How to PrayLesson 4: Prayer Means Yielding

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Lesson 4—Prayer Means Yielding

Unit SummaryPrayer is a familiar topic to children—but do we truly teach children how to pray? For too many Christians (of any age), prayer is reserved for times of trouble or cursory meal blessings, but prayer is so much more. It connects us with our Creator and deepens our walk with God. Teach prayer as a skill so that children can discover firsthand how it enriches their lives. Teach children to pray, and there become many things you will not have to teach them—the Holy Spirit will do it for you! In order to give children a simple mental framework, break down the many aspects of prayer into four areas, each starting with a letter of the word “PRAY”—Praising, Repenting, Asking, and Yielding. While there is certainly more to prayer than can be captured in four simple words, each lesson will expand on the broader aspects to show kids that they will enjoy a lifetime exploring the power and the joy of connecting with God!

Lesson SummaryThis lesson may be the most important of them all. Many people praise God. Some repent of their sins. Millions ask Him for things. But prayer’s real life-changing power comes when we yield to God. And that is difficult. Yielding is the act of letting others have their way. In prayer, yielding is choosing to let God have His way—no matter what. Disciples of Jesus follow Him wherever He leads. This lesson will teach kids how to ask God in prayer: “What are You asking me to do? Where are You asking me to go? How do You want me to respond? Which decision do You want me to make?” It will then encourage them to yield to whatever God reveals to

them. It won’t always be easy, but it will always transform their lives.

Paul’s Power Principle: Yielding to God leads to the best life possible!

How to Pray

KnowGod will provide everything they truly need.

FeelConfident that God will respond with the best answer for their needs.

DoPray for the needs of someone they know.

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In this lesson, your children will...

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SPARK INTERESTChoose from the following activities and ideas to engage kids and grab their attention.

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Welcome!—Prayer Wall(For complete details on the Prayer Wall, please see Lesson One.)

For this lesson, in very large letters above the Prayer Wall write: PRAYER WALL. As the children arrive, invite them to write a prayer to God. Encourage them to write a complete prayer based on what they have learned. Signing their names is optional, but if they do, have them use only their first names. They can write praises, thanks, requests, even confessions—anything they want. Let the kids continue to write until it is time to begin your service.

Let’s Meet-n-Greet!Everyone turn and greet someone, learn names, and then introduce each other to three other people, saying, “This is so-and-so, and I just wanted to make sure you met [him/her] today.” If everyone meets one person, and introduces that child to three other people—a lot of people are going to get met today! Leaders, be sure you participate as well! Look for children who are being left out, enthusiastically meet them, and introduce them to the children around them. Announce any birthdays for the week. (See the How to Use DiscipleTown guide for quick and easy ways to acknowledge visitors and birthdays.)

PowerPoint PresentationAs you plan your lesson, select PowerPoint slides that correspond to the lesson elements you choose. In the “Slide Sorter” View, you can rear-range and/or delete the slides as necessary. For descriptions of the included slides and tips on their use, see the notes accompanying each slide.

General Supplies Bibles, puppets, video projection (optional) Pencils, pens, paper

Spark Interest WELCOME!: markers, posterboard (optional) LET’S PLAY!: tape, ping-pong balls, glasses, table CONNECT WITH YOUR KIDS: none

Explore Scripture KEYVERSE: none

Inspire Action DRAMATIZE THE POINT: gadget prop

sUPPlies

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Let’s Worship!Open in a short prayer, focusing on how we want to turn our hearts and minds toward God and allow Him to have His way in our lives. When we worship, we open ourselves to the Lord and invite His Spirit to move us so that we can grow closer to Him. Worship endears us to our Creator and enhances our desire to please Him, obey Him, and live for Him. So let’s worship, yielding our lives afresh to God!

Recommended Song: I’ll Follow You from God’s Kids Worship—Modern Worship Spring, May DVD, available at Kidology.org

Puppet IntroLeader & puppet introduce today’s lesson. You will find a scripted version of this intro at the end of the lesson. Supplies: puppet and a large coin (Optional: Have a two-headed coin)

