Prayer Jeremiah 29:11-13; James 5:13-16

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1 Fall 2015 ~ Primary Lesson #7 Prayer Jeremiah 29:11-13; James 5:13-16 Learning Objectives 1. The children will discuss prayer, why it is important, when we can pray, and what we can pray for each day. 2. The children will discover what it means to prepare their hearts for the Service for the Departed. Memory Verse: "You may ask me for anything in my name. I will do it." --John 14: 14 (NIRV) Getting Started (Choose One Activity) What s My Purpose Activity Sheet See: grade school lessons Life Applications Prayer #3 The Purpose of Prayer Look under as kids arrive As the children arrive give them a copy of the handout. The hand out has pictures of several different things. Below each item is space for them to write what they think the purpose of the item is. Have the children share the answers they came up with for prayer (the praying hands). List these on the board. Then tell the children that today we will learn more about prayer. Please see the above website for further directions. Object Talk See: grade school lessons Life Applications Prayer #1 Why Pray Look under as kids arrive You will need the following items to display on the table: Telephone, Newspaper, Letters & Envelopes, a Road Map, and a radio. The children will be looking for what the object have in common. Please see the above website for detailed instructions. Just before class starts let the kids know that all the things displayed on the table are used to communicate with each other. Today our lesson is about another way we communicate. How we communicate with God. Telephone Game Have the children sit in a circle, or around the table. Start with one child and whisper one of the phrases shown below into his or her ear. Have that child whisper the same phrase into the ear of the child to his or her left, and continue around the circle until the last child is told the phrase. Then have the last child say what they heard out loud, and see how close it was to the original phrase. As children leave, simply make the circle smaller. Phrases: God will always hear our prayers. It makes Jesus very happy when we pray. If we ask anything in Jesus' name, He will do it. We can pray anytime, morning, noon, or night. Compare this game to how when we pray, God hears exactly what we mean to say, even when we don't say it exactly the way we want. 1

2 Getting Started - Continued (Choose One Activity) God Can Hear Me Activity See: preschool object talks God Can Hear Me You will need 2 cans or paper cups, a small nail and hammer, and a long piece of string for this activity. Before class use the small nail and hammer to punch a hole in the bottom of each can or paper cup. The hole should be in the center. Push the string through the hole in the first can and tie a knot at the end of the string so that it cannot pull through the hole in the can. Repeat this process for the second can. Please see the above website for further detailed instructions. Prayer is the most powerful form of communication we have. When we pray, we talk directly to God. Prayer is the perfect way to communicate with God. Prayer will never change. It is the same today as it was hundreds or thousands of years ago. We can talk to God anytime or any place by simply praying to Him. Let s learn more about prayer in our lesson today. Bible Lesson with Discussion Questions Message: Talk to God. He will listen. (Teacher Note: If possible, look up the Bible verses together in class and then go over the discussion questions.) Jeremiah 29:11-13 "I know the plans I have for you," announces the Lord. "I want you to enjoy success. I do not plan to harm you. I will give you hope for the years to come. Then you will call out to Me. You will come and pray to Me. And I will listen to you. When you look for Me with all your heart, you will find Me. Discussion Questions: 1. What is another name for talking to God? (Prayer) 2. How should we pray to God? (With our whole heart) 3. Does God listen when we talk to Him in prayer? (Yes) 4. What kind of future does God want us to have? (God wants us to have a happy and successful future and wants us to prosper) 5. Does God like it when we pray to Him? (Yes, it pleases God when we talk to Him) James 5:13-16 ~ The Prayer of Faith Are any of you in trouble? Then you should pray. Are any of you happy? Then sing songs of praise. Are any of you sick? Then send for the elders of the church to pray over you. Ask them to anoint you with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer offered by those who have faith will make you well. The Lord will heal you. If you have sinned, you will be forgiven. So admit to one another that you have sinned. Pray for one another so that you might be healed. The prayer of a godly person is powerful. It makes things happen. Discussion Questions: 1. What is prayer? (Prayer is how we can talk to God.) 2. Can you pray when you are in trouble? (Absolutely!) 3. Can you pray when you are happy? (Yes!) 4. What is another name for happy prayers? (Praises.) 2

