The Lord's Prayer

Games Workshop 

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Children will learn some of the vocabulary of the Lord's Prayer by playing a True-False Matching Relay Game to explore the meaning of the Lord’s Prayer. Older children will also compare the Luke and Matthew versions of the Lord's Prayer.

Scripture References, Memory Verse, Theme and Objectives: 

Refer to first post in this lesson set.

Important Note for Games Workshop Leaders:

The purpose of the games workshop is two-fold:  to develop Bible skills and to reinforce that knowledge by having fun with games. The games are not frills and fluff! Playing games helps to cement the knowledge and reinforce the skills you introduce during the Bible lesson.Children learn best when actively involve, so please do not skimp on the games portion of the lesson! Follow the time guidelines to help you stay on track. Remember – in the Rotation model, children study ONE lesson or story for several weeks, so it is not necessary to cover every detail in each session.

Preparation and Room Set Up:

1. Review the Background Information, Behavioral Covenant, Teaching Tips and Lesson plan. 
2. Preview the Rotation Music CD.  Play the music as children arrive and during journaling.
3. Gather necessary supplies for the activities.

Supplies:

• Transparency sheets – ten sheets
• Overhead projector
• Lord’s Prayer Matching Game sheets – see attached
• Corresponding Christian clip art to illustrate the sections 
• Game bell (small round metal bell with a central dinger to press)

Time Guidelines:

Presentation

Opening-Welcome/Introduction:

Welcome the children and introduce yourself. Make sure everyone is wearing a name tag. Please include the shepherd in introductions. Tell the children they will be playing a game to help them understand the Lord's Prayer better.

Opening Prayer: 

Loving and faithful God, thank you for this day and for everyone who is here today.  We thank you for listening to our prayers. Help us to learn to pray like Jesus did.  AMEN.

Important Teacher Notes:

Each workshop includes the Bible story. One of our primary goals is to improve the children’s Bible literacy!If children did not bring their Bibles from home, use the classroom Bibles. Shepherds should help the children locate the stories. Use the Background Information to help you introduce the story.

Remember that as the rotation progresses; the children will become more familiar with the story.  When this happens, allow the children to tell you what they know. The children should still locate the story in their Bibles every week. Use the bold headings in their Bibles to guide your discussion.  You may want to review some of the Bible notes as well.Be sure to fill in any missing information and add additional details using the Background Information to help you. One of the greatest advantages of this model is that children who come regularly learn the story in great depth.

Each lesson contains more Background Information and discussion questions than can be used in one session. Remember, children are studying this story for four weeks! Be sure to follow the time guidelines and leave ample time for the activity.

Dig-Main Content and Reflection:

Introduce the Story

The disciples spent a lot of time with Jesus. They saw how close Jesus was to God, the Father.  They wanted that closeness, too. One day they asked Jesus to teach them to pray like he did. And Jesus taught the disciples the prayer that we know of as the Lord’s Prayer. This may be the most well-known prayer in the world.  Sometimes when we know something so well, we just say the words without even thinking about what they mean. This month, we’ve been really thinking about what prayer is all about, why we even bother to pray and especially what the special prayer, called the Lord’s Prayer really means.

• What is prayer?  (talking and listening to God)
• Why do we pray?  (to get closer to God, to share our feelings with God)
• What are the five types of prayer?  (praise, thanksgiving, forgiveness or confession, intercession (for others), petition (for ourselves) and listening) 
• When do you pray? 

Let’s read about the Lord’s Prayer in our Bibles.

Bible Study: Grades K-2

The Picture Bible

Jesus taught the disciples about prayer in the Bible.

Where would we find a story about Jesus and the disciples?  (New Testament, gospels)

Help the children locate the story “The Lord's Prayer" on page 621 of The Picture Bible.  Read as the children follow along. 

Bible Study:  Grades 3-5 

Where would we find the story of the Lord’s Prayer in the Bible?  (New Testament, gospels).

What we know as the Lord’s Prayer is found in two of the gospels -- Matthew and Luke. 

Let’s compare the two gospels and see how they are similar and how they are different.

Divide the children into two groups.

Assign one group Luke 11:1-4 and the other Matthew 6:9-15. 

Help them locate the scriptures in their Bibles.

Matthew 6:9-15 

• What is the setting for Jesus’ teachings on prayer in Matthew’s gospel?  (The Sermon on the Mount – the Beatitudes -- children may have to refer back to Matthew 5) 
• Why does Jesus tell us to pray in our room with the door closed?  (we aren’t supposed to show off with fancy prayers, trying to impress people, babbling on and on  -- remember the Baal prophets and Elijah?)
• Does this mean we should never pray out loud at church?  (No!  but it does mean our prayers should be sincere and come from the heart)

Luke 11:1-4 

• What is the setting for Jesus’ teachings on prayer in Luke’s gospel?  (Jesus is praying at a “certain place” while the disciples are nearby)
• Read verses 5-9.  What does Jesus talk about here?  (someone who asks a friend to help him out, being persistent in asking for what you need)
• Read verses 9-10.  What do you think Jesus is talking about here?  (don’t be afraid to ask God for what we need, be persistent, seek God with all our heart and we will find him)
• Read verses 11-13.  What is Jesus telling us about God here?  (God is the perfect, loving father who wants what is best for us!)

Compare and contrast Matthew’s version with Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer:

Matthew 6:9-14 Our Father in heaven, May your name be honored. May your kingdom come. May what you want to happen be done on earth as it is done in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, Just as we also have forgiven those who sin against us. Keep us from falling into sin when we are tempted. Save us from the evil one.

