Prayer is not just a helpful practice for believers, it’s an essential lifeline to our Savior. This simple Bible lesson will help school aged children understand how praying can be a normal part of their daily experience. God can be their best friend and closest helper in any difficult situation.
We have suggested several learning activities to help the children process these truths. You can also download our free coloring page activity on prayer to accompany this lesson plan.
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Scripture: Psalm 54, 1 Peter 5:7, Colossians 3:12
Lesson Title: A Prayer for Help
Target Age Group: Early Elementary
Learning Context: Sunday School
Target Time Frame: 60 minutes
Printer Friendly Bible Lesson: [print_link] this lesson plan
Memory Verse: “For He has delivered me from all of my troubles, and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.” Psalm 54:7
Gospel Connection: The 54th Psalm teaches us that God is our ever-present help in trouble. We do not need to fear trouble because in the end God is victorious. Verse 54:7 foreshadows the coming of Christ. In Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection He was a perfect sacrifice for our sins and triumphed over the enemy, Satan.
Learning Aim: Children will learn that God is the ultimate source of help in our trouble. They will understand that we can trust God for help because he cares for us. Children will understand that we should pray for help and praise God through prayer so that we are prepared for attacks on our spirituality.
Basic Supply List: Bibles, Paper, Pencils.
> > > > Basic Teaching Plan < < < <
Open the Lesson: Greet the students and ask them if anyone participates in any sports. Allow them to respond. Ask, Do you win every game that you play? Of course they will answer that they cannot win every game. Why don’t you win every game that you play? What are a few things that you can do to better your chances of winning? Allow students to respond to these questions, then explain that in the end the most important thing is that you had fun and did your best. Tell them that in life we will also be faced with challenges, but unlike in sports we always have God on our side and He cannot lose. Likewise there is nothing that we can do to better our chances of God helping us; He will help His children simply because He loves us. However, we should prepare for attacks on our spirituality by praying and seeking to have a relationship with the Lord.
Biblical Background: Read or have a child read Psalm 54 in its entirety. Tell the students, When David wrote this Psalm he was in trouble. His enemies were after him and he knew that he could not escape them without the help of the Lord. What might you pray when you are in trouble? This is how David prayed with he was in distress.
Biblical Exploration: Read the chapter again, but this time stop after each section to analyze the prayer. Tell the students to search the passage for meaning as they read.
Read verses 1 and 2. In this passage David is asking the Lord to hear is pray and help him, because he cannot save himself.
Read verse 3. David is explaining his problem to God. God already knows the problems that David has, but David is petitioning for God’s help. David’s enemies have no sense of the law and no not believe in God, David realizes that they will not be fair with him and that he cannot defeat them on his own.
Read verse 4. David remembers that he has nothing to fear because God is the one who sustains him.
Read verse 5. David asks God to defeat his enemies for him. David asks God to destroy his enemies because he is faithful to David.
Read verse 6. David is willing to give his life to the Lord. He praises the Lord because of his faithfulness. David is happy to give his life to God because he knows that God will always care for him.
Read verse 7. David acknowledges that God has always provided for him in the past and will continue to do so in the future. David faces his enemies and the future with the assurance that God will protect him.
Ask students to look at 1 Peter 5:7, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” Ask, How does this make you feel, knowing that God cares for you and is willing to take all of your worries on himself? Allow students to respond. When we are facing an enemy that seems impossible to beat we should give our worry to God because he will be victorious.
Prayers for Help: David knew that God would help him and that he had nothing to worry about because God is always victorious, but he still took to time pray to God and ask for help. Let’s read Colossians 3:12, “Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wresting in prayer for you that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.” We should always pray so that we are ready for any attacks on our spirituality that may come our way.
Ask students to get into pairs or small groups and write their own prayers asking for help. Make sure that they understand that their prayers should be a mixture of praising God for his continual faithfulness and asking for his assistance.
Prayer Telephone: This is basically like the game of telephone but with a twist. Have the students sit in a circle, the first student recites the memory verse in a whisper to his/her neighbor, who then whispers it to their neighbor, and so on. At the end of the circle the last students says what they heard out loud. It may not be exactly like the memory verse, but the students will have fun trying to hear and remember their bible verse. This could also be played having students repeat their own prayers to their neighbors.
Closing: When the students are finished writing their prayers and praying, ask volunteers to share their prayers with the class. Remind them that God will always be on their side and ready to help when they are faced with trouble.