When You Pray
Children's sermon
Object: A card with Luke’s short version of the Lord’s Prayer to give to each child. Make your own card or use the one I have attached to this message.
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Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Great! Let’s hear the story. But I want to begin by asking you a question.
Do you ever say a prayer to God? (Let them respond.) Maybe before you eat or before you go to bed? (Let them respond.) And when you pray, do you just say what you want to say, or do you have a prayer memorized, so you always say the same thing? (Let them respond.) Did you know that most of Jesus’ friends were taught that there were rules they had to follow when they wanted to pray to God? (Let them respond.) They were told there were certain words they always had to say every time they prayed, and they had to say them in exactly the same way every time. And for some prayers, they had to move their hands and head in the same way every time. And sometimes, when they prayed before they ate, they had to have a special bowl of water to wash their hands in. And they were taught that if they did not pray in exactly the right way, God would just ignore their prayers, and sometimes, God would even get really angry with them. They believed that God hated people who did not follow the rules and would punish them if they prayed the wrong way. That makes God sound pretty scary, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.) Sometimes, we still hear people talk about God like that, don’t we? Jesus knew they were afraid of praying the wrong way, so he told them, “Let me tell you a new way to pray whenever you want to pray to God.”
And he told them not to worry about how to start praying, but just start by saying, “Abba”. Does anyone know what “Abba” means? (Let them respond.) It might surprise you. I know it surprised them. The word “Abba” means “Daddy”. Abba is what a little child calls their dad when they are talking or playing. That doesn’t sound very scary, does it? (Let them respond.) Instead of making God sound all big, and mean, and scary, like the other people did, Jesus told them they didn’t need to be afraid of God hating them, because God loves them just like their daddy does. So, Jesus said that when they pray, they could just start by saying, “Daddy, I love and respect you so much!”
Then Jesus told them to just say, “Let your kingdom come.” Does anyone think you know what that meant? (Let them respond.) Jesus meant they should just say that they loved and respected God so much they wanted God to be their leader and king and protect them and tell them what they should do.
Then Jesus told them to say, “Give us each day our daily bread.” Now, that sounds kind of strange, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.) Did Jesus really want them to ask God to give them a loaf of bread every day? (Let them respond.) No, that’s not what he meant. He meant they should say that they trusted that God would give them everything they needed every day, and they didn’t have to worry about that. They didn’t need to worry about collecting a bunch of money and getting rich, and they didn’t need to worry about building big houses to live in. Jesus wanted them to tell God that they trusted that God would take care of them and give them everything they needed every day, and they didn’t have to be afraid or fight with people because they were afraid that they might take something from them. God would give them everything they needed.
Then Jesus told them to pray, “Forgive us our sins.” That one is pretty clear, isn’t it? (Let them respond.) He wants them to ask God to forgive them for anything they have done that they shouldn’t have done, right? (Let them respond.) But Jesus added something else, didn’t he? He told them to say, “Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.” That meant he wanted them to ask God to forgive them, just as much as they forgive anyone who ever does something that hurts them. So, if they forgave everyone, God would forgive them, too. But what if they stayed mad at people and didn’t forgive them when they did something wrong? (Let them respond.) Then God wouldn’t forgive them either, right? (Let them respond.) They were promising God that they would forgive other people, just like they wanted God to forgive them, weren’t they? (Let them respond.)
And finally, Jesus told them to end their prayer by saying, “And lead us not into temptation.” Who can tell us what temptation means? (Let them respond.) Temptation is when we are thinking about doing something we know we aren’t supposed to do, isn’t it? (Let them respond.) Maybe we are just thinking about it, or maybe someone is trying to talk us into doing it, and we know it is wrong, but we are tempted to do it anyway, right? (Let them respond.) Now, that one sounds really strange, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.) If God really loves us like a Daddy, do you think God would try and tempt us to do things we really shouldn’t do? (Let them respond.) No, I don’t either. That’s not what Jesus meant when he said that. Jesus wanted them to ask God to protect them from anyone or anything that might try to lead them to do something they know they shouldn’t do. He wanted them to say they would only follow God and would ask God to not let anyone else lead them, didn’t he? (Let them respond.)
Jesus didn’t want them to be afraid of God, or think that God was a big, angry, mean, scary thing. He didn’t tell them they had to say those exact words, did he? (Let them respond.) And Jesus didn’t tell them they had to move in a certain way or have anything special with them when they prayed, did he? (Let them respond.) Jesus just wanted them to tell God that they loved and trusted God like a Daddy who would take care of them and lead them in the right ways. And he wanted them to promise that they would follow God like a king and would forgive other people anytime they did something that hurt them.
And that’s what Jesus wants us to do, too, isn’t it? (Let them respond.) Instead of worrying about things, Jesus just wants us to talk to God, just like he told his friends to talk to God. And I’m going to help you do that. (Give each child a card with the prayer on it.) This is the prayer that Jesus taught his friends, and I thought it would be nice if we prayed it together now. Can we do that? (Let them respond and then lead them in reading the prayer from their card.)
I hope our story will help us remember what Jesus said about God, and that we don’t have to be afraid of God. And I hope it will help us remember what God wants us to do. And who remembers what God wants us to do? (Let them respond.) Jesus said that more than anything else, God wants us to not spend time worrying, but to spend our time taking care of each other, didn’t he? (Let them respond.)
Now, let’s say our own prayer and ask God to remind us that Jesus loves every one of us and wants us to follow him and take care of each other the way God takes care of us.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us and for forgiving us when we forget that. And please help us remember that you love all of the people you have created and help us let the people around us know that we love them just like Jesus loves us. Amen.