Luke 11:1-4 Father, may your name be honored. May your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, As we also forgive everyone who sins against us. Keep us from falling into sin when we are tempted.

 Which version sounds more familiar to us?  (probably Matthew’s version)

• What about “for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever”?  (See Background Information -- this is a benediction that was added by the early church as a praise to God and a closing to the prayer)  Look up and read I Chronicles 29:11 – (it sounds the most familiar using King James or NRSV translations)  Does it sound familiar?
• What about AMEN? (Amen means “so be it” or “let it be.")

Memory Verse

Each rotation we encourage the children to memorize the Rotation Memory Verse. Review it with the children at this time. Help the children locate the memory verse in their Bibles.

Matching Game Relay

Children will play a True-False Matching Game to explore the meaning of the Lord’s Prayer.

Supplies:

• Transparency sheets – ten sheets
• Overhead projector
• Lord’s Prayer Matching Game sheets – see attached
• Corresponding Christian clip art to illustrate the sections 
• Game bell (small round metal bell with a central dinger to press)

Advanced Preparation:

• Copy the game sentences onto transparency sheets.
• Set up the overhead projector in the room facing a blank wall or screen. 
• Optional:This could be made into a power point if you have a laptop and projector.

Introduce the Game:

When Jesus' disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, Jesus used words that were very familiar to his friends. Today, these words aren't as familiar to us; in fact they seem pretty big and strange. We're going to play a game to help us understand the meaning of these words and think about how we can say the same thing today in our own words.

Directions:

1. Gather the children so that they are facing the blank wall.
2. Divide the children into two teams.
3. Place the game bell on a table between the teams, several yards away.
4. Explain the rules of the game.  
5. Each sentence of the Lord’s Prayer will be displayed. Several bulleted points (meanings or sentences about that part of the prayer) are listed underneath. Cover each bulleted point and reveal one at a time to teams. Teams will decide if the bulleted points are true or false.  Emphasize that each team must confer together before answering – do not allow individual children to call out answers without checking with their team first. This is important so all children feel included and visitors or infrequent attendees are not “put on the spot.” 
6. Once a team has decided whether an answer is correct, a runner from the team will run to the game bell, ring it and call out True or False. 
7. If correct, they are awarded a point.
8. Play passes to the next team.  
9. Play continues until all the questions have been answered.
10. Team with the most points wins.

Game Questions:

Our Father who art in heaven
God likes to do arts and crafts in heaven. (False)
God’s real name is ART.  (False)
God wants to be as close to us as our very own dad or mom. (True)

What's another way to say "art in heaven"? (lives in heaven, is in heaven)
Hallowed be thy name
Your real name is “Hallowed;” “God” is just your nickname. (False)
Hallowed means HOLY.  (True)
God, you are so holy, even your name is holy!  (True)
What's another word for hallowed? (holy, awesome, majestic)
What does "thy" mean? (yours)

Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done
On earth as it is in heaven
God lives in a golden palace up in the sky. (False)
Someday everything on earth will be as wonderful as it is in heaven now!  (True)  
When we follow God, we do God’s will.  (True)
If we follow God, God’s kingdom is in our hearts, too!  (True) 
Praying “Your kingdom come” means I want God to be the king of my life!  (True)
What is God's Kingdom? (something to come and something that exists now in the hearts of those who love God)
What does thy mean? (your)
What is God's will? (God's plan, what God wants for the world)

Give us this day our daily bread
If we really love God, we should eat only bread every single day.  (False)
Daily bread in this prayer means more than just food.  (True) 
When we pray this, we ask God to give us what we need each and every day so we can tell others about God! (True)

And forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive those who trespass against us
When we do something wrong we should try to hide it from God.  (False)
Trespasses are sins.  (True)
We pray for God to forgive us when we do wrong things. (True)
When others do something wrong to me, it’s ok to get back at them.  (False) 
We pray for God to help us be forgiving to others, too.  (True)

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil
Temptation is when we want to do things that we know are wrong.  (True)
God can’t help us when we are tempted to do wrong.  (False)
We pray for God to help us be strong when we are tempted.  (True)
We pray for God to keep us from doing things or going places that will tempt us to do wrong. (True)
What does "deliver us from evil mean?" (help us from doing wrong things, when we do wrong things it often leads to doing other wrong things)

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever
God, you are the GREATEST!  (True)
God, you are all POWERFUL!  (True)
God, you’re great, but there are some things that are impossible for you. (False)
God, you will live FOREVER!  (True)
What does thine mean? (yours)
What is glory? (think about the word "glorious," amazing, fabulous, full of brilliant light)

Journal Reflection:

The last ten minutes should be reserved for journal time. This is an opportunity for processing and reflection about what the children have learned. Ask the shepherds to pass out the journals and pens/pencils. Place the journal question sticker for the day in each journal. 

Journal Questions:

Grades K-2:  Draw a picture of Jesus praying. Now draw a picture of you praying. 

Grades 3-5:  Use your own words to write a paraphrase of the Lord's Prayer . 

If you have extra time, review the Prayer FAQs Handout for more questions kids probably have!

Closing:

Gather the children together in a circle. Review with them one word or concept that they learned during today’s session. (prayer, believe, praise, thanks, confession, intercession, petition are some suggestions) Ask for prayer requests and close in prayer, ending with the Lord’s Prayer.

A lesson written by Jaymie Derden from: State Street UMC – G.R.E.A.T. Adventure
Bristol, VA

A representative of Rotation.org reformatted this post to improve readability.