Elementary Lesson 10: Jesus Teaches His Disciples To Pray March 5/6

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1 Elementary Lesson 10: Jesus Teaches His Disciples To Pray March 5/6 Bible Point: We Can Pray to God Key Verse: This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. (Matthew 6:9-13) Pre Activity 10 min ICEBREAKER: First 5 Min: Welcome children to the classroom as they arrive. Ask the children about what they remember from last week s lesson. Tithing Small Group Icebreaker- Fun Question of the Day: What are you looking forward to doing outside once the weather warms up? (each child will give an answer, then the group decides on the most creative; they will then share their group answer at the beginning of large group lesson time: may the group with the most creative answer win!) *Take kids to 203 for worship and the lesson at ten after. Worship 15 min WORSHIP: Lesson Leader (LL): Welcome children and state the lesson name and bible point. Open in prayer. Begin worship by getting kids excited! Tithing Buckets Live It Out CD Laptop Worship: 1. We Shine 2. Live It Out When songs are completed, have the kids sit in a big circle. (teachers joining the circle; preferably sitting near those that are more quick to distract) Lesson min LARGE GROUP LESSON: LL: Before we begin our lesson today, let s let each small group share their best answer for the fun question of the day! What are you looking forward to doing outside once the weather warms up? PRAYER open in prayer Key verse This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven,

2 hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. (Matthew 6:9-13) Bible Bible Story In today s lesson we are going to learn about how Jesus taught his disciples to pray. Read Matthew 6:5-13 This passage begins with Jesus reminding his followers how not to pray. The religious leaders of that time were accustomed to praying loudly on the street corners so that the people would see them as holy and religious. Jesus knew that their prayers were not sincere appeals to God but rather were attempts to build themselves up in the eyes of the people. And there were pagans who babbled their prayers. Instead of praying in these manners, Jesus says, prayer is to be between the individual and God sincere communication that is a direct result of one s relationship with him. You can split into smaller groups later for discussion or stay together as a big group. Does anyone know what a HYPOCRITE is? Back when Jesus lived on the earth, there was a group of people called hypocrites. A hypocrite is somebody who says one thing but then does something completely opposite. The hypocrites in Jesus time said that they did everything for God and didn t want anything for themselves. But that wasn t true. What they really wanted was for people to think they were very religious. When the hypocrites prayed, they wanted to get lots of attention. They prayed on the street corners and prayed very loudly. We are going to play a little game called Howling Hypocrites and Pathetic Pagans. Our Howling Hypocrites are going to show us what it might have been like when the hypocrites in the Bible prayed. Choose a howling hypocrite in each group and explain to him/her that when you say go, they are to stand up on their chair and start yelling, with their hands cupped around their mouths, as many things about themselves as they can think of. For example, have them yell

3 out how many brothers and sisters they have, what their names are, what sports they like to play, what their favorite foods are, and what their favorite colors are. Then explain to the Pitiful Pagans (the rest fo the kids) that they have 10 seconds to learn at least 3 things about the Howling Hypocrites. Give the starting signal. After 10 seconds, have children stop yelling and sit down in their chairs. Ask the Pitiful Pagans the following questions: What are three things you learned about some of the Howling Hypocrites? What was it like listening to them shout things about themselves? Ask the Howling Hypocrites these questions: What was it like shouting out things about yourselves? What do you think other people were thinking about you? Do you think if we shouted our prayers to God, it would help him hear us better? Why or why not? (No, we don t even have to say them out loud; no, it just makes other people hear us. ) Jesus didn t like the way hypocrites prayed because they stood on street corners and yelled so that everyone could hear them. They were more concerned about what others thought of them than what God thought of them. There was another group of people in Jesus time called pagans. The pagans didn t worship the Lord God. Instead, they worshipped many false gods. The disciples wondered if they should babble their prayers to God like the pagans did. Let s have the Pitiful Pagans show us what the pagans in the Bible might have sounded like when they prayed. Quietly explain to the Pitiful Pagans that when you ask them a question they can only answer by saying, Blah, blah, blah, over and over. Explain to the Howling Hypocrites that they need to be listening for three things the pagans tell about themselves. Have the Pitiful Pagans stand up on the chairs.

4 Pitiful Pagans, what are your favorite colors? Signal for pagans to begin babbling Blah, blah, blah, all at the same time. Allow them to babble for about five seconds; then ask similar questions regarding favorite sports, movies, foods, and subjects in school. Gather the children, and ask the following questions: - What did you learn from any of the Pitiful Pagans? - How did you feel when you heard a bunch of nonsense babbling? - Do you think if we repeat certain words over and over to God he would hear us better or answer us faster? - How do you think God would feel if we babbled our prayers this way? Jesus told his disciples not to act like the pagans who thought they would be heard by using many words. He told us that God wants us to talk to him plain and clear, unlike the muddled prayers of the pagans. Jesus told his disciples to go into a room and close the door to pray, so no one would see them except God-not like the hypocrites who wanted others to see them. We can pray to God, just like the disciples learned to pray. Write the Lord s Prayer on the board and point to the different points as you explain the prayer. Jesus taught his disciples how to pray. The Lord s prayer is a pattern by which we can follow. There are two parts the adoration and the petition. Now those are big words. Does anyone know what adoration means? (love, respect, worship) In the Lord s prayer the beginning expresses praise and love for God, or adoration. In more modern terms the prayer could mean something like: Daddy in heaven, holy is your name. We can have a close relationship with God just like our daddy s here on earth. So these first lines of the prayer are simply thanking and praising God for who He is! Does anyone know what petition means? (make a request, a solemn or humble appeal) Next we seek, or petition, not for what we want but for what God wants for

5 us. Your kingdom come, Your will be done shows that we want what God wants, not what we want, to be what happens. Only after we praise Him and ask for God s will, can we then turn to asking God to fulfill our personal needs. As we learn to pray the way Jesus taught his disciples to pray, keep in mind that Jesus insisted on putting God first. If God isn t first in our lives, as well as in our prayers, God will not be honored, no matter how eloquently we pray. (Optional, if you have more time) Let s practice! As a group we are going to write out a prayer to God based on the Lord s prayer! Walk through writing, in their own words, a prayer to God based off the Lord s prayer. Have them take the concepts of the lines as you just described and write their own words. Write it on the board as you decide on each line. Small Groups 10 minutes SMALL GROUPS: ALL SMALL GROUPS: Key Verse Let s all read the key verse together again Key Verse This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. (Matthew 6:9-13) The Lord s prayer coloring page 1 for each child Let s talk about where/how can we find quiet time for prayer next week. Mention that next week, we can share how did it went. Encourage children to color the Lord s prayer coloring page and use it for when praying next week. PRAYER JOURNAL Each child will take one piece of construction paper (avoid ones that are too dark to write on black, brown, etc.), instruct them to fold it in half Construction paper, markers, crayons

6 They should write GOD YOU ARE on top of one of the pages, and PRAYER REQUESTS on another page. They can decorate the pages, but should leave empty room, so that they can write God s attributes and prayer requests during the week. Make sure they understand! Prayer close in prayer Today is a great day to really focus in on this closing prayer time! From here on out this prayer time should be intentional and clear. Take prayer requests from the children, use some of the ones from the prayer journal. Write them down and then repeat them in summary to the group before you pray. Pray as a group for one another (popcorn prayer, or in order around the circle, or have 2 volunteers- 1 opens and 1 closes)