Puppet comes out holding a large coin. When the leader asks what the large coin is for, the puppet replies that it is his Decision Maker Coin. Leader asks, “Can you explain that a little more?” Puppet says, “Sure. Whenever I have to decide between what I want to do, and what God wants me to do, I flip this here coin. Heads, God wins! Tails, I win!” Leader is shocked, “I can’t believe my ears!” Puppet says, “Well, you don’t have to believe your ears, believe me—it works! I used to really struggle with whether to obey God or go my own way, but now… I have the Decision Maker Coin, so it’s a piece of cake! Just flip and go!” The leader is beside himself: “[Puppet name], I can’t believe you would do this. This is so wrong! You need to go God’s way every time!” Puppet says, “Well, that’s easy for you to say—you’re our high-and-mighty leader. It’s not so easy for me. I really struggle with doing what God says. Sometimes it’s really hard. Sometimes my way is the easier way.” Leader answers, “Oh, don’t think it’s easy for me, [puppet name]. I know it can be hard to go God’s way. Sin often seems the easy way, but it is never the better way. God’s way may actually be hard at times, but it is always the best way—and God will always help us go His way. Whatever God asks us to do, it is always for our own good—to protect us, to help us, or to keep us from getting hurt.” Puppet asks, “Really? Are you sure about that?” Leader says softly and sincerely, “Yes, [puppet name]. I can tell you, every time I’ve gone my own way against God, I’ve always regretted it. And every time I’ve gone God’s way—even when it was difficult—I was always glad I did. Later, I got to see why God asked it of me.”

Ending 1: Puppet says, “So I’d better ditch the Decision Making Coin, and just do what God says, huh?” Leader replies, “That’s what I think. You should just yield to what God says and pray for Him to give you strength to do the right thing.” Puppet says, “Okay, I’ll use this to buy some bubble gum instead.”

Ending 2: (If you have or make a double-headed coin.) Puppet says, “Good thing this is a doubled-headed coin then!” Leader exclaims, “What?!” Puppet says, “You think I would flip a coin over God’s will? What kind of crazy puppet do you think I am?” Leader asks, “Do I have to answer that?” Puppet says, “I know the smart thing to yield is to God’s will and pray for strength to do the right thing.” Leader says, “Maybe you can use that coin to buy some bubble gum instead!” Puppet replies, “Now you’re talking!”

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Let’s Play!—Pray It ‘n’ Play It—Ping-Pong RollSupplies: tape measure, at least three ping-pong balls, three tall clear glasses, table or stools

During this unit, hold a game show called PRAY IT ‘n PLAY IT: One Minute Challenges! It is based on a television show* that features challenges that contestants must complete in sixty seconds to win. Use the suggestions provided here, or visit the show’s website and watch the videos there and try some of the games they use. The games appear simple but are difficult to accomplish in only sixty seconds!

The Challenge: Contestant must roll a ping-pong ball down a tape measure and into a glass in ever-increasing distances in sixty seconds! Set the glasses at five, six, and seven feet away upon a table or stools so the incline is only slight.

The Point: These challenges are hard to do in only sixty seconds! With more time they would be much easier. The same is true in our relationship with God. We need more than one-minute spurts of prayer to truly connect with God. Talk to the children about how many people never pray for more than one minute and then wonder why they find their lives so challenging. If they spent more time in prayer, they’d find the closeness to God that makes challenges easier to overcome.

*Minute to Win It on NBC

Connect with Your KidsThe concept of yielding to God needs to be brought into the “real world” for children. Can you share a story from your life to help children understand what it means to yield to God and how in the long run it is better? I have shared many times a story of early in my ministry when I applied for a “dream job” because my church was going through a difficult financial time, and I thought I would need to leave. As it turned out, they were able to keep me just as I was offered the position at the “dream job.” I really wanted the “dream job” for a long list of reasons, but God told me to turn it down and stay with the little church that needed me. Holding back tears, I told the pastor of the hiring church I could not accept the offer because my situation had changed and I needed to stay where I was, mentioning “if only it were a year from now.” I yielded to God and stayed on for another year, helping to establish this small mobile church. A year later, I ran into that hiring pastor and asked who they ended up hiring, and he said, “Actually, we are still waiting for you, whenever you are ready.” Little did he know, our little church was at a place where the timing was perfect for me to move on, as the ministry staff could run things without me. It was a win-win for everyone at both churches. God’s timing was best! It was hard to yield to God’s “no” a year before, but because I did, everyone benefited. I’m sure you have a story of a time you needed to yield. Children need to hear these stories and how things worked out. It helps them when they are at the beginning of a story and need to do the right thing and can’t see how it’s going to unfold. Show them by your life story that God will be faithful when they yield to His plan.

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DiscipleTown VisitorFind a script version of this segment at the end of this lesson.

