anytime Unit 3 lesson 4 Big Idea: Anytime is a good time to pray Key verse: 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Never stop praying. Thoughts for leaders When we first started praying, most of us probably learned around the dinner table, or perhaps before bed. For some of us, we only prayed when we were in church or a kids club. The reason this lesson is so important is because it takes prayer beyond the once a day/once a week routine, and reminds kids that prayer is for every day and every situation. God listens to them in their best of times and in their worst of times. If we can help children understand that God is real beyond our walls, then we re starting to make disciples! All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Reader s Version, NIrV Copyright 1995, 1996, 1998 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIrV and New International Reader s Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc. 1
Supplies list: Attention Grabber Desk with phone and keyboard. Secretary costume `Waiting Room`with magazines. Memory Verse Printout of Memory Verse 3.4, cut apart (pg 9-10) 2
Prep Secretary sitting at a desk with a phone and a computer. Joe (to audience). I m hear with a list of things I want to talk to God about. I heard this is the place to go, so I m hoping He ll have time for me. (approaches secretary) Joe Umm, excuse me I have a few things I d like to talk with God about; I m wondering is He here? Secretary One moment. Types furiously. No, he ll be here shortly. Joe Oh. Okay. Secretary Just have a seat and I ll call you when he comes in. Joe Great. Thanks. Joe sits. Moves restlessly. Talks to the audience. Joe You know, it s kind of a big deal to talk to God. I get that He s really busy, what with so many billion people on earth all trying to get a hold of Him at once. I really hope He has time for me. Secretary He s in now. Joe jumps up. Great! Can I see Him? Secretary One moment. Picks up phone Sir? There s someone here for you. Listens. Looks at Joe. Your name? Joe Uh Joe. Joe Velasquez. Secretary He says his name is Joe. Uh huh. Looks at Joe. Do you have an appointment? Joe Uh, no. I was hoping He d have time to see me, though. 3
Attention Grabber continued Secretary (on phone) No, sir, he says he does not. Pause. Alright. I ll let him know. To Joe. He says he s a little busy right now, but if you don t mind waiting he ll see if he can squeeze you in. Joe That s great. That s really great! Sure, I ll wait. Stays standing. Secretary You can sit down, you know. Joe Oh, right. Laughs nervously. Secretary returns to typing, Joe picks up magazines, puts them down, paces a bit, addresses audience. Joe I wonder if I should have made an appointment. How do you do that? Is there a number to call? I just really, really want to talk to God! It s kind of important. Oh, I hope He has time for me. Approaches secretary. Joe Excuse me, but I was wondering if you knew how long I might be here waiting. Secretary Let s see. Types. It says here that he has a nine am meeting with the President, a nine-thirty with the national security council, and has a golf game at 10 There s a conference call with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie at 12:30 and he has to be at a grand opening at 1:00 ummm keeps typing. Joe It s just, it s kind of important. Well, not like to national security or anything, so don t cancel the president! But I just really need to see Him today. Secretary keeps typing.. Sure, sure let s see Well, I have a ten minute opening Joe Great! I ll take it! Secretary - four months from now Joe groans. I didn t realize this would be so hard! I mean, I knew He d be busy and all, but I thought He loved me Secretary looks at Joe strangely. Loves you? Are you related or something? Joe Well, no, not yet, but I want to be I heard He does adoptions and stuff 4
Attention Grabber continued Secretary Are you sure we re talking about the same guy? I ve never heard of Him adopting anyone! Joe Well, yeah. I m here to see God, right? You know, like the Bible God? Secretary OH! I thought you said you were here to see Bob! Well, why didn t you say so! You don t need an appointment to see God! He never closes his door. He doesn t even have a secretary! Just go on in I m sure He d be pleased to see you! And tell him I said hi! Joe Oh right you mean, right now? Secretary Of course! What are you waiting for? He loves to have His children drop in! Joe Uh, I m not exactly His child ummm Secretary No matter just head on in there. He ll be really excited to talk to you. Trust me. Joe Well, maybe I could make an appointment for another day? Secretary Appointment? Nah. God doesn t do appointments. He just says to come in. Joe Actually, I m not really dressed right. Secretary He won t care. Joe And I forgot to bring my stuff. Secretary He usually tells us not to bring anything anyway. Joe And I m kind of dirty. Secretary Won t bother Him. He s good at cleaning people up. Joe Maybe I ll just come back later. Secretary Oh I get it. This is your first time? 5
