a conversation (part two) - 10:10 kids! -...

Prayer: A Conversation (Part 2)

1

© 2012 10:10 Kids! All rights reserved. www.tentenkids.com

a conversation (part two)

lesson 3

Big Idea: Prayer involves listening

Key verse: Hebrews 4:7b – “Listen to [God’s] voice today. If you hear it, don't be

stubborn.”

Thoughts for leaders Today’s lesson is on the forgotten aspect of prayer: listening. We will be encouraging

the children to listen and hear God’s voice, whether through Scripture, the Holy Spirit’s

inner prompting, or through Christian community. These can sometimes seem like

abstract concepts and will need some extra explaining for some children to grasp. Feel

free to simplify this; our goal this week is only to lay the foundation for children to

understand that God is not just a mailbox to put letters into and hope they make it

somewhere – He is living and active, and very much responds to us when we pray.

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.™


2


Supplies list: Attention Grabber Small Group Memory Verse Craft

- Attention Grabber

3.30 print outs (pg 6-

11)

- mime costume

(optional)

- Small Group 3.30

printed out & cut

apart

- prayer journals

Popsicle sticks with

memory verse words

printed on each one.

- Craft 3.30 printed

on cardstock and cut

out (1 bookmark per

person).

- Pencil Crayons

- Optional: hole

punch, ribbon &

beads


3


Prep:

- Leader can be dressed casually

- “Bo” can be dressed casually, or in a mime outfit

- small group 3.30 print outs

Leader: Hello, everybody! Last week we learned about how prayer was like a

conversation, and we touched on the many ways we can talk to God. But a

conversation has two parts: talking, and listening. So today we’re going to concentrate

on listening. I have a helper with me today, who is going to show us that you don’t

always listen with just your ears. In fact, Bo is going to tell us many things without

using his voice at all. Now, I need a couple helpers up here to help me figure out what

Bo is saying. Let’s get some volunteers.

Call up two volunteers from the audience to “translate” for Bo.

Leader: Okay, what are your names? Introduce the volunteers. Great! Thanks for

volunteering. Your job today is to help me understand what Bo is saying. Can you do

that? Allow them to respond.

And Bo’s job is to try to help you understand what he’s saying without using any words.

Isn’t that right, Bo?

Bo nods.

Leader: Oh, oh – volunteers, can you guess what was Bo saying?

He was saying “yes.”

Leader: Great! That wasn’t so hard. You knew exactly what Bo was saying, and he

didn’t even have to say anything! Now, Bo. Do you have something else to tell us?

Bo nods, then picks up his sign boards (attention grabber 3.30). He holds them up one at a

time, and the kids can read them out loud. Bo can encourage the kids & leaders to do the

actions along with his signs

Leader: Alright, volunteers, what is Bo trying to tell us, now:


4


Attention Grabber continued…

The sign says to “touch your nose.” Have the volunteers read it out loud, and if they don’t

do the actions right away, have Bo motion for them to touch their noses, as well as the

leader. If the volunteers figure this out, repeat their translation to the crowd. If not, help

them out with the following line

Leader: It looks like Bo wants all of us on stage to read the sign and do what it says.

Okay, let’s touch our noses.. (Once everybody is doing it, BO looks pleased and flips to

the next sign, and makes sure the volunteers & the leader do what it says, then keeps

flipping signs)

- Rub your tummy

- Clap your hands

- Pat your head

- Blink your eyes

- Stick out your tongue

(Bo doubles up with silent laughter and points at the crowd).

Leader: Oh, you think we’re funny, do you. Well, I’ve had enough of this game!

(Bo looks contrite and tries to show he’s sorry.)

Leader: Do you kids know what Bo’s trying to say?

He’s sorry

Leader: Can we forgive him?

Allow kids to answer.

Leader: Okay, Bo. We forgive you for getting us to look silly for you! Maybe instead,

we can ask you some questions and see if we can figure out the answers. Is that okay?

Bo gives thumbs up sign.

Leader: What does that mean?

Volunteers: yes

Leader: How old are you?


5


Attention Grabber continued…

Bo holds up fingers. Volunteers count & report.

Leader: What’s your favourite colour?

Bo finds something the right colour and points to it. Volunteers interpret.

Leader: What do you like to do for fun?

Bo holds up basketball. Volunteers interpret.

Leader: Well, Bo, I think you’ve done it. I think you’ve proved to us that we can hear

you very well – even when you don’t say a word! Thank you, volunteers, for helping us

understand what Bo was saying, even when he wasn’t talking, and thank you Bo, for

helping us today! Let’s give everyone a round of applause.

Leader: Last week we learned different ways we could talk to God, and this week we’re

learning different ways to listen to God. Sometimes we get frustrated because God

does not often talk to us in the same way our friends would. Bo helps remind us that

there are many ways to listen to someone, even without using your ears! Let’s find out

how God might talk to us when we pray!


6


Touch your

nose


7


Rub your

tummy


8


Clap your

hands


9


Pat your

head


10


Blink your

eyes


11


Stick out

your

tongue


12


Most of us would think it was really, really cool if God just told us straight out what He

thought. We think it’d be sweet to hear what His voice sounded like, and talk to Him

face to face. Well, God did speak out loud to a few people in the Bible, but often those

people were really, really scared when God talked to them! So He has found lots of

other ways to talk to us that don’t always sound like a voice.

