prayer
WELCOME TO WEEK 5
This month we learned that God tells us to go make disciples but He did not leave us alone to do it. God sent a helper, the Holy Spirit, to help us and give us courage. God also calls us to be helpers which we can do through prayers. God wants to answer our prayers, we just need to keep our eyes open and see what God will do.
BIBLE STORY
When we are in need or have a difficult task we can often ask others for help. Sometimes our friends need an extra hand and we can help them. There are lots of people who are in need and we can help them. Think of how you could help someone in each of these situations:
-Mom has a trunk full of groceries.
-Dads flowered are full of weeds.
-Mom is working and trying to finish cooking dinner.
-A friend can’t find their pencil in class.
-your brother wants to watch TV but it’s not showing a picture.
-Your younger sister can’t reach the cups in the cabinet.
-Dad wants to water the lawn but the sprinkler system is broken
-A friend doesn’t have any shoes without holes.
-The kitchen sink is clogged.
-A friend is sick in the hospital and not doing well.
-An elderly neighbor lady often sits on her front porch alone
Some of these situations you could easily help but were some of them a little difficult to know what to do? Maybe your solution was to find and expert or someone else who could help you! God gave us prayer as a way to ask Him for help. We can ask for big things and we can also ask for small things. We can ask for ourselves and we can ask for help for others. God’s answer may be ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘later’, but we can trust that God hears our prayers and wants what is best for us. Today our story talks about friends who earnestly prayed for Peter and God’s answer to those prayers.
Read or listen to the scripture Acts 12:1-17
Who was King and wanted to kill Peter? (King Herod)
What was Peter in prison for? (Preaching about Jesus)
Who came to see Peter in prison? (An angel)
What did the angel do? (told Peter to get up and get dressed and walked out of the prison with Peter)
At first, what did Peter think was happening. (He was having a vision)
Where did Peter go? (To Mary’s house)
What were the people at Mary’s house doing? (praying for Peter)
BIBLE STORY ACTIVITY
We can pray to God when we need help and just as Peter and his friends prayed for help from God. When we pray it is important to watch and see how God will answer our prayers. God will always answer our prayers, even if it’s not in the way we expect. We should never give up praying and looking to see what God will do!
Activity
(Cover an area with newspaper or do this activity outside to avoid a mess.) On a paper plate squeeze glue and create a design with thick lines that intersect. While glue is wet, pour salt over the glue to cover it completely. Shake the plate so the salt is redistributed onto the rest of the glue. Dab a paintbrush into water, making sure there is plenty of water on the brush. Then dip the brush into the watercolor paint and place it on one of the lines so the salt absorbs the paint water into the salt. Watch how the water moves along the salt trail. After that color stops spreading, rinse the brush and repeat using another color. Ask What did you expect would happen. What did happen? Just like we watched to see what would happen to the colors, we must keep watch to see how God will answer prayers.
Materials: glue, paintbrush, water colors, paper plate, salt, container of water
Alternate
Sometimes when a friend needs help we are unable to help them because the job needs and expert. The job may be too hard for you and them so you need someone who is a trained expert. Look at attached scenarios and decide what expert is needed.
Materials: Scenario cards
Create:
Make a prayer banner. Take a large sheet of contraction paper and create a banner by cutting the paper in the shape of a banner. Examples: a large triangle, an oval, a wavy rectangle, a parallelogram, or a rectangle with a triangle cut out of the bottom)Write a list of prayer request for yourself, family, friends and your community. Leave space on the other half of the paper to write any answers to prayers you were able to see.
Materials: Construction paper, scissors, pencil/pen
ARTS & CAFTS
CRAFT 1
Fold a piece of construction paper in half. Draw your child’s hand on the front of the construction paper along the fold. Cut out the hand leaving the fold uncut. You should have 2 hands folded together. Have your child decorate and color the hands. On the inside of the hands write names of people they can pray for.
Materials: Construction paper, crayons, markers, scissors, pencil
CRAFT 2
Visit this website and scroll towards the bottom to find a coloring page and download the coloring pages to print. https://www.biblefunforkids.com/2015/01/peter-freed-from-prison.html
Materials: printed coloring sheet, crayons
Craft 3
Printed coloring sheet.
FOLLOW-UP
We can pray for ourselves but it is also important to pray for others as well. When Peter’s friends prayed for him they were not sure that God would answer their prayer. In fact when Peter knocked on the door they didn’t even open it at first, not expecting him to show up. God’s answers to prayers sometimes come right away in the way we wanted. But sometimes the answer is no and sometimes the answer is later.
What are some things you are praying for right now?
Do you pray for other people or for the things you want.
Should our prayers include other people as well?
When God answers “no” or “later”, does that change the way you see Him?
How can you learn to accept answers other than “yes”?
Practical Application at Home
Let’s look up a few verses in the Bible about prayers. Read James 5:16; The prayers of the righteous person are powerful and effective. Read John 14:13-14 which says if we ask for something in Jesus name He will do it. Matthew 21:22 says that if we just believe we can receive whatever we ask in prayer.
This week as you pray think about these things as you pray. You can use the printout to fill in the information to remind yourself as you pray this week.
Things I’m thankful for…
Prayers for others….
Prayers for myself…
Today’s bible verse…
Additional Resources
Outings to Reinforce Lesson
Go to a park and spend time in worship and prayer. Ask God to show you ways to trust him and listen to his voice.