During the lesson, the information for you to know is written in regular type, and what we suggest speaking or reading aloud to children is in bold. All resources for this lesson, including the Teacher Guide, Student Page, Family Connection Card, and other resources can be downloaded in a ZIP file by clicking on the following link:
In some lessons you will find "resource articles." These are articles written by experts from around the world to help equip you for your work with children and adolescents. Share them with parents or guardians if you consider it appropriate.
Before class, tear out the 2 pages found at the end of the lesson. Tear or cut apart the pictures. Place the pictures of the heart, cross, crown, cloud, and earth in a bag to use in the Responding section of this lesson. Set aside the other pictures for use in Lesson 4.
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Matthew 6:9–10, NIV
Jesus taught His disciples to pray this prayer. It begins by reminding us that God is our Father and He is in heaven. It reminds us that His name is holy. It also calls us to remember that we are supposed to do God’s will and that He has power over heaven and earth. This is a prayer that most of us are very used to saying, but we might not really think about the words.
Read the words of the first part of this prayer again. Does anything stand out to you? When you pray, what name do you use to talk to God? Father, Creator, God, Lord, Holy Spirit, Jesus—the list goes on. When you talk to God, do you remember His power, His strength, His mercy, or His awesomeness? The next time you pray this prayer, think about these things and stand in awe of His presence.
Encourage families to pray the Lord’s Prayer together at home. If you are using Student Pages, encourage children to show these to their families.
Teacher Tip: If possible, email or text the Family Connection Card to the families of your students.
Welcome the students as they enter. Ask them to sit in a circle and tell each other what prayer is.
Today, we will learn a very special prayer! We will learn a prayer Jesus taught His disciples when He was here on earth.
If you were to teach a friend how to pray, what would you want him to know?
Allow 3–4 children to respond.
Maybe you would tell your friend that praying is talking to God. Maybe you would teach your friend about the 5 types of prayer. Do you remember what these are? Let’s do the motions for each type of prayer as I say them to you.
When Jesus lived on earth, He taught His disciples how to pray. As I read Jesus’ prayer, listen for each of the 5 types of prayer. When we hear one, we will make the motion that goes with it. Listen to what Jesus said:
This is how you should pray. (Listen) “Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored. (Praise) 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. (Ask) And forgive us our sins, just as we also have forgiven those who sin against us. (Tell) Keep us from sinning when we are tempted. Save us from the evil one. (Ask)
Matthew 6:9–13
This prayer gives us a model for how to pray, and it has the types of prayer in it that we learned about. Remember, praise and thanks are very similar, so you could say that the first part of the prayer gives both thanks and praise to God.
Optional: If possible, share the image of Jesus teaching from The Action Bible.
Jesus taught His followers how to pray the Lord’s Prayer. This prayer is said by Christians all over the world! Many people memorize this prayer. Sometimes people say this prayer out loud together. You may have heard people say this prayer. Sometimes the words are a little different, but it is the same prayer. Here are the words we use at our church to say the prayer.
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, as we also forgive those who have sinned against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Matthew 6:9-13
Today you will learn the first half of this prayer. For our lesson, we will look in the Bible and use the Lord’s Prayer as it appears in the book of Matthew, chapter 6. Listen to the first part of the prayer.
Read these verses directly from your Bible.
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Matthew 6:9b–10, NIV
Jesus starts the prayer by talking to His Father. God is also a Father to us. He created us and wants us to be part of His family. Jesus started His prayer with the words “Our Father” because we are all invited into God’s family where He is a Father to us. When you start your prayer by calling God your Father, you remind yourself that God is your Father and He loves you.
After starting with “Our Father,” Jesus declares that God is in heaven. Heaven is God’s kingdom. Heaven is above the earth. In many languages the word for heaven is the same as the word for sky.
The next part of the prayer is a little difficult to understand. It says, “Hallowed be your name.”
God’s name.
Allow 1–2 children to respond.
God’s name is holy! “Hallowed” means holy. This part of the prayer asks that we honour God and who He is. We have learned that God the Father can be called “God,” “Father,” or “Lord.” All of these are holy names for God.
Jesus continues the Lord’s Prayer by saying, “Your kingdom come.” We just learned that God’s kingdom is heaven. When we believe in God, we want to honour God through our words and actions. We show love to others because we know how much God loves us. When we do this, we show who God is to the world!
Next, Jesus prayed, “Your will be done.” You can ask God to guide you to make the choices that would be pleasing to Him. You can ask God to help other people to make right choices. You can ask God to help people in authority to make right choices. When people choose what God would want, they are doing His will.
Let’s put these 2 parts of the prayer together. When I say, “Your kingdom come,” you will say, “Your will be done.” Ready?
Say, “Your kingdom come.” The children will say, “Your will be done.” Repeat the call and response 3 times.
In the next part of the prayer, Jesus tells us to ask for God’s kingdom to come and for His will to be done “on earth as it is in heaven.” This means that we want God’s people to live in ways that honour Him.
Optional: If you think your children may not know or remember what sin is, use the following to teach them about this concept.
Remember when we learned about Adam and Eve? Before they sinned, all of the earth was created in a way that was pleasing to God. The Bible tells us what God said after He created the world and everything in it.
God saw everything he had made. And it was very good.
Genesis 1:31a
He said that it was very good.
Allow 2–3 children to respond.
End of Option.
If everyone did what God wanted them to do, the world would not have pain or death. People would not hurt each other. Everyone would live in peace. The Bible tells us that Jesus will bring His kingdom back to earth someday.
Let’s say the first part of the prayer together. I will pause after each part for you to repeat the words.
Read each line of the prayer and pause briefly for the children to repeat it after you.
You will learn the rest of the prayer in the next lesson. Now that you have learned the first half of the Lord’s Prayer, let’s do an activity to help us remember it.
Pick up the bag of pictures you prepared before class. Gather the children in a circle with you standing to 1 side of it.
I have the Lord’s Prayer in this bag! I do not have the words of the prayer, but I have pictures that represent the parts of the prayer you just learned. I have 5 pictures in the bag, so I need 5 volunteers.
Select 5 children to each choose 1 picture without looking inside the bag. Ask the 5 children to stand next to you and hold their pictures so the rest of the class can see them. The following is a list of what each object represents.
Together, let’s say each part of the Lord’s Prayer we have learned. After we say each part, you will look at the pictures to try to find the one you think might represent that part of the prayer. We will figure out the first picture together. Ready?
Let’s start by saying together: Our Father.
Look at all of the pictures. We have a crown, a cloud, a heart, a cross, and the earth.
What do we know about God?
Allow 2–3 children to respond.
God is powerful. He is our Father. He loves us. In fact, God is love. Raise your hand if you see a picture of something that represents love.
If 1 or more children raise their hands, choose 1 to call out a picture. If the child chooses a heart, affirm that he is correct. If not, tell the child that he guessed well, but that is not the answer.
A heart represents love. God is love, so the heart represents God the Father.
Ask the child holding the picture of the heart to stand to the left of you. As the children match the pictures to each part of the prayer, have the child holding the corresponding picture stand to the right of the child holding the heart. Repeat this until all of the pictures are in order from left to right.
Read each of the following parts of the prayer. After reading each part, ask the children to guess which picture represents it. If the children guess correctly, ask them to tell you why they chose that picture. If the children do not guess correctly, tell them what the picture is any why it represents that part of the prayer. The answers are given below each phrase. If you are using the Memory Verse Poster, show it to the students.
Very good! It is your turn. I will stand behind each picture as you say the prayer without me. Ready?
Optional: If you are using Student Pages, let the children draw the pictures matching each part of the prayer.
End class by saying this blessing, based on Matthew 6:9–10, over the children.
Blessing: May you grow to know God as your Father in heaven. May you do His will as you wait for the coming of His kingdom.
Lead the children in singing this quarter’s song, if possible.
Life on Life ©2020 David C Cook. Reproducible for home or classroom use only. All other uses require written permission from David C Cook [email protected]. All rights reserved.
