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.
Optional: If you are using the prayer response station and you were not able to keep it displayed, set it up again now. Set out the papers and pencils, rags, or strings that the students will use during the response at the end of the lesson.
I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.
Deuteronomy 30:19
Many years before Jesus taught His disciples to pray, Moses spoke these words to the Israelites. Even then the people had a choice. They could follow God and choose life, or they could adopt the evil practices of the nations around them and choose death. Jesus knows that our human desires often cause us to choose evil. So He encouraged His disciples—and us—to choose the way of life over the way of evil.
Are you walking in the freedom and life Jesus offers? Jesus died and was raised from the dead. The battle against evil has already been won! But sin still tempts us. It may creep into our lives in small ways, but it always leads away from God. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you the areas where you are tempted to choose sin. Ask God to deliver you from evil and guide you along safe paths.
Encourage the students to ask their family members, “What helps you overcome temptations?” They can then share what they learned about relying on God’s power to overcome temptations.
Teacher Tip: If possible, email or text the Family Connection Card to the families of your students.
As the students arrive, have them help you set up the game you will begin class with. If possible, play the game outdoors so you can draw a path on the ground with a stick. The path should be about 1 meter wide, and it should wind and curve; it should not be completely straight. Have the students line up on both sides of the pathway facing each other. If you do not have a way to mark the pathway, you can still play the game. Just have the students line up in 2 lines facing each other.
Each student will take a turn walking down the pathway between the other students. As he walks on the pathway, the other students will try to block him or cause him to go in a different direction. They may not step inside the lines, but they can use their arms or their feet to create barriers or obstacles. They may not touch the student who is walking down the pathway, but it is okay if the walking student touches them. The students in the line can even rearrange the entire line to make the pathway lead in a different direction. The walking student must make it all the way to the end of the line. Then he will take the place of 1 of the students at the end of the line, and that student will walk down the pathway. Repeat the game until all the students have had a chance to walk down the pathway.
This game can show us something about life. Our lives are full of temptations, and we have to find ways to get past them. Jesus knew this, so He taught His disciples to ask for God’s help to overcome temptation.
Today we will learn the last part of the prayer Jesus taught His disciples. In this part, He tells us to ask God to keep us from temptation.
Allow students to offer their ideas.
Temptation is a strong desire to have or do something, especially something sinful or unwise. Feeling tempted is not sin in itself. All people are tempted at different times and by different things, and sometimes these temptations do not lead to sin. But sometimes we are tempted to do something we know is against God’s will for our lives. When we do these things, it is sinful.
Optional: If possible, share the image from The Action Bible.
When Jesus was on earth, He taught His disciples how to pray to their heavenly Father. Let’s review the part we have learned so far.
Have the teens repeat the prayer with you.
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 debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Matthew 6:9–12
Now we will read the final section of this prayer.
Have a student read Matthew 6:13 aloud from the Bible. If that is not possible, the verse is printed here for you.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Matthew 6:13
Have students repeat this verse aloud several times.
Remember that temptation is a strong desire to have or do something, especially something sinful or unwise. Jesus knew we would face temptation because He also was tempted. The Bible tells us that we can be tempted by the devil, who even tried to tempt Jesus to sin. We can also be tempted by our own sinful thoughts and ideas. Others may try to convince us to do things we should not do. God does not tempt us because He is completely good. Listen to a verse that talks about that.
When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.
James 1:13
It is impossible for God to tempt us to sin because He is holy, which means He is completely separate from sin. Persuading us to sin would go against who He is.
Allow students to share their thoughts.
We are tempted to sin every day because, as we saw in our opening activity, temptation is all around us. When we pray “lead us not into temptation,” we are asking God to help us so we do not give in to the temptation and end up in sin. We are asking God to protect us from the desire to give in to temptation.
Allow teens to answer. Remind them that the final part of the prayer is “but deliver us from the evil one.”
Allow students to share their thoughts.
The Bible tells us that there is evil in the world. Our own human desires cause us to sin. When we are tempted to make wrong choices, God can help us choose not to sin. He can help us to escape from our sinful desires by delivering us from evil.
Listen as I read a situation. Then, turn to the person next to you and discuss together how you would escape!
You are in a small house when a fire starts in the cooking stove. You are on the ground level. There are 3 windows and a door in the room. The door is closest to the cooking stove. You are standing on the opposite side of the room from the door with a window behind you. There are also windows on the walls to your left and right but they have not been opened for a long time. Think of a couple ways to escape.
Allow students to talk about their ways to escape for about 1 minute. Then bring the group back together and invite a few pairs to share their solutions.
Just as you would need to find a way to escape if there were a fire, the Bible tells us that God will help us escape when we are tempted to sin. Listen to this verse.
If you are using the Memory Verse Poster, show it to the students.
Have a student read 1 Corinthians 10:13 aloud from the Bible.
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
1 Corinthians 10:13
He provides a way of escape.
Ask the students to share their ideas with their partners. Give the student 2–3 minutes to discuss. Then allow 2 students to share their thoughts with the whole group. If teens have difficulty thinking of situations, you may want to suggest some, such as a teen being pressured to sell drugs but finding other ways to make money or a teen being tempted to give in to sexual pressure from a boyfriend or girlfriend but spending time together with friends so they are not alone.
Jesus knows what it feels like to be tempted, too. Yet, He never gave in to sin. He understands our temptations, and He is able to help us whenever we are tempted. Listen to this verse:
Have a student read Hebrews 2:18 aloud.
Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Hebrews 2:18
Jesus understands temptation. And He also understands the evil one. When He lived on earth, He was tempted by Satan, but He did not give in to the temptations. Satan is God’s enemy. The Bible tells us he comes to steal, kill, and destroy. He does this by tempting people and by creating difficulties to cause people to doubt God. Jesus fought against Satan’s lies and temptations with the truth of God’s Word. That is something we can do too!
We have now learned the entire prayer that Jesus taught His disciples to pray. Let’s say the whole prayer together.
This, then, is how you should pray: 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 debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Matthew 6:9–13
Every one of us will be tempted to sin, and every one of us will sin. But as we draw closer to God through prayer, He strengthens us against temptation and offers us protection from evil. Sin—or choosing our own way instead of God’s—brings death. Choosing to live God’s way brings life. Jesus’ death on the cross means the battle against sin and evil has already been won. But we can pray each day for God to lead us and protect us from temptations.
In our illustration from the beginning of class, we saw that temptations are all around us. We may find it difficult to resist those things. What are the temptations you face? Do you feel drawn to tell lies to protect yourself? Are you tempted to steal things? Do you want to hurt those who hurt you?
Point out the prayer response station and the different colored strings or rags or papers that will act as symbolic prayers. Have the students think about a temptation they may be facing. Tell them that if they want to ask God to deliver them from that temptation, they can add their prayer symbol to the prayer station.
After the students have had time to respond, point out the stones. Invite each student to take a stone. Tell the students that these stones represent promises from God to each of them. He cares about each person.
Optional: If you are using the Student Page, give the students time to complete it.
Close with this blessing based on John 16:33.
Blessing: Though life is sometimes filled with hurt, pain, and sadness, may you know that in Jesus you can always find peace. You can take heart in His love. He has overcome the world!
Lead the students 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.
