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(WT) Lord's Prayer ~ Bible Skills and Games Workshop

Rotation.org Writing Team

The Lord's Prayer

Bible Skills and Games Workshop


Summary of Activities

Students will "play through" a series of three Game Stations to learn the Lord’s Prayer, help commit it to memory, and think about the meaning of several of its key verses. 

  • Game 1: The Lord's Prayer "inflection" Game - It’s amazing how quickly our brains focus on the meaning of certain words when we emphasize them over others.
  • Game 2: The Halo-Hallowed Ring Toss - A game-y way for players to select subjects to which they have to respond, spurring discussion on praying with the right attitude!
  • Game 3:  Forgiveness: Untying the Human Knot - A "knotty" activity to drive home the meaning of "forgive us our debts..."

Scripture for the Lesson

Matthew 6:5-13 (NRSV)

Lesson Objectives

See the Bible Background at rotation.org for this set's complete list of objectives. 

Preparation and Materials


"Inflection" Game 1 Setup and Supplies:

  • Move furniture and use supplies (sheets, blankets, etc.) to create a simulated "small room/closet/private space" in the corner of the classroom. Make this space large enough for the entire class to sit inside in a circle. This could be a corner of the classroom enclosed with a screen or a surround of chairs covered with blankets. Or try hanging fabric from your drop ceiling. Include a rug and cushions to make it comfy and inviting, as a private prayer room should be!
  • Write out the Lord's Prayer on a large piece of paper (flipchart/easel/chalkboard). Use your church's worship service version of the Lord’s Prayer. Write it line by line on the page, per the instructions in the game below, and then cover it.
  • A ball or object for players to pass to each other—the "prayer ball"
  • A blank half sheet of paper and a marker for each student

"Hallowed" Game 2 Setup and Supplies:

  • Four tossable "halo rings" made from materials you have available. (They could be small hula-hoops, or lengths of old garden hose whose ends you have taped together to form a ring, or rolled-up pieces of fabric held together with tape, or sturdy, buckled belts, or thick rope taped or tied together.)
  • At least sixteen, 11x17" sheets of paper
  • Masking tape
  • A black permanent marking pen
  • SOLO-style cups (or any other type of tall, unbreakable cup) in 3 colors; at least 16 of one color, fewer of the other two colors (These other two colors of cups will be used to mark which pegs a team has “ringed.” Alternately, omit these extra cups and plan to DRAW a team identifier on the paper of a ringed peg/cup.)
  • Tape a cup to the center of each 11x17 sheet. (These are your "pegs" in the ring toss game.)
  • On each sheet of paper write a phrase suggesting either a “good” or a “bad” idea about prayer. See the Ring Toss game graphic for suggested phrases to write. We have come up with 16. Feel free to adjust. [Note: In this graphic, the "good" ideas are represented in green cups, the "bad" with red cups. Different colors are shown in the graphic for illustrative purposes for the person setting up the game. All of your cups should be the same color.]
  • Set up your ring toss game by taping the 11x17" papers to the floor so that they don't move when ringed. The space between the pegs on the "game board" should be arranged in proportion to the size of the rings you've made so that only one cup-peg can be "ringed" in a toss.
  • Determine where the tosser should stand. The distance between the player throwing the ring and the peg/cup game board depends on the age group and skill level. Eight to ten feet is about right. Adjust this distance after a few test throws to make it reasonably challenging.


"Untying the Knot" Game 3 Setup:



Lesson Plan

Opening

Welcome your students and explain what they'll be doing and learning today.

Game Station 1:  The Lord's Prayer "Inflection" Game

This game station introduces the scripture and plays a simple "inflection" reading game with the Lord's Prayer that changes the emphasis used with each word of the prayer. (This teaches a way for students to keep the prayer fresh and meaningful even as it is repeated throughout their lives.)

First, enter your Prayer Closet (your "small room")

This station's setting purposefully simulates the small room or "closet" which Jesus told his disciples to go pray in.

Once seated, introduce the Lord's Prayer, find it in your Bibles and read it together, then play the Inflection Reading Game.

Introducing The Lord's Prayer:
Say:  Jesus did and taught many wonderful and amazing things. One of the most important things Jesus taught his disciples was a prayer that helps us know HOW and WHAT to pray to God. We call his prayer, "The Lord's Prayer."

  • How many of you have heard of the Lord's Prayer? 
  • Where do you usually hear this prayer? (in worship)
  • How many of you can pray it? (Encourage them to recite the prayer, providing hints as needed to complete it to the best of their ability).


Find and Read Matthew 6:5-13
.
Make note of Jesus' instruction to pray in private, then make note of the private prayer space the class is sitting in, and ask your students why "privacy" is so important for our daily prayers?

Three reasons why praying in private is helpful:

  1. It allows you to be honest with your thoughts to God without being embarrassed in front of others.
  2. It reduces distractions.
  3. Having a special place and time for prayer helps create a daily reminder and routine, along with a comfortable place to take our time with God.

