Children's Sunday School Lessons - Why Pray? (Lesson 3)

Topics:
Christianity, Knowing God, Listening, Prayer, Relationships

The third lesson of a series of three introduces children to the purposes of prayer.

What's My Purpose (Activity) Click here
As the children arrive give them a copy of the handout. The hand out has pictures of several different things. Below each item is space for them to write what they think the purpose of the item is. Ask them to share the answers they came up with for prayer (the praying hands). List these on the board.

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart" Jeremiah 29:13
For this activity you will need a cassette player, cassette tape, and a bean bag or a pair of rolled up socks. Have the children stand in a circle. Instruct them to gently toss the bean bag while the music is playing. when the music stops, the child holding the bean bag will say the verse.

Introduction:
In the last two weeks we will learned that prayer is communicating or talking with God and that we should pray earnestly and not half heartily. Today we will discuss the purpose of prayer or in other words what do I pray for? The word ACTS will help you remember what to pray for.

A = Adoration
Adore God, love Him and praise Him for who He is.
"Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all."
1 Chronicles 29:11

C = Confession
Admit your sins to God, ask for His forgiveness through faith that Jesus died for our sins.
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9

T = Thanksgiving
Thank God for answered prayers, for the good things He has done in your life. For growth.
"Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Ephesians 5:20

S = Supplication
Pray for your family and friends, for those who are sick or sad. Pray for those who are not Christians yet. Pray for your own spiritual growth and any other needs that you may have.
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."
Matthew 7:7

Discussion Questions:
1. What is a good word to remember when your trying to remember the purpose of prayer?
2) What does the letter A in the word acts remind us to pray for?
3) What does the letter C in the word acts remind us to pray for?
4) What does the letter T in the word acts remind us to pray for?
5) What does the letter S in the word acts remind us to pray for?

Purpose of Prayer (Activity) Click Here for Student Handout Click Here for Teacher Handout

Today we learned the purpose of prayer. A neat way to remember the purpose of prayer, is to remember the word ACTS. We can pray for A - Adoration of God, C - Confession, T - Thanksgiving and S - Supplication. We also learned that God wants to be involved in our lives on a daily basis, so we need to pray, read our Bibles and acknowledge that the world we live in was created by God. Look around you, see the beauty, and be thankful.

Prayer Practice:
Spend some time practicing prayer. Assign one of the letters of ACTS to four different and willing children. One can give a prayer of adoration, how great is our God. A second child can give a prayer asking God to forgive everyone when they sin. The next child can give a prayer of thankfulness for all the blessings God gives. Finally, the forth child can pray for someone in the church who needs special comfort, healing, or wisdom.

Choose another exciting lesson plan from the Kid's Sunday School Place.

Give one copy to each child at the end of the class to take home. Click here for NIV or KJV