This Day coloring page 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!
Needs/Wants Cards Food Toys House Vacation Friends ipad Money Candy Clothes Bed Love Doctor
Needs Prayer Bag Coloring Sheet Teach Us to Pray Lesson 4 My Needs Prayer Bag