Attention Grabber continued Joe Kinda yeah. Secretary Here. I ll walk you to the door. It s always a bit weird the first time, but God is just fantastic, and He s really crazy about you. You ll love Him, I promise. Here, let s go. Walk off stage together. 6
We have learned so much about prayer! We have learned we can go to God with confidence, the different ways we can talk to God and some different ways we can listen to God! Today we want to learn about when we can pray and the answer is easy: anytime! In fact the Bible says to never stop praying. Can you imagine? How could we possibly pray so often that we never actually stopped? The Bible is trying to tell us something super important: that anytime is a good time to pray. Don t give up, and don t quit. You don t need to close your eyes when you pray, so you can even pray when you re walking or riding your bike. You don t need to pray out loud, so you can pray when you re in school or hanging out with friends. You don t need to pray for a super long time, so you can pray quickly before you say something or do something. You can pray in good times, in hard times, in scary times, in exciting times, in times when you feel stuck, in times when you wish you could stop, in times when you hope for something and in times when you dread something. There is always, ALWAYS, something to talk to God about, and God wants to hear it all! The idea of never stop praying is a way of living that keeps us close to God. It doesn t mean we are mumbling under our breath all day; it means whatever comes up in our day we remember to talk to God about it. When we get a good mark in school, we praise God. When a bully tries to get the best of us, we ask God for help. When we get locked out of our house, we talk to God about it. When your sister is really bugging you, you tell God. Never stop praying means no matter what happens in your day, you talk to God about it. Sometimes it will be tiny little prayers throughout the day, just saying Help me! or Thank you or Please? The great thing is, God already knows what we re thinking about, so we don t have to pray super long for anything. Sometimes the prayers will be longer, or something we write down or draw, or even dance to God. Sometimes the prayers will be out loud, but probably most often they will just be silent, sending our thoughts to God. He hears them! There are times, though, when you want to talk to God but you just can t figure out the words. God says even in those times, He helps us pray. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit sometimes even groans to God for our sake when words aren t enough. It even says that Jesus prays for us. It s really great to know that God never sleeps, goes away on vacation, or is too busy to listen. He loves to hear from his children anytime and anywhere. That s why He could tell us to never stop praying because He never stops listening! 7
Leader: We learned today that anytime to pray is a good time. Let s think of as many different times that we might think to pray as we can. Mealtimes, when I m scared, when I wake up, before bed, at church, walking to school, when I m home alone, when I m angry at my sibling, when I m feeling thankful, etc. Leader: When is it hard to pray? When is it easy? Leader: We are going to try one kind of prayer that I call popcorn prayers. These prayers are super short only a few words and we pop them out loud from different people. So, for example, I might say Thank you, God, for our group. And then someone else might shout out Please help my grandma feel better. Then someone else might shout out You rock, God! and so on. We are each going to think of one or two short popcorn prayers and then, when we re ready, we will pray them like popcorn one person at a time, going as quickly as we can! Ready? Let s think of the popcorn prayers we want to pray. For older groups, or groups comfortable with praying, there will not be a need to help them prep. Many groups, especially those uncomfortable with praying, will want to have thought out, rehearsed or written out a prayer ahead of time so they feel confident praying. Popcorn Prayers takes the pressure off the prayers being long or flowery, and helps everybody participate. Leader: Alright, let s pray our popcorn prayers! Pray together Leader: You know, popcorn prayers are fun to do as a group, but the other thing they are good for is to remind us that prayers don t have to be long. When you re scared, you can pray a popcorn prayer silently, saying Help me be brave! When you re alone, you can pray a popcorn prayer like Thank you that You are with me. Our prayers can be super short, and can be at any time of the day, and God ALWAYS hears us! End with prayer journals. Thank God that we can pray any time and that He always hears our prayers! 8
Printout of Memory Verse 3.4, cut apart Monthly verse: 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Never stop praying. Use the flashcards to learn the verse. Once the group feels comfortable, shuffle the cards together and try to put the verse in order. Do this several times. Then, try saying the verse with only half the cards. Once that is easy, try it again with no prompts at all! 9
Memory Verse 3.4 10
Never Stop Praying 1 Thessalonians 5:17 11