Construction Dude Chris*: Just as the previous segment is finishing, a construction worker comes by, and the leader stops him, introduces him to the children, and asks if he might have some insight on yielding. Actually, he does—because yielding is a traffic and construction term. The leader acts surprised and asks Chris to explain. “Well, in traffic you will see yield signs, which simply mean to let the other guy go first. And in construction, we will put yield signs up because we are working on the road and we want the drivers to know we are working to make the road better, or fixin’ something, and we need them to watch out for us and let us have the right of way.” The leader interrupts and asks, “What does ‘right of way’ mean? Some of the kids might not know that phrase.” Chris says, “Oh, I’m sorry—any of you kids have your driver’s licenses yet?” (Let kids respond.) “Oh, guess not. Silly me. Well, right of way simply means, if I’m moving, you gotta stop. I get to go first, basically. The person with the right of way gets to go first. In driving, there are rules as to who has the right of way. A yield sign tells you that you don’t have the right of way—someone else does. So when you see it, you gotta stop and look. If you don’t see anyone, then you can go. It’s not a stop sign.” Leader says, “That’s a good point, Chris. A stop sign says you need to stop—it’s a command, but a yield sign means you only need to stop if someone else is moving. If no one is crossing your path, you don’t need to stop.” Chris replies, “Yup, most of the time, you are free to go, but the yield sign means ‘Be on the lookout and check both ways, just in case there is a possible conflict. And if there is, well, sorry, but you’re the one that has to give in and let the other go. Then you are free to go on your way.’ Does that make sense?” Leader says, “Oh, it makes perfect sense, and it’s very helpful.” Chris says, “How’s that?” Leader replies, “Well, we’re learning to yield in our relationship with God, and you just explained it so well, Chris.” Chris looks surprised, “I did?! I don’t know much about God.” Leader says, “Well, you hit the nail on the head.” Chris laughs as the leader continues, “You see, God’s commands are like stop signs. They say, ‘Stop! Don’t do this or that,’ but yielding is different. Most of the time, we are okay, going on our way and doing our best to live for God. Yielding to God in prayer, however, means slowing down, checking in with God, and asking, ‘How am I doing?’ If God does show us a conflict—that we are about to cross Him—then we know that God has the right of way. We let God have His way and correct our path to follow Him. Yielding is a willingness to submit to God.” Chris chimes in, “God always has the right of way!” Leader says, “Good job!” Chris says, “I’m learning—it’s like I always say: ‘Be patient, God isn’t finished with me yet. I need an “Under Construction” sign right on my forehead!’” Leader laughs, “We all do, but as long as we yield to God, our remodeling will go well, and every day we will look more and more like Jesus.” Chris says, “Well, I gotta get to work, but I think I need to come to ‘Church Depot’ more often!”

*CHARACTERS: These are suggested characters and names. Please feel free to change or adjust according to the actors and props you have available.

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Let’s Search!—Bible DashSupplies: Bibles

Ask all kids with Bibles to participate, or invite a few volunteers to come to the front. As children hold Bibles closed with hands on covers, state the Bible reference twice, then on the command “SEARCH!” have the students race to locate the verse. Once they have a finger on the verse, they can stand and call out, “FOUND IT!” Have the first child read the verse aloud while you project the verse on a screen via PowerPoint. See suggestions below for comments on each verse. Keep your comments brief and to the point of the lesson.

Joshua 24:23 Yield your hearts to God.Luke 22:42 Jesus said, “Not My will, but Yours be done.”Psalm 32:8 God will help us know what to do.Jeremiah 29:11-13 God has a plan for us and hears our prayers, but we must seek Him.1 Peter 3:17 Better to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.Romans 12:2 As you renew your mind, you’ll know what God’s will is.Hebrews 11:6 God rewards those who earnestly seek Him.Deuteronomy 13:5 Follow after God, obey Him, and hold fast to Him!

Paul’s Power Principle: Yielding to God leads to the best life possible!