One of his best and favourite ways to talk to us is through a letter He wrote, called the

Bible. He actually used a whole bunch of people to write down different things about

Him, stories about people He loved, and people who loved Him, history that happened

in real life a long time ago, prayers people prayed and how God answered them, and

instructions for us in this book. Actually, the Bible is more like a library than just a book

because it has 66 different books in it! Sometimes when we read the Bible we might

get confused or even bored, but sometimes the Bible seems to come ALIVE! That’s

when we feel the most like God is talking to us.

God says the Bible is “living and active,” – that means that it’s more than just words on

a page, it’s words that have power to change lives. He uses the words in the Bible to

speak to us. Sometimes we might ask God a question, and then remember something

we heard from the Bible that answers that question. That’s one way God speaks to us

through His word. Other times, we might notice something interesting or special when

we read the Bible, and when we think about that part of the Bible we understand

something. That’s another way God speaks to us through His word.

Another way God might speak to us is through His Holy Spirit. God says His Spirit is like

a helper to us, and He might remind us of something we need to be sorry for, or remind

us to help somebody else. When the Holy Spirit reminds us of something, He usually

does it quietly, like you just feel like you should do something or say something or

apologize. You know it’s the Holy Spirit when that feeling is asking you to do

something that would make God happy. You know it’s NOT the Holy Spirit when that

feeling is just to make YOU happy! So if I felt like maybe I should share my chocolate

bar with my friend, even though I’d rather eat it myself, that might be the Holy Spirit

talking to me. If I felt like maybe I should steal a chocolate bar so I could have a whole

one to myself, that’s probably NOT God talking!


13


Teaching Time continued…

There’s lots of ways that God speaks to us, but I’m going to tell you just one more way.

Sometimes God uses His children to speak to us: you and me! Sometimes you might

hear something from one of your leaders at 10:10 Kids, or a friend who follows Jesus,

from someone at church or even in a book you read that helps answer your questions or

leads you closer to God. That’s one reason why it’s so important that we get together

with other believers regularly; so we can listen to God through them.

The only time we can know for sure that the voice we are hearing is from God is when it

says so in the Bible. All other times we need to make sure we do something called

“testing” to find out if it really is God speaking to us. The basic test is this: ask if what

you are hearing sounds like something God would say. Would it make God happy if you

did what the voice is telling you to do? Would it make God sad? If you don’t know, you

can sometimes ask other Christians what they think, and that could help you find out.

Last week we learned one way we can pray is by using the acronym PRAY – that stands

for Praise, Regret, Ask and say YES to God! The best way we can say YES to God is by

listening to what He is saying! Then we can agree and say yes to Him!

Now we know that we can always go to God in prayer with confidence, and that there

are different ways to talk to God: thanking Him, cheering for Him, saying sorry, and

asking for help are some of the ways we talk to God. Now we have learned that we can

also listen to God in prayer, by reading the Bible, listening to his Holy Spirit and paying

attention to what other believers say.

Listening to God can be very hard because it’s easy to ignore someone who isn’t

shouting, but when we learn to hear God’s voice, it can make a really big difference in

our lives. The good news is, the more we practice listening, the better we get at it, so

let’s start practicing this week!


14


- small group 3.30

- prayer journals

Place in front of your group a variety of Bible verses printed on small cards. Use small

group 3.30 or make your own.

Leader: We’re going to try an exercise together about listening to God through what

He says in the Bible. I have in front of you a whole bunch of Bible verses. I will read

them out loud and if there is one that seems special to you, you can pick up the card

with the verse on it and hold it. If more than one person likes the same verse, then we

can share the card for now. Try to only pick one verse that sounds special for now.

Read the verses and let the kids each pick one “special” verse.

Leader: Now most of us have chosen a verse that we thought was special. Can anyone

tell me what was so special about your verse?

Allow for answers.

Leader: Sometimes we might all pick the same verse, and that’s okay, but often we

pick different verses because God speaks to each of us differently. These verses are

from the Bible, so we know that they are true, and by letting us see something special

in a verse, God is speaking to you! Take your special verse home this week and try to

think about it every day and remember that it is God’s voice speaking to you!

End with prayer journals.


15


Popsicle sticks

Hebrews 4:7b – “Listen to [God’s] voice today. If you hear it, don't be stubborn.”

Write the words of the verse out on popsicle sticks, one word per stick. Mix the sticks

up and have the children unscramble the words to make the verse. Begin removing

random sticks before re-mixing and see if the children can still assemble the verse,

remembering the missing words.


16


Printout of craft 3.30 on cardstock, cut into bookmarks

Pencil Crayons

(Optional: clear contact paper, hole punch, ribbon & beads)

Give each child a bookmark to color.

If desired, cut contact paper slightly larger than bookmark, and once the child is

finished coloring, apply contact paper to bookmarks to laminate. Punch hole in top of

bookmark, and string a small piece of ribbon through. Thread 3-5 beads on the end of

the ribbon and tie a knot in the end, for a beaded bookmark.


17


Craft 3.30


18


Follow the Leader

Have all the children sit in a circle on the floor (this game can be played with groups of 5

or 50). Have 1 child leave the room with a leader – they will be the Guesser. While the

Guesser is out of sight, choose one child (a leader or an older child, especially for the

first few rounds) to be the Leader. Call the Guesser back into the room. The Leader will

choose an action (tap your head, stomp your feet, clap your hands, etc.) and all other

children must follow and do exactly what they do, without giving away who they are

copying. It works best if the Leader changes the action often. The Guesser gets 3

guesses to pick who they think the Leader is

a conversation (part two) - 10:10 kids! -...

Documents