3 Bible Lesson with Discussion Questions - Continued 5. What are some of the examples of why to pray mentioned in James 5:13-16? (When you are in trouble, when you are happy, when you are sick, to show faith, for confession of sin, and to pray for others) 6. What else can we pray for? (Discuss together, make a list on the board if possible.) 7. Is the prayer of a righteous man powerful? Is it effective? (Discuss with the children what this means.) 8. How do you feel about praying? Do you think it is important? Why or why not? (Discuss together.) Additional Discussion Questions: Teacher Note: Make a chart or poster as you go through these questions. Put Service for the Departed at the top. Have a calendar or 12 squares with the months written on them. As the children identify what months of the year we have this special service, have them come up and color in that square with a marker. 1. What is the Service for the Departed? (a special day when we remember souls who have died/passed on, and we pray for them) 2. How many Services for the Departed are there each year? (3) 3. What months do the Services for the Departed take place in? (The first weekend of: March, July, and November) 4. What can we do to help those souls? (pray for them) 5. When should we pray for these souls? (each time we pray, but especially as we approach an upcoming special Service for the Departed) 6. Why is it necessary for us to remember to pray for those who have died or passed on? (So that we can invite them to God s altar, they depend on us for help, etc.) 7. Does everyone die or pass on someday? (No not everyone, because one day the Lord will return and if we have proven ourselves through our good works, by the grace of God we will go with the Lord Jesus to the place that God has prepared for us.) 8. What does it mean to prepare our hearts for the Service for the Departed? How do we accomplish this? (Answers may vary; we want to have a peaceful heart and do our very best to stay away from the things that might cause our heart to be anything but peaceful. This includes what we watch/see, what we listen to, how we behave at home, etc.) Application to Real Life Bring in a snack of Rice Krispy treats. As the children eat their snacks, ask them what other foods or snacks make noise when you eat them. (Apples, potato chips, raw carrots, etc.) What foods make hardly any noise? (Jell-O, pudding, cheese, etc.) Sometimes adults think that children's voices seem tiny and childish, like the silly sounds made by some foods, but to God the words spoken by children, especially in prayer are very important. God hears and answers those prayers the same as He does for grownups. If we remember to talk to God, He will listen (message). Remind the children of the memory verse: "You may ask me for anything in my name. I will do it." (John 14: 14 NIRV). We need to remember this week to ask God to help the souls that need His help. Then He will do just that. 3

4 Memory Work Fun 5 minutes 1. Name the two main parts of the Bible and tell what the difference is. (Old Testament before Jesus, New Testament Jesus & After Jesus) 2. Where is the book of Matthew located? In the Old or New Testament? Practice finding it together. 3. Review the Lord s Prayer together. 4. Recite the memory verse. 5. Lead the class in a short prayer about our Love for God and thanking Him for forgiving us for our sins. Ask Him to help us do better next time. Activity Ideas Prayer Chain Make a prayer chain of people to remember for the Service for the Departed. Make a chain with strips of colored paper. On each strip, have the students write down someone they can pray for. Add it to the chain. They can take their chain home and add to it (even with their family) and save it for the next service, or make into a class chain to hang in the Sunday school area. Remember that sometimes children don t know a lot of people who have died/passed on. Talk about groups of people that could be remembered for example the children who die/pass on each day in Africa from diseases and sicknesses related to poverty. Life Preserver Make a life preserver out of a paper plate, but do not cut out the center. In the center, write the memory verse, and on the back, list souls they can pray for in the Service for the Departed. Remind the children that our prayers can help someone just like the preserver can help someone when they cannot swim on their own. Robot Prayer See: grade school activities Robot Prayer Review with students about prayer and how our prayers need to come from our hearts, and be specific. The teacher will pretend to be a robot, and the students will give them directions to make a peanut butter sandwich. You will try this for a while, and then discuss what happened. Then have the students give you step by step directions to make the sandwhich. Our prayers are the same, they have to be specific and from the heart, thinking about what we pray and how we say it. Please see the above website for detailed instructions. Journal Reflection Questions - List some people or groups of people that you can pray for with the upcoming Service for Departed. - What are some things I can try to do better when I pray to God? (More praise, less asking for things, more prayers for others, less automatic and more from the heart, etc.) Write about it. 4

5 Homework Ideas - Read at home with a grownup the lesson titled: Thanksgiving (Matthew 6:25-34; 1 Timothy 6:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:18). - Learn the memory verse: Give thanks no matter what happens. --1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NIRV) - Work on memorizing commandment #. - (Optional for 6-8 year olds) Color the Thanksgiving coloring sheet as your parents read you the Sunday School Lesson. Return your coloring page for a sticker. - So, what are you thankful for? Make a list or draw a collage of all the things you are thankful to God for in your heart. Try to think of 20 things, and not just all big things either. Other Resources Resource Room Search prayer. 5