Let’s Learn!—Prayer Ends with Yielding Matthew 6:14Supplies: Bibles, basic cell phone, mirror with a picture of Jesus’ face on the back side

Ask the children if one of them can explain why a cell phone is called a “cell phone.” Allow some children to respond. Incorrect answers can be responded to with, “good guess!” Cell phones are called such because when you talk into them, your voice is sent wirelessly through the air to a tower—the area around the tower is called a “cell.” That cell is part of a system of towers that are all wired together in a grid connected across the world. So everywhere you go, your phone always looks for the closest tower, and then that tower tells the system where your phone is. When someone calls you, the tower (cell) that they are near connects to a giant computer that connects to the tower you are near—then your two phones are connected. If you are moving, like in a car, your tower might change. That is why sometimes you might lose a call, because the computer loses track of which tower you are connected to, especially if both callers change towers at the same time. But what happens if you move too far away from any tower? Your signal weakens until you have no signal, right? No tower? No signal? No call. You can have the latest fancy cell phone with a fully charged battery, but if there is no cell phone tower, you can’t call anybody. You have to be close to a tower to make a call.

Our connection with God in prayer is like a cell phone tower. Even though God is as close as your heart, imagine Him high in the sky, ready and waiting to connect with you. But what happens sometimes? We get too far from our tower to connect. We sometimes sin, and that moves us “out of range.” The problem isn’t with God—it is with us. We get a weak signal from God and wonder, “God, where are You? Why can’t I connect with You?

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EXPLORE SCRIPTURESeize on the children’s interest and direct them into God’s Word.

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Why do You feel so far away and distant?” And God wants to answer, “I haven’t moved or changed. You’ve just gone out of range with your sin. Come back to Me.”

Remember 2 Chronicles 7:14-15? If we will humble ourselves, and confess our sins and come back to God—He will feel close again. James 4:8 says that if we will come near to God, He will come near to us. God’s reception is great when you are near Him. Today’s lesson is all about yielding to God and saying no to the things that take us away from Him.

Read Matthew 6:5-13 to give a general overview of the entire Lord’s Prayer. If you’ve challenged children to memorize the passage, ask if any have done so and give them an opportunity to recite it for the group. If you are rewarding or acknowledging children who memorized the passage, this could be the time to recognize them.

Remind the children of the P-R-A-Y outline for the four lessons:P = Praise (Expressing love or devotion to God)R = Repenting (Going the other way)A = Asking for our Needs (And the needs of others)Y = Yielding to God (Going God’s way in praying)

This week we are learning about yielding to God in prayer. We start with praise, because prayer should first be about God—and if we truly focus on God, it will cause us to realize we have sin in our lives and as a result, we should be willing to repent of that sin. That will restore our relationship with God and draw us closer to Him. With that relationship made right again, God invites us to bring our requests and needs before Him, just as children on earth bring their needs before their parents. But prayer should never end with asking for things.

God is more than just the One who meets our needs—He is our Master and our Lord. We should always end prayer by making sure that we are living according to His ways and are seeking His direction for our lives. That is what today’s lesson is about.

Who are authorities in your life? When it is easy to obey them? When is it hard to obey them? It’s easy to obey when they want what we want—but when they want something different, suddenly it’s very difficult. That’s when we have to choose to obey, or we get in trouble. That’s how it is with God. A lot of people like the idea of God—when it comes to blessing, healing, saving—the stuff He does that they like. But as soon it comes to submitting, obeying, loving everyone—things He asks that people don’t like, suddenly God’s not so cool anymore.

As Christians, we need to follow God all the time—even when our sinful natures don’t like it. That’s what it means to make Him Lord of our lives. Because He deserves it and because it is true—we make Him our Master and Leader over everything.

Let’s review praying from our H-E-A-R-Ts:H = Honor God with PraiseE = Examine your lifeA = Ask for Personal NeedsR = Request Help for OthersT = Thank God for blessing you

This week, conclude with “Thank God for blessing you.” Too often in prayer, we focus on what we WANT and fail to see what we HAVE. As we review what God has already done, it changes our perspective on submitting to Him. A heart of gratitude helps us want to respond to God and yield to His plan for our lives!

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Refer back to Matthew 6 and read verse 10. This is a powerful verse. Our purpose in life is not just to get from God what we need or want, but to see His Kingdom work accom-plished. We should be praying for God’s Kingdom will to be done! We need to raise our perspective—stop thinking about just our needs and think on what God is up to on a grander scale! When we start praying for things to be done God’s way—not ours—it changes us!

