‘How Not to Pray’ Childrens Lesson on Matthew 6:5-8

BIG IDEA: DON’T PRETEND WHEN YOU PRAY

AIM: The ‘How Not to Pray’ Childrens Lesson on Matthew 6:5-8 and Luke 18:9-14 is aimed at helping your children think through the ways they want to avoid praying – proudly or showing off.

INTRO VIDEO: (for older kids and teens) this clip from Meet the Parents is a funny introduction to this session and series. You could also watch or re-enact the ‘That’s Not How You Pray’ video.

Sergeant: [some children may be scared of a sergeant character, so makes sure you are firm but not scary!] Good morning cadets. Welcome to Prayer Bootcamp. Over the next few weeks (sessions) we’ll be getting to grips with prayer. It will take skill. Determination. Drive. Each one of you will need to put effort in if you want to be effective in prayer. Getting to know someone takes communication and that’s what we’re hear to learn. You need to be alert. So let’s start with a quick workout to get your brains in gear. Everyone on your feet! [Get the kids all moving about as you lead them in a workout: star jumps, press ups, sit ups, running with knees up, running kicking bottom etc] Well done cadets. Now you’re ready to begin.

SONG IDEAS:

1. ‘I Will Pray’ by Yancy
2. ‘Pray about Everything’ by LifeTree Kids
3. ‘I Love to Pray’ by Herald Entertainment

GAME IDEAS:

1. The Great Obstacle Race. (regular/widescreen) Create a large obstacle course including camouflage nets and tires (if possible), cones, beanbags, hula hoops etc. Have teams compete to see whose team can finish first.
2. Sit Up Challenge. (regular/widescreen) Challenge your kids to see who can do the most sit ups in the shortest time. Give them one minute each.
3. Press Up Challenge. (regular/widescreen) See how many sit ups your kids can do in one minute.
4. Rescue Mission. (regular/widescreen) Children are in groups of three. One child is a wounded soldier and needs help to get to the other side of the room. The two friends must wrap them in streamers to help their injuries and then carry them in a beach towel across to the far side of the room. The first group to bring their soldier to safety is the winning team.

BIG VERSE: Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12.

(regular/widescreen)

Download Bible Cards and Bible Card Posters.

 

SET the Scene:

Read Luke 18:9-14 then read Matthew 6:5-8. You can use this fun action story to help you tell the story also.

VIDEO IDEAS:

1. ‘Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector’ by Max7
2. ‘The Pharisee and the Tax Collector’ a clip from the ‘Son of God’ movie (you’ll want to explain that in the clip they have joined the story of Matthew the Tax collector’s calling with this story. This is not how we are told about this in the Bible. The stories are two separate accounts in the Bible.)
3. ‘The Pharisee and the Tax Collector’ by Luke the Book
4. ‘Wildhouse Treehouse (The Pharisee and the Tax Collector)’ by SaddleBack Kids

REVIEW QUESTIONS:

1. What kind of man was the Pharisee in the story?
2. What kind of man was the tax collector?
3. How often did the Pharisee fast?
4. How much did he give?
5. What did the tax collector say to God?
6. Whose prayer pleased God?

 

SPOT the Simple Meaning:

1) WE ARE ALL EQUAL

You will need two people in this scenario.

Person 1 says: [walk around and speak loudly for everyone to hear you with enthusiasm and lots of hand motions to show your importance.] Thank you God that I am soooo amazing! Thank you that I am not like anyone else in the world because I am the best person that ever lived. Thank you that nobody can compare to how great I am! Thank you that I am not like any of the little people – those that get things wrong, thank you that I am always right. Amen.

I’m important. [sticks a big tick on their chest] You, however, are not so important. You don’t live in a good place like me. You’re always getting into trouble and you don’t wear cool clothes like me. [sticks a big cross on person 2’s chest.]

Person 2 says: Woah woah woah! Wait a minute… I am just as important as you are! [Takes cross off and rips it up.] And you’re not the best person that ever lived. Jesus is. And you get things wrong all the time. In fact, that whole prayer was a mess! You’re no better than anyone else. You’re not perfect. [Takes the tick off person 1.] We’re all the same. The Bible says that every one of us is important in God’s eyes. Jesus says in John 13:16; “Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.” That means that we are all equal in importance.

In the story of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector the Pharisee thought he was the most important person. He thought he had got everything right. But he was wrong. God didn’t like his proud attitude.

2) DON’T PRETEND WHEN YOU PRAY 

You will need a pile of masks or costumes to try on or wear as you talk. Keep swapping the masks and costumes and ask the children which one they think looks the best.

Say: I love switching things up and pretending to be somebody else. Do you? [Get feedback] Who is your favorite person to pretend to be? [Get feedback] Sometimes I feel like being me is boring. Maybe I want to be Batman [you can use other characters these are simply suggestions] or Spiderman [try on masks or reveal a costume with that character on it.

Well, it’s fun to be someone else… but I’m never really going to be those people. So it’s only pretend. God knows who I really am. I don’t need to pretend to be somebody I’m not around Him. I don’t need to try to act ‘bigger’ or more than I am. He loves me as I am. He loves you as you are. The tax collector knew he had done wrong. He knew he couldn’t live right on his own. So he asked God for help and to forgive him. He knew who he was and what he had done.

The Pharisee thought he was better than he really was.

Matthew 6:5-8 says:

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

We can pray in secret and God hears us. We can pray out loud and He hears us, but He doesn’t want us to show off or pretend that we are spiritual. God doesn’t need us to pretend when we pray. He doesn’t want us to try and impress Him or others. We don’t need to try to earn His love or the love of others. We can be real. We can be us. So don’t pretend when you pray. Just be you.

 

SEARCH the Scriptures:

Costume Relay. (regular1/widescreen1) (regular2/widescreen2)Teams stand on one side of the room. They must take turns to put on the costume and run to the pile of bible verses on the other side of the room. They must grab a Bible Verse about Hypocrisy, bring it back and then take off the costume for the next person to try. The winning team is the team that collects all their bible verses first.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

The Bible verses were all about hypocrisy and what it means to fake being better than you are. The Bible shows us that people that pretend to be something they are not are called hypocrites. They pretend to believe something, but they often don’t put it into practice. We can all act this way sometimes, so none of us are able to judge others.

1. Have you ever pretended to be someone else? How did it work out?
2. What do you like about yourself?
3. Do you like being you? Why/why not?
4. What are the good things about pretending to be someone else?
5. What are the bad things about pretending to be someone else?
6. Who do you think God wants you to be? Why?
7. Are you comfortable praying? Why/why not?
8. Are you able to be ‘you’ when you pray? Why/why not?
9. Where and how do you like to pray?
10. What would help you to be confident when praying?

 

SENSE How You Feel:

Imagine you are the tax collector in this story. Verse 13 of Matthew 6 says, “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

Encourage the children to think about their answer to the question below as they do one or more of the below activities.

Why are you praying to God in this way?

1. Create a prayer box. Use an old cardboard box to make a prayer box that children can write or draw prayers to put inside.
2. What does a proud person act like? What about a humble person? Get the kids to draw and label their ideas on two drawings of people. You could draw an outline of someone lay down on large paper, then design the person and label their attributes.
3. Mould: Children can mould the tax collector and the Pharisee out of play dough or clay.
4. Build: Children could build a temple with the tax collector and the Pharisee inside.
5. Color/Fill in the activity booklets for 5-7s or the 8-11s.
6. Sensory: Use some smelly perfumes or aromas and some candles (LED ones would work) to create the temple atmosphere.
7. Make a prayer journal for the kids to take home. You can use the Prayer Journal front cover found here. 

 

SEEK God:

1. Prayer tree. Encourage the children to hang prayers on a prayer tree. You can buy a tree from most craft stores or use something like this  Light Up Tree from Amazon. Then simply make some tags with ribbons for the children to write their prayers and hang them on the tree.