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Praying For Our Needs

Unit 7 / Lesson 4

Praying For Our Needs

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Teacher's Prep

  • Games

    • Bottle Flip Relay

      • Provide one disposable water bottle for each group of five.

      • Partially empty each bottle before class so they are 1/4 full of water

      • If you are unfamiliar with the concept of a bottle flip, you can see the first several seconds of this video:

    • Traffic Yam

      • Get a bag of large marshmallows -- enough for each child to have two (one to put on the floor, and one to eat as a prize).

      • This game is based off of a Minute To Win It game called Traffic Yam. Normally, it is a relay race between two teams, where teams need to move a yam across the floor of the room using only their noses. In this version, we have replaced the yam with marshmallows.

      • Alternatively, you can have them move a gummy bear across a table.

      • For reference, watch this video:

    • The Floor is Lava

      • Materials:

        • Foam floor tiles – about four tiles per team of 5-10. For an idea of how these mats look, you can search Google for “foam floor tiles.”

  • Paper Stars In A Jar (Main Activity)

    • Watch this instructional YouTube video

    • Materials:

      • Numerous strips of colored paper for paper stars (about 30 per child)

      • Each strip should be about 11 inches long (the length of a sheet of paper) and between 1/4 and 1/2 inch wide.

      • A little clear glass or plastic container to put paper stars, approximately the size of a film canister.

      • A paper cutter, if one is accessible to you, or scissors

    • Make a star yourself for a demonstration.

      • The trick is to get the strip of paper narrow enough so that the paper can orbit around the center of the star several times.

      • Then, make a knot out of the paper at one end. The knot will result in a pentagon shape when flattened. Then you can wrap the rest of the strip of paper around the pentagon.

      • When you have wrapped the strip of paper around the center of the pentagon several times, you can tuck the strip of paper into one of the folds.

      • Then, you can use your fingernails to shape the pentagon into a star, as shown in the video.

      • Finally, you can put your completed star into a little jar.



    Intro

    SLIDE 1

  • Gathering

    • How was your week?

    SLIDE 2 

  • Intro Game: Bottle Flip Relay

    • Instructions

      • We're going to do a bottle flip so that our water bottle lands the right way. Run to the far wall, flip the bottle and when it lands right side up, then come back and tag the next person on your team, and then they can do a bottle flip. Sit down when you are done. First team to have everyone sitting down wins.

      • Teacher: demonstrate the process of the relay

    • Debrief

      • It's tricky doing bottle flips, isn't it? Most people just throw the bottle in the air, and they hope it lands right. But, there are people who practice bottle flipping all the time, and they can get it to land the right way almost every time. There's a video on YouTube of a guy who landed a bottle flip 2,500 times in a row!

      • We played this game because it helps us to start thinking about our Bible lesson.

      • For the past few weeks we've been talking about prayer. Sometimes prayer can feel like a bottle flip. People can throw a prayer to God, and sometimes God gives them what they want, but most of the time God doesn't, and they don't know why.

    SLIDE 3

  • Relevance

    • But, there’s a better way to pray. The Bible tells us that the prayer of a godly person is powerful and effective. The Bible teaches us a prayer that God ALWAYS answers. So, for the past couple of weeks we've been learning about a very famous prayer called the Lord's prayer. It's an important prayer because God always answers this prayer.

    • So, if you really know how to pray, you will see God answering your prayers, and you'll be better at working with God and being friends with Him.

    SLIDE  4

  • Big Question

    • Our big question today is: how can we pray well?

  • Big Idea

    • Today we will learn two big ideas for how to pray well.

      • CLICK 1. We should TRY to fit into God's plan, and

      • CLICK 2. We should ASK to fit into God's plan.

    SLIDE  5

  • Bible Reference

    • We will see these big ideas in a tiny little verse in the middle of a prayer that Jesus taught us.

    • Can someone read it for us?

    • Matthew 6:11 (CEV).

      • Give us our food for today.


    Point 1

  • Our first point is, we should TRY to fit into God's plan.

    SLIDE 6

    • Game: Traffic Yam

      • Instructions

        • Let's start this point with a game!

        • It’s called Traffic Yam, because sometimes it’s played with yams. It's a relay race, so we will have two teams. Everyone on your team will take a turn moving a marshmallow across the floor of the room with just their nose! When it's your turn, you'll start out by touching the wall, and then you'll roll the marshmallow to the other side of the room, touch that wall while your nose is still on the marshmallow, then roll the marshmallow back with your nose and touch the wall where you came from. Then the next person on your team will go. If you finish, you get a new marshmallow to eat for all of your effort.

        • Teacher: demonstrate how to play, at least at key parts of the relay (how to begin, how to roll, how to touch the far wall while your nose is on the marshmallow, and how to end one's turn at the near wall).

    SLIDE 7

  • Debrief

    • We played this game because it makes us really focus on just one thing. When our nose is right up against the marshmallow, we can't see a whole lot. So, we just need to remember that there's a big picture. We're pushing the marshmallow with our nose because we're in a race, we're part of a team, this game is part of a lesson, and we're trying to learn the Bible so we can work with God and be happy with Him.

    • CLICK There’s always a big picture to think about.

    SLIDE 8

    • That's what it's like when we pray. Normally when people pray, they just want to tell God what they need, but we’ll be much better at praying if we know how our needs fit into God's plan.

    SLIDE  9

  • Bible Reference

    • Jesus gave us the big picture. Let's watch a cartoon of Jesus teaching people how to pray:

    • Teacher: play this YouTube video:

    • Now let's read our main verse again.

    • Matthew 6:11 (CEV).

      • Give us our food for today.