Read Psalm 37:4. Many people read this verse and think, “Wow! What a wonderful promise! Delight myself in God, and He will give me everything I want!” At the beginning, the desires of their hearts may be money, security, a nicer house, or a faster car, but here is what happens to those who take this command seriously. As they delight themselves in the Lord, their hearts begin to change! They begin to see material things and money and the world differently. They see people as lost souls who need Jesus; they see money as something that can be used to build the Kingdom; they see houses as places to minister and cars as vehicles for ministry! Soon their very desires change to match God’s desires. The meaning of the verse becomes clear—God doesn’t give us the things we desire—God gives us new desires! And that is why Jesus promises that if you abide in Him, you can ask whatever you want and you’ll get it, because of the kinds of things you’ll ask for if you are abiding in Him. It won’t be a million-dollar winning lottery ticket, it will be for a friend to come to church, or an unemployed dad to find a job, or a poor person to find help, or an orphan to know a home.

When we yield to God—the world changes because we change. There is an old saying, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” When we yield to God, He changes us.

Read Philippians 1:6. Jesus has begun a work in you—a work of making you more like Him! Show a mirror and look in it. When you look in a mirror, you see yourself. But the Bible says that God is at work to make us look more like Jesus. Not physically, but in the ways we live and act. Read 2 Corinthians 3:18. We reflect the Lord’s glory and are being trans-formed into His likeness. Read Ephesians 5:1-2. This verse talks about imitating Jesus, who lived a life of love.

Turn the mirror around and show the picture of the face of Jesus. If we want to be more like Jesus, we need to yield to God when He shows us in prayer what He wants us to do. Pray a short prayer, asking God to give the children strength to yield whatever God has brought to their minds as you were teaching. Yielding to God opens up the wonderful future God has planned for us!

Suggested Bible NarrativeSaul’s Conversion—Acts 9:1-22

Saul was a Jew who believed in God, but not in Jesus, and so was an enemy of the early Church—until he had an encounter with the risen Christ on the road to Damascus! He yielded his life and was radically changed. He became not only a Christian, but one of the most powerful leaders of the Christian Church—writing much of the New Testament and starting churches throughout the known world! We now know him as Paul the Apostle.

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Dee’s Disciple Tip: Back in the ‘80s there was a popular video game called Frogger. In the video game you were a frog trying to cross a busy street, and there were a lot of cars! The frog could get safely across only if he yielded to the cars—otherwise, it was bad news for the frog! It’s the same in life—if you want to survive, yield and let God guide you across the dangers by following His advice and counsel. A fun reminder of what it means to yield is that every time you see a frog hop, think what F-R-O-G stands for:

F.R.O.G. = Fully Rely On God

KeyVerseTopic: Pray about Everything!Reference: Philippians 4:6

Ever notice how we often end our prayers with the words, “In Jesus’ name, amen”? There are two important things to learn about that phrase. First of all, let’s look at, “In Jesus’ name.” We have no right to pray on our own. We are sinners! If it wasn’t for what Jesus did on the cross, we would have no right to enter the Lord’s throne room with any prayers or petitions and address the God of the universe! It is because of Jesus, and what He did for us, that God listens to our prayers. Saying “In Jesus’ name” is like getting into a fancy club because of someone you know. We use the phrase to acknowledge that it is because of Jesus that we are praying.

And what about this word, “amen”? “Amen” means “so be it.” It is a word that declares by faith that what you prayed will happen. When you say, “In Jesus’ name, amen,” you are saying, “because of Jesus I believe this will happen! So be it!”

Memorization Activity: Read the verse together several times and using the hand motions introduced in Lesson One. See if everyone can say the verse without the hand motions. Finally, ask if any children would like to recite the verse alone, without hand motions for the group.

Do not be wag pointer finger of one hand in the air motioning “no”anxious about wring hands togetheranything point around the roombut in everything arms extended as in a big hugby prayer hands together in flat prayer poseand petition interlock fingers in prayer posewith thanksgiving right hand flat against face and then extend down, palm uppresent your both hands palms up toward heavenrequests one hand writing on other like a pad of paperto God “pen” hand goes up into a point toward heaven

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Dramatize the Point—The Prayer Reader 4000Act this out or read as a story. Supplies: four actors, gadget prop for the Prayer Reader 4000

This drama continues each week with four different actors (or puppets). The idea is that the leader has a device (The Prayer Reader 4000) that enables him or her to read the minds of four churchgoers as they pray. It is best to pre-record the prayers and play them through the sound system and have the actors only act out the prayers by moving their mouths and folding their hands, being dramatic to match the prayers, etc. If that isn’t possible, have them put a script on their laps and pass a microphone or have them speak loudly. The leader goes behind them holding the Prayer Reader 4000 over their heads as they “pray.” After all four pray, the leader asks the audience, