Preschool Bible Lesson - Power of Prayer: Peter Escapes from Prison

Overview

9:45     sign-in, free play

10:05   opening prayer, introduction: chains

10:15   Bible lesson in flannel

10:30   Bible lesson game: Garden door craft

10:45   Snack

11:00   Bible lesson game: Quiet escape

11:15   Bible story retold: Rhoda the Servant Girl

11:20   coloring sheet

11:30   closing prayer, free play time

11:45   pick-up

 Bible Story: Peter in Prison

A few years after Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, the disciples were teaching others about Jesus and about Jesus’ teachings. The disciples were getting together people who believed in Jesus into groups called churches.

The leaders of the Jews got mad at this. They talked to King Herod and asked Herod to kill all the disciples. Herod wanted to please the Jewish leaders so he agreed. Herod captured Simon Peter and put him in prison. Herod planned to kill Peter at the end of the Passover feast.

Peter was kept in prison with 16 guards, four at a time guarding him.  All of the church prayed for Peter. They prayed that God would free him.

On the night before Peter was to die, he was sleeping with a guard chained to each of his hands. Two more guards were watching the doors. Suddenly a bright light shone in Peter’s cell and an angel of the Lord stood by him. The angel touched him on the side to wake him up and said “rise up quickly”.

As Peter stood up, the chains silently fell from his hands. The angel told him to get dressed.

Peter did what he was told and followed the angel. They passed by the first guard and then the second one. No one tried to stop them. They came to the big gate of the prison and it opened as if moved by an invisible hand. They went out of prison, into the city and onto a street. The angel left Peter as suddenly as it had appeared.

By this time Peter was fully awake and said “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hands of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”

Peter thought about what to do and went to the mother of his friend, Mark. Many people were praying for Peter at her house. Peter knocked on the garden door.

A little servant girl named Rhoda answered the door and heard Peter’s voice. She was so excited that she forgot to open the door. She ran into the house saying “Peter is here! Peter is here!”

None of the people who were praying for Peter’s freedom believed her. They thought she was just hearing things. Peter kept knocking. Rhoda insisted that it was Peter, so the people went to the door and opened it. To their surprise they saw Peter was standing there.

He told them all that had happened to him and told them to send word to the other disciples and apostles. Then Peter went to a place where Herod and his men could not find him.

That night the church learned a great deal. They learned that God does answer prayers. They had prayed for Peter’s freedom and God, himself, sent an angel to answer that prayer.

Remember, God does know what we need before we ask, and he will answer. Sometimes the answer is “yes”, sometimes the answer is “no” and sometimes the answer is “later.” And like Rhoda, we need to believe that God will answer our prayer.

Bible Craft: Garden Door Craft

Garden Door Craft

8 ½ x 11 piece of cardstock with a door cut to swing out

6 craft sticks

Crayons

Foam garden shapes such as trees and flowers

Paper with a man on it

Craft glue

Have the children glue the paper with the man on it to the back of the cardstock so that man faces door when door is opened. The children can glue craft sticks to the front of the door. Decorate the cardstock to make it look like a garden by using crayons and stickers.

While children are making this craft, they can also be told about how Jesus knocks on the door of our hearts wanting us to let him in. (Behold! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. Revelations 3:20)

 

Preschool Bible Lesson - Power of Prayer: Daniel

Overview

9:45     sign-in, free play

10:05   opening prayer, introduction

10:15   Bible lesson in flannel

10:30   Bible lesson craft: movable lions

10:45   Snack

11:00   Bible lesson game/activity: Not my Cub

11:15   Bible story retold: “Daniel and the Lion’s Den” Little Golden Book or Veggie Tales “Daniel”

11:20   Coloring sheets/additional activity: Daniel and the Lions foam shape stickers

11:30   closing prayer, free play time

11:45   pick-up

Bible Story: Daniel and the Lion’s Den

A long time ago there was four boys who were taken prisoner and brought to a far away king. They were brought to the palace to serve the king. The king ordered for the boys to be taught about his kingdom and taught how to speak his language. The king wanted to treat them well so he also gave them food and wine.

One of the boys, a boy named Daniel, did not want to break God’s law by eating food that was not good for him. He asked the man in charge of him if he could eat vegetables and fruit and drink only water instead of the king’s food. The man in charge was afraid that Daniel would get sick but agreed to a 10 day test.  After the 10 days, Daniel looked healthier than anyone else so Daniel was allowed to eat what he wanted. Because Daniel followed God’s laws, God gave Daniel a gift and he was able to tell what dreams mean.

The king had a strange dream about a statue and asked his people what the dream meant. God told Daniel the dream and the meaning of it. Daniel told the king what he had drempt and what it meant. The king was so happy that he made Daniel the ruler of Babylon. After a second dream came true, the king knew for sure that Daniel’s God was the one true God.

10 years later a new king ruled the kingdom. He did not believe in God and used the special cups from God’s temple to have a big party. God was upset. Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and began writing on the walls in the room. The king was watching the and as it wrote and he got really scared. The king did not know what the writing meant, so Daniel was called in. Daniel told the king that his days of being a king was over. God was displeased and a new king would take his place. That night the king died and a man named Darius became king.