  • Explanation 

    • Jesus taught His followers to pray for their food because back then, most people were really poor and worried about not having enough food to eat.

    • It made a lot of sense for them to ask God for food. But Jesus didn't want them to start their prayer by talking about food, and He didn't want them to end their prayer by talking about food. He wanted His followers to think about bigger things,

    SLIDE 10

    • like bringing honor to God and helping people to know and follow Him. He wanted them to think about the ways that they had broken their relationship with God, and how they had to fight against evil and Satan. That way, they wouldn't just be trying to stay alive, they would remember they were part of something much bigger.

  • Application

    • That's what it's like with us, too. We all have ideas for how God can help us, but we need to remember that we're part of something bigger. It helps to pray for all the other things in the Lord's prayer. We should pray that we would bring honor to God, and that we would help people know Him. We should pray that God would save us from everything that is wrong and evil.

    • When we pray these things we’ll remember God’s plan for us, and we’ll have a better idea of what to pray for.

    SLIDE 11

  • Discussion Question

    • Let’s pause for a couple of discussion questions:

      • What is your best idea for helping people?

      • What is one thing God can do for you, so that you can be better at helping people?

    • Teacher: while they discuss, set up for the next game. See instructions below for The Floor is Lava.


    Point 2

  • Our second point is, we should ASK to fit into God's plan.

    SLIDE 12

  • Game: The Floor is Lava

    • Instructions

      • Teacher's instructions

        • Have foam mats ready in stacks to give to each team

        • Set up four chairs at the corners of the room, about 2 meters away from the walls, or inside the area of play. These chairs will serve as pylons for teams to go around.

      • We'll start this point with a game! We're playing The Floor is Lava!

      • We'll split into two teams, and the goal of your team is to make two laps around the room. We have four chairs at the corners of the room, and you will need to go around the outside of all four chairs and back to your starting point to complete the lap. When your team has finished two whole laps, you win.

      • The only catch is, the floor is made out of lava. So, the only thing you can step on is these foam mats. You'll want to lay down some foam mats, and then you can pick up the foam mat at the back, and move it to the front so you can continue moving forward, doing your best to stay on the mat.

      • Teacher: form two teams, and have them start at opposite corners of the room. Have them do two laps around the room, stepping only on their foam mats.

    • Debrief

      • In this game we played, there is just one goal: to get your team around the room. Along the way though, you need to do a lot of little things. You need to move everyone from one mat to another, and you need to pick up the mat and pass it forward, and there are all kinds of things that go wrong. But if you just keep your goal in mind, you'll get everything you need.

    SLIDE  13

    • That's how the Christian life works too. Our goal is to follow Jesus, because Jesus is our king and He knows how to lead us. If we focus on doing what He wants, He will make sure we have everything we need.

    SLIDE  14

  • Bible Reference

    • Let's read our main Bible verse again:

    • Matthew 6:11 (CEV).

      • Give us our food for today.

  • Explanation

    • Jesus told His followers to ask God for food so they could be strong to do God's work, help people know God and live forever, and fight against sin and evil. So, the point of asking for food was to do God's work better! 

    • Here’s where it gets really interesting. We actually need more than just food to follow Jesus. We also need friends and family and knowledge and health, and sometimes we need money. God promises to give us all the other things too.

    SLIDE 15

    • Matthew 6:31-33 (CEV)

      • 31 Don't worry and ask yourselves, “Will we have anything to eat? Will we have anything to drink? Will we have any clothes to wear?” 32 Only people who don't know God are always worrying about such things. Your Father in heaven knows you need all of these. 33 But more than anything else, put God's work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well.

    SLIDE 16

    • In other words, if we focus on doing what God wants, He will give us everything we need. He might not give you everything you WANT or what you THINK you need, but He will give you everything you really need.

  • Application

    • The Bible tells us: don't worry about anything, but pray about everything. When you pray, you will have nothing to worry about, because you know that God will always give you what you ask for, OR He will give you something better, even if you don't understand why it's better. But He will never do worse than what you ask for.

    SLIDE 17

  • Discussion Question

    • Let’s pause for a discussion question.

    • Can we think of a few things to pray about?


    Conclusion

  • Let’s wrap up our lesson by going over the big ideas again.

  • Our big question today was: how can we pray well?

  • Our big ideas were:

    SLIDE 18

    • 1. We should TRY to fit into God's plan. That means we need to remember all the other things we learned about the Lord's prayer. We need to remember that we're part of something much bigger than us, and once we can see that we're part of God's bigger plan, we will know what to ask for.

    SLIDE 19

    • 2. We should ASK to fit into God's plan. Remember, you are here to follow Jesus, and He promises that He will take care of you. We can tell God all the things we need, and He will always give us everything we need. Even if He doesn’t give you exactly what you ask for, it’s alright, because it just means He has something better planned for you.


    SLIDE 20

    Main Activity: Paper Stars In A Jar

  • That brings us to our craft! Today we will be making paper stars and putting them into a jar!

  • Teacher: show the class your star and a jar.

  • Now let’s watch a video about how to make these stars.

  • Sometimes people make a jar full of stars as a gift for their friends, as a gift for their friends. We can make stars for people to let them know we're thinking of them and hoping for the best things for them. We can also pray for people when we're making stars. Praying is better than just hoping for the best. When we pray, God hears us, and He either gives us what we ask for, or He gives us His perfect plan which is better. So, once you get a hang of folding the stars, you can start praying for people as you fold them.

  • Let's all take a strip of paper and make our first star together.

  • Teacher's instructions: 

    • Play the video again, pausing at each step to help children to follow along.

    • Encourage them to make multiple stars.

    • Toward the end of the class, give them little jars to hold their stars.



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