* * *
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Great! Let’s hear the story. But I want to begin by asking you a question.
Do you ever say a prayer to God? (Let them respond.) Maybe before you eat or before you go to bed? (Let them respond.) And when you pray, do you just say what you want to say, or do you have a prayer memorized, so you always say the same thing? (Let them respond.) Did you know that most of Jesus’ friends were taught that there were rules they had to follow when they wanted to pray to God? (Let them respond.) They were told there were certain words they always had to say every time they prayed, and they had to say them in exactly the same way every time. And for some prayers, they had to move their hands and head in the same way every time. And sometimes, when they prayed before they ate, they had to have a special bowl of water to wash their hands in. And they were taught that if they did not pray in exactly the right way, God would just ignore their prayers, and sometimes, God would even get really angry with them. They believed that God hated people who did not follow the rules and would punish them if they prayed the wrong way. That makes God sound pretty scary, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.) Sometimes, we still hear people talk about God like that, don’t we? Jesus knew they were afraid of praying the wrong way, so he told them, “Let me tell you a new way to pray whenever you want to pray to God.”
And he told them not to worry about how to start praying, but just start by saying, “Abba”. Does anyone know what “Abba” means? (Let them respond.) It might surprise you. I know it surprised them. The word “Abba” means “Daddy”. Abba is what a little child calls their dad when they are talking or playing. That doesn’t sound very scary, does it? (Let them respond.) Instead of making God sound all big, and mean, and scary, like the other people did, Jesus told them they didn’t need to be afraid of God hating them, because God loves them just like their daddy does. So, Jesus said that when they pray, they could just start by saying, “Daddy, I love and respect you so much!”
Then Jesus told them to just say, “Let your kingdom come.” Does anyone think you know what that meant? (Let them respond.) Jesus meant they should just say that they loved and respected God so much they wanted God to be their leader and king and protect them and tell them what they should do.
Then Jesus told them to say, “Give us each day our daily bread.” Now, that sounds kind of strange, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.) Did Jesus really want them to ask God to give them a loaf of bread every day? (Let them respond.) No, that’s not what he meant. He meant they should say that they trusted that God would give them everything they needed every day, and they didn’t have to worry about that. They didn’t need to worry about collecting a bunch of money and getting rich, and they didn’t need to worry about building big houses to live in. Jesus wanted them to tell God that they trusted that God would take care of them and give them everything they needed every day, and they didn’t have to be afraid or fight with people because they were afraid that they might take something from them. God would give them everything they needed.
Then Jesus told them to pray, “Forgive us our sins.” That one is pretty clear, isn’t it? (Let them respond.) He wants them to ask God to forgive them for anything they have done that they shouldn’t have done, right? (Let them respond.) But Jesus added something else, didn’t he? He told them to say, “Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.” That meant he wanted them to ask God to forgive them, just as much as they forgive anyone who ever does something that hurts them. So, if they forgave everyone, God would forgive them, too. But what if they stayed mad at people and didn’t forgive them when they did something wrong? (Let them respond.) Then God wouldn’t forgive them either, right? (Let them respond.) They were promising God that they would forgive other people, just like they wanted God to forgive them, weren’t they? (Let them respond.)
And finally, Jesus told them to end their prayer by saying, “And lead us not into temptation.” Who can tell us what temptation means? (Let them respond.) Temptation is when we are thinking about doing something we know we aren’t supposed to do, isn’t it? (Let them respond.) Maybe we are just thinking about it, or maybe someone is trying to talk us into doing it, and we know it is wrong, but we are tempted to do it anyway, right? (Let them respond.) Now, that one sounds really strange, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.) If God really loves us like a Daddy, do you think God would try and tempt us to do things we really shouldn’t do? (Let them respond.) No, I don’t either. That’s not what Jesus meant when he said that. Jesus wanted them to ask God to protect them from anyone or anything that might try to lead them to do something they know they shouldn’t do. He wanted them to say they would only follow God and would ask God to not let anyone else lead them, didn’t he? (Let them respond.)
Jesus didn’t want them to be afraid of God, or think that God was a big, angry, mean, scary thing. He didn’t tell them they had to say those exact words, did he? (Let them respond.) And Jesus didn’t tell them they had to move in a certain way or have anything special with them when they prayed, did he? (Let them respond.) Jesus just wanted them to tell God that they loved and trusted God like a Daddy who would take care of them and lead them in the right ways. And he wanted them to promise that they would follow God like a king and would forgive other people anytime they did something that hurt them.
And that’s what Jesus wants us to do, too, isn’t it? (Let them respond.) Instead of worrying about things, Jesus just wants us to talk to God, just like he told his friends to talk to God. And I’m going to help you do that. (Give each child a card with the prayer on it.) This is the prayer that Jesus taught his friends, and I thought it would be nice if we prayed it together now. Can we do that? (Let them respond and then lead them in reading the prayer from their card.)
I hope our story will help us remember what Jesus said about God, and that we don’t have to be afraid of God. And I hope it will help us remember what God wants us to do. And who remembers what God wants us to do? (Let them respond.) Jesus said that more than anything else, God wants us to not spend time worrying, but to spend our time taking care of each other, didn’t he? (Let them respond.)
Now, let’s say our own prayer and ask God to remind us that Jesus loves every one of us and wants us to follow him and take care of each other the way God takes care of us.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us and for forgiving us when we forget that. And please help us remember that you love all of the people you have created and help us let the people around us know that we love them just like Jesus loves us. Amen.