King Darius and Daniel became very good friends. Darius made Daniel ruler over all the kingdom. This made the other rulers jealous because their power was taken away. So they came up with a plan to get rid of Daniel. They went to the king and asked if the king could make a law saying that no one could pray to anyone except the king for 30 days. If anyone was caught praying to someone other than the king, they would be put in the lion’s den. Darius was pleased to hear this because he thought that he was being honored. So he agreed.

Darius did not know that Daniel prayed to God. The other rulers knew that Daniel prayed to God 3 times a day. So they made a trap and caught Daniel praying. They brought him before Darius and demanded that he be thrown into the lion’s den. Daniel told Darius about God and about God’s law. He told Darius that he would rather die than disobey God. Darius argued with the other rulers until sundown because he did not want his friend to be hurt. Finally he had no choice but to put Daniel in the lion’s den.

When he sent Daniel to the lions, he said “May your God whom you faithfully serve Deliver you.” Daniel was thrown into the den of lions and a stone was brought and laid over the mouth of the den. The king went to his palace and fasted and prayed all night.

In the morning Darius ran to the lion’s den and cried out Daniel. Daniel answered him and told him that God sent an angel to shut the mouths of the lions. The king was so happy that he brought Daniel out and trusted God. He also told all of his kingdom that they had to worship Daniel’s God because he was they only true God.

Many years later, after King Darius had died another king took his place and Daniel told him about God too. The king would not believe at first. But after Daniel had shown him that the idols and the dragon they worshiped were not God, Daniel was put into the lion’s den a second time. The angel of the lord shut the lion’s mouths again and another angel brought a person to bring him food. After 7 days of being in the lions den, the new king saw that Daniel was alive and believed in God too.

Preschool Bible Lesson - The Greatest Commandment (Part 1) - Prayer

Lesson Overview

9:45 - sign in, free play time
10:05 - opening prayer, Game: God Hears Me
10:15 - Bible Story Lesson: Jesus teaches us to pray
10:40 - snack
10:45 - Bible Craft: Prayer Mat
11:15 - circle prayer time and story "Thank You Prayer"
11:20 - story: History of the Pretzel, hand out fresh bread pretzels
11:30 - closing prayer, coloring sheets, free play time 
11:45 - pick up

 Bible Story Lesson

 

Jesus teaches that w can show love to God by giving to the poor, by praying and by having faith that God will meet our needs.

Today we are going to learn how God would like us to pray. In Matthew 6:5-15 Jesus talks to us about prayer.

The first thing that Jesus tells us about prayer is that we should not show off when we pray. He says to go find a quiet place to pray to God.

The second thing that Jesus says is not to use meaningless words when we pray. Jesus says that God wants us to pray to him using simple, meaningful words because God knows what you need before you ask him.

Then Jesus told us how to pray. You may not understand the Lord's prayer when you first hear it or say it, but we are going to go through it and I will try to explain what each part means.

Our Father which art in heaven - this means that we are praying to our father in heaven. It reminds us that we are praying to God and it reminds us that we are not alone. God is our loving father and we are his special children.

Hallowed be thy name. - means that God's name is holy. We need to treat him special because he is God. We also need to be respectful to him when we pray. We show respect by folding our hands, bowing our heads and closing our eyes.


Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. - This part of the prayer means that we are praying for heaven to come so that there will be peace and love on earth like there is right now in heaven.


Give us this day our daily bread. - means that we ask God to give us everything we need to live - food, water, clothing, and shelter. We don't need a toy or lots of money, but we do need food and water to live.

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. - this is the part of the prayer where we ask God to forgive us for hurting others. (Asking for forgiveness means that we are sorry and do not want to do the mistake again.) The second part to this is that we have to forgive others who have hurt us. If we don't forgive others who hurt us, Jesus says that God can't forgive us. God will only forgive us in the same way that we forgive others.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil - sometimes it seems like it is more fun to do something else rather than to obey. This is called temptation. In this part of the prayer, we are asking God to help us do the right things.

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever - The last part of the prayer means that we know the Earth and Heaven is God's and that God has all the power and the glory over them for ever.

Amen - closes the prayer. It means "Truly, Indeed, I agree."

(For Bible Story lesson visuals, use Betty Lukens Bible in Felt visuals. Can be purchased from http://www.thefeltsource.com/BibleStories.html )

(Search for Bible text in any version at http://www.biblegateway.com/)

Bible Craft

Prayer mat

Materials (per each student)
1 solid color cloth place mat (preferably in light color) with the words "(child's name) Prayer Mat" written on it in black.
fabric paint, tempera paint or permanent markers
no-sew iron on appliques (for older children ages 6+)

Instructions
Have the child decorate the prayer mat as desired. Once it is completed and dry, recommend that the child place it by his/her bed to remind them to kneel down and pray a prayer to God when they first wake up and before they go to bed.