Get ready to play the game by unveiling the Lord's Prayer written in large letters on your flipchart.
Ask students to point out some of the differences between the version in the Bible and the version on the flipchart from your worship service. (If needed use the Bible Background to explain why the two versions are slightly different.)

Using your church's preferred wording, the lines should be written like this on the flipchart:

  1. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be they name
  2. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done
  3. On earth as it is in heaven
  4. Give us this day our daily bread
  5. And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors
  6. And lead us not into temptation 
  7. But deliver us from evil
  8. For thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever.

Play the Inflection Game:
  1. Seated in a circle, give everyone a half sheet of paper and a marker to keep in front of them. Explain that this will be their scorecard. Tell everyone that this game is similar to the basketball game "H.O.R.S.E." except there's no elimination.
  2. The teacher begins the game by saying line #1 of the Lord's Prayer on the chart, with no emphasis, then passes the "prayer ball" to the student on their left.
  3. That student REPEATS the line but must emphasize a word in the line. (Encourage them to boldly speak their emphasis.) They then pass the ball to the person on their left.
    (Note: You may create a rule that they are not allowed to emphasize connector words like “and.” Underline those on the flipchart so they know not to pick them.
  4. The next person repeats the line but with a new/different inflection/emphasis.
  5. Continue passing the ball and quickly working on the same line until the students have exhausted their ability to emphasize different words in a line.
    For example:
    Teacher: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
    Player 1:  OUR Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
    Player 2:  Our FATHER who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
    Player 3:  Our Father who art in HEAVEN, hallowed be thy name.
    Player 4:  Our Father who art in heaven, HALLOWED be thy name. Etc.
  6. When the player holding the ball CANNOT figure out a new word to emphasize, or they accidentally repeat the emphasis that another student has already made, they write a letter from the word "P.R.A.Y." on the paper in front of them—their "scorecard."  ("Getting letters" simply adds some fun "game stress" to bring excitement and focus, and aid retention. And it ensures that students must listen closely!) thumbs up
    In smaller groups, if a player gets all the "P.R.A.Y" letters before you get through all the lines, have them spell PRAYER instead.
  7. At this point the teacher shares an insight or a question about the verse. (See the attached Inflection Game Teaching Guide).

    an angel For example: 
    Hanna, you emphasized "OUR."  What's the difference between saying, "Our Father" and "OUR Father"? 
    Why do you suppose we pray our Father instead of my Father?  ("Our," says right from the start that I'm part of a family. The people saying this prayer with me right now, are also loved, forgiven, and spoken to by God.
  8. After making your first teaching comment about "OUR Father" and "HALLOWED," restart the game by moving on to line 2, saying it flatly and then passing the ball to someone in the circle who hasn't gone yet, having them repeat the line with a different emphasis, and then pass the ball to their left, and so on, playing just like you did for the first line.
  9. Repeat until you've covered all the lines on the Lord's Prayer, or until you determine that it is time to move on to the next game.


Conclude by saying the Lord's Prayer together
 inviting everyone to emphasize whichever word they wish as the class reads through it together slowly. 

a star  When finished, suggest that your students "pray" this way the next time they are in worship, consciously and quietly emphasizing different words in the prayer as the congregation says them together, but without being distracting to those in prayer around them. Suggest they teach this newfound Lord's Prayer skill to their family.

Game Station 2:  The Halo ~ Hallowed Ring Toss

This ring-toss game plays on the word-origin connection between "hallowed" and "halo" to help students think about how they honor (hallow, praise, halo) God by praying with the right attitude and expectations.  As seen in the suggested ring-toss layout below, some ideas are good ("green cups") and some are not good ("red cups"). Your cups should all be the same color. Students will determine whether an idea is good or bad when they ring it. (There's no penalty for avoiding a "bad" cup. Every cup that is ringed has to be explained. Read the game rules below.)

ninja  The Game's Secret: The tossing of halo rings is a game-y way for players to select subjects about which they have to respond.

set up for the halo-hallowed ring toss game(Click to enlarge. Print to guide your own peg-card creating.)


Starting and Explaining the Meaning of the Game:

a halo round JesusAsk:  Who knows the meaning of the word "halo?"
Show them the Halo-Hallowed Handout of pictures.

Say:  It's a symbol; a disk or a circle of light that artists would often paint around the head of a person to show that they were divine or holy. The word "halo" comes from the word "hallowed" which is found in the Lord's Prayer. It means "holy," as in "radiant"—like the power and light of God surrounding a person, to show they are special. God is often described as a brilliant, radiant light.
Ask:  What does LIGHT do in the world? 
Say:  Light makes us warm, it can embrace/surround us, it gets rid of darkness (evil), it can lead the way, and light makes things and people grow!

To begin the game:
Split into two teams and give each team two "halos."
Alternating between teams, have the first student make two tries to toss and ring just one of the "pegs" on the game board. When they ring one of the pegs, a cup of their team's color is placed over the cup they have ringed, and play passes to the other team. If they miss both tosses, their turn is over and the player on the next team gets two tosses. (If kids keep missing, reduce the throwing distance). Once a peg has been ringed and has the other team's cup covering it, that peg cannot be ringed by anyone else. If a player accidentally rings a peg that has already been claimed/ringed, that ring doesn't count. Pick up the rings after they have been thrown and return them to the next players on each team.

Once every player has had a turn throwing the rings for their team, gather around the cups and have them read the statement written on their pegged 11x17 sheets. Have them ANSWER WHY that idea is important in prayer, or why it's an incorrect idea about prayer.

Work your way through all the cups they have ringed. This is your prime opportunity to reinforce what prayer IS and IS NOT. Adjust the time spent answering and explaining cups to maintain a fun atmosphere.

Keep score to keep focus!  Award 2 points for every cup that's ringed. Then award 1 or 2 points for their answer to the statement written on the 11x17 sheet that the cup was taped to.


Game Station 3:  Forgive us as we also forgive (The Human Knot Game)

The Greek word which we translate as "forgive," is an action word that means, "letting go, freeing, loosening." It's a rich visual metaphor that we will drive home in the following "knotty" activity. As you teach the meaning of forgiveness and ask questions, you will be helping your students overcome the challenging grammar and potentially confusing theology of "forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." (See the Bible Background for more details about this verse.)  

Sin & our Halos-how prayer helps


Play the "Human Knot" Game

See the post below this one for a different kind of "knot untieing game."

This will be a familiar game to many in children's or youth ministry, but we're taking it a step beyond the usual "group building exercise" to visually demonstrate the meaning of the word "forgive" in the Lord's Prayer (loosen, untie, unbind) and connect it to the concept of "halo" (holy, hallowed) learned in the previous game.

prayer circle

Set up the game with the following introductory circle activity and comments, and then create the human knot. Follow the instructions seen in the video clip below if needed.

  1. Begin by having the students form a "Family of God" Hallowed Circle. Describe this circle as the way that God WANTS us to relate to each other—as a family, as the children of God. (Hold hands, as your kids feel comfortable doing).

  2. Turn to the person on your right and left and say, "Hi brother/sister, how are you today?" Then ask, "How can I help you?" And now, "Can you help me?"

  3. Now waive across the circle at someone and say out loud, "I'm here for you too!" 

  4. Now turn to the person on your left and pat them on the back saying, "God loves you."

  5. Now turn to the person on your right and shake their hand saying, "You're not perfect but that's okay, neither am I."

  6. Now ask everyone if they have noticed what SHAPE the family of God is standing in? (circle or halo)
    What did we just learn that a halo means? (it means Hallowed! Holy!)

    Say:  In the Lord's Prayer we bless God's name as holy and hallowed, and through our prayers, God blesses us in return, by sharing his holy presence and making us "holy" or "hallowed" too!  (Making us special, set apart, beaming for God).  Prayer prepares us to GLOW and SHINE with God's love in this world. But here's the problem: SIN.  Our bad and selfish behaviors keep trying to break our halos. Our sins tie our halos into knots.  Asking for God's forgiveness in prayer helps UNtie them.

  7. I want you to step into the middle of our circle as close to each other as you can. Now reach out one hand and take hold of another person's hand. Then reach out your other hand and grab someone else's hand, making sure you are not holding both of the same person's hands. (TIP: If you have kids who don't want to hold hands, give them a piece of fabric or rope to hold between the two of them.)

  8. MAKE THIS POINT: YOU'VE MADE A KNOT!

    Prayer is one of the best tools we have for fighting sin and restoring relationships.

    When we ask God to forgive our sins and ask for God's help with forgiving those who have sinned against us, we are both recognizing and restoring the "holy"—the halo, the honor/respect—that God blesses all his children with and wants us to share.

  9. Now have students try to "untie" their knot and restore the circle (halo, hallowed family) without letting go of each other's hands.

Close the lesson in the circle speaking the Lord's Prayer together.



Adaptations

For Younger Students:   

In the Inflection game, split the longer lines.
In the Halo game, reduce the number of cup-pegs. Read the statements to the students and ask them "why" that's a good idea or "wrong" idea about prayer.
In the Human Knot game, remind them not to grip too tightly or twist an arm. 

For those with more class time or older students:

Play a second round of the ring toss game but have students write their own "good" and "bad" prayer attitudes, taping them to the 11x17 sheets.

For those with less class time: 

Play a shortened version of the Inflection game by not giving P.R.A.Y. letters, and only doing your choice of key verses.
Reduce the number of Halo cup-pegs.
Leave out either game 2 or 3. (Use it for a "closing prayer" activity in another lesson). thumbs up

For those with two to four students:

Substitute a "knot game" for the Human Knot game. To do this, use a length of rope to form a large circle held by the students. When it comes time to play "Human" knot, instead, have the kids tie their circle of rope into a giant knot (demonstrating how our sins ruin the halo/honor/respect that we should be giving God and to each other). Then give each student 10 seconds to untie the knot until they have to pass the knot to the next student. Keep moving the knot and giving more time per student until it is untied.

Written by Debbie Fisher and the Rotation.org Writing Team

Copyright 2020, Rotation.org Inc.

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