This is a free Bible lesson for children, which will teach the importance of continued prayer. In addition, one will see how God takes care of his children. It’s based on a teaching of Jesus found word for word in two different places in the Bible (Matthew 7:7-11 or Luke 11:9-13) so you know it’s important!
God is not our “genie in the bottle.” He does not nod his head at our commands. We are his children, and he watches over us like children, because God is the good father. Just as it is not wise to give children everything they ask; God, whom is all-knowing (omniscient), is patient and wise as we seek him through prayer. For, God knows our needs before we come to him in prayer.
Leader Preparation:
Prayer is essential for a believer in Christ. We, as leaders, must remember that prayer is a two way conversation. Also, we need to remember that God is self-sufficient without our prayers, in that, our prayers do not sustain him. As it is, God sustains us through prayer. His desire is for His children to ask, seek, and knock to receive his unfailing love and grace. Before the lesson, seek God through prayer–much prayer. Ask him to show you the truths of prayer, and knock in such a way, which is continuous. If you would like another Gospel comparison to Matthew 7:7, then check out Luke 11:9-13.
Bible Lesson: Ask, Seek, Knock
Scripture: Matthew 7:7-11 or Luke 11:1-13
Target Age Group: 1st-3rd
Learning Context: Children’s Church/Sunday School
Coloring Page: Jesus Knocks at the Door
Lesson Objectives: Students will learn:
- The importance of prayer
- The importance of selfless prayer
- Continuously pursuing prayer
Memory Verse:
- Matthew 7:7 (NIV)–”Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
- Luke 11:9 (NIV) So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
Helpful Visuals for the Lesson
In this passage, one is able to see a few comparisons Jesus makes. The first comparison is bread and a stone. The second comparison is a fish and snake. Try to get creative.
For instance:
- Bring a loaf of bread and a large stone.
- If you have a live fish or snake, then bring them to show the children.
- If you do not have live animals, or do not want to deal with the potential problems, then think about stuffed animals or toys–maybe long-lost Beanie Babies.
Creative Project:
Another possibility, besides the objects listed above, could be to draw and color bread, a stone, fish and the snake. All one would need for this activity would be color, paper, and a little imagination.
Whenever the passage is read, hold up the pictures, stuffed animals, or the live animals during the parts where they are mentioned (Matt. 7:9-10).
Lesson: Matthew 7:7-11 (or Luke 11:9-13)
Opening Questions
Question 1: Can someone tell me why we pray to God?
Answers could include: “…to talk with him (communicate). …to understand him (relationship). …because we love him. …because he wants us to (obedience).”
Question 2: How often do you think we should pray?
Answer: The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to “pray continually.” We should never stop praying.
Question 3: Do you think we have to pray all the time with our eyes closed?
Answer: No, we can even pray in the car with our eyes open.
Question 4: Would you want your mom or dad to pray with their eyes closed while they are driving?
Answer: I hope not…
Ask, Seek, Knock
Jesus teaches us in the Bible a few things about prayer. He tells us to ask, to seek, and to knock. Let us read the passage Matthew 7:7-11 together…
7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
Jesus is telling us that we should seek God through prayer. Think to yourselves, have you ever walked up to a door to knock where no one came and answered? Jesus is saying that God answers the door that is knocked upon. We must remember to be good knockers, because God wants us to wholly desire him. Knocking on the door one time does not show that we are interested in God. Our knocking needs to be continuous like we are eager to get inside [knock on something continuously to give an idea].
Also, we know God is good and loving. He is not going to answer our prayers poorly; he is going to richly answer our prayers. HE may not answer prayer the way we want him to, but he will answer the prayer better than we ever thought, because HE knows everything! Jesus says that we, as people, have evil hearts–due to sin. He says that since we have evil hearts, then we do not give better gifts than God, whom is perfect and righteous. We should always seek after God, because we know His ways are better than any other way.
Gospel Connection
Revelation 3:20 says,
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
Jesus, who is God, stands at our heart’s door and knocks. Jesus, who told us to knock as we pray, is also at our heart’s door and wants us to open to him. We should open our hearts to Jesus, because he gave his life for us to take away our sins. Our sins separate us from God, and Jesus raised himself from the grave to show his power over sin. Open your hearts to Jesus. Believe in Him. Believe in the God who sent his Son, Jesus. Pray to seek God.
Concluding Questions:
- Should we only pray one time before we give up?
- What does it mean to “pray continuously?”
- Does God know what we need more than ourselves? Yes.
Luke 11:1-13 NIV – Jesus’ Teaching on Prayer
11 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:
“‘Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.”
5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Thank you for this lesson. It was well researched and had great scriptures to add context. I will be using this lesson for my Sunday school class, so thanks.
Beautiful lesson, great scriptures to use and great words in the lesson itself. I had 2 8 years olds in my SS class that are new Christians and just baptized. I feel this would be a great lesson for all but especially to newly saved. Encouraging them to always pray, seek God and they will find Him in whatever they are facing. Thank you for all you do to help with our teaching.:)
Nice Message
Thank you so much because I hae learnt alot and well uwe it on my Sunday school children
As always, another beautiful lesson! You have been a blessing to our Children’s Church for some years now and we thank you. The lessons, scriptures, print-outs, are wonderful. I pray that we can be a blessing to you as well.
i came up with a game for this lesson.
i place three answers to prayers in a bag YES, WAIT NO
more wait and Nos than yes
I hide words to matthew 7:7 in the room printed on two different colored papers
i ask child what color their team wanted but
then I said does god want your team to be that color go select an answer from the bag if yes drawn then they got to keep color if wait was drawn they had to give other team a chance if no then they had to give other team a chance after colors selected each child had to find a puzzle piece and bring it back to their team. the each time they had to knock on table for each piece of puzzle before using it. if failed to do so they had to wait until another child did so before knocking.
then each team raced to see who could place words in correct order. then everyone said the verse together.
another game played was each child had to draw yes, no, wait in order to go to the snack table to get their snacks then same procedure repeated for drink.
if drew yes they received immediate food, if no they had to go to end of line, on to next child if “wait” they had to pass turn to next child then got to try again. this is repeated until each child is successful in drawing a “yes” prayer is said by child who drew first “YES”.
THEN STORY IS TOLD WHILE EATING SNACKS.
FOR CRAFT WE MADE A SPIN CIRCLE LABELED
“K.K’S answers (stands for “KING’S KID ” answers
2 circle and 1 braid needed top circle has 1 section cut out .
on bottom circle it is divided into 6 parts with words yes, no, wait – one word written in each section
cut circle placed on top and held together with braid.
the child then can ask questions and see what random answer will be by turning circle (could also use a door to open for answer)
WE TALKED ABOUT HOW GOD WILL SOMETIMES TELLS US TO WAIT BEFORE GIVING US FURTHER DIRECTIONS OR STOP US WHEN HE KNOWS IT IS NOT THE BEST CHOICE OR YES WHEN HE WANTS US TO PROCEED
for older teens we allowed them to make a smaller version that would fit to a key chain so they could carry it with them and teach them to pray continously and seek god’s will for their life.