Rehearsal Room

January 11, 2014 .:. Small Group Team Time

Pathways Church Childrens Ministry Weekend Elementary

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This Weeks Scope

Bible Story: Show Me the Way (model prayer) Luke 11:1-4
Bottom Line: Practice praying to God.
Memory Verse: Training the body has some value. But being godly has value in every way. 1
Timothy 4:8a, NIrV
Life App: Commitmentmaking a plan and putting it into practice.
Basic Truth: I need to make the wise choice.

This week, were discovering:

Pray. We hope kids understand that praying is an important part of growing in their faith. They can pray
knowing that God knows them and wants to hear from them. They can pray with gratitude and honesty;
they can pray for their needs and for forgiveness. They can pray anytime, anywhere, because God is
always listening. Thats why well look more closely at Luke 11:1-4 and the way Jesus taught His
followers how to pray in the Lords Prayer.
Our Bottom Line is: Practice praying to God. We hope kids will come to believe that they can share
anything with God. Theres nothing too big or too small for Him to handle.
Our Memory Verse is 1 Timothy 4:8a, Training the body has some value. But being godly has
value in every way. (NIrV) When we commit to practicing our faith and follow through on our plan,
well grow in such a big way that it will impact our entire lives.

Welcome Time
What You Need: Offering container
What You Do:
Collect offerings as kids arrive. Talk about this months Life App: commitmentmaking a plan and
putting it into practice. Ask if any of them speak a foreign language. If so, see if they know the word for
commitment in a language that they can teach everyone. Then teach your kids to say commitment in
the following languages:

Spanish compromiso
French engagement
Sign Language put one finger to your lips like youre shushing someone, and then use that
same hand to make a high five on your opposite fist
Russian priverzhennost

What You Say:

Its not easy to say commitment in Spanish or French or any other language, at least not at first.
Learning to say it takes practice. And just like learning to SAY it takes practice, commitment itself takes
practice. If you are committed to something, you will have to practice doing it regularly.

Activity #1
High Five Prayer (application activity / review the Bible story / great for active learners)
What You Need: Bibles, High Five Prayer Activity Pages
What You Do:
Instruct kids to sit in a circle on the floor, and place the Activity Pages in the middle of the circle so
everyone can see the words to the Lords Prayer. Ask everyone to put their hands together in high fives
with the people on either side, to make a full circle of kids with their hands touching. Tell them they will
take turns (in order) saying one line of the Lords Prayer while moving to a standing position and not
losing contact with the hands next to them. (Note: For non-readers in the group, you may need to
prompt them with the word.) Next, ask them to move to a sitting-down position while saying the next
line. Next, they should stand back up.
By the time they do this a couple times, they will be well on their way to memorizing it. Now that they
are familiar with it, they should drop hands and try to put it into their own words. (Let a couple of kids
volunteer to put the sections of the prayer into their own words if the group has trouble coming to a
consensus about their own wording.)
What You Say:
Saying the same words over and over isnt what God is looking for us to do. But Jesus was getting at
something. Prayer takes practice. We have to come to God daily to form a relationship with Him. God
wants to hear from you. [Apply] So this week, I encourage you to pray often. Pray about anything
and everything. Nothing is too small or too big for God to handle. [Make It Personal] (Talk about
what you do to make time to spend with God. What prayer habits have you established?)
Usually, you dont just get to know God by hoping it will happen. The Bible says He rewards those who
diligently seek Him. That means we have to look hard. We have to pursue Jesus; and then He will show
Himself to us. Everyone needs to [Impress] practice praying to Godeven those of us who have
known Him for a long time.
If you lead mostly older kids, consider asking these discussion questions:
There are some key ideas Jesus tells us to include in our prayers. Now that you know the Lords
Prayer so well, what are the things you think He wants you to talk about when you pray?
Why do you think that including each of these things is important?

Prayer Time
What You Need: Bible
What You Do:
Read or say the Lords Prayer one more time and pause after each phrase so kids can repeat it.
What You Say:
[Apply] God wants to hear from you. Pray often. Pray about anything and everything. Nothing
is too small or too big for God to handle. [Impress] Practice praying to God.

Activity #2
What You Need: No supplies
What You Do:
Guide kids to say this prayer, God, thank You for making me, in many different ways: eyes closed,
eyes open, sitting, standing, kneeling, lying down, while running in place, as a whisper, silently, etc.
What You Say:
Wow! Thats a lot of different ways we can pray! [Transition] Lets go to Large Group, where well
hear some more about prayer.
Lead your group to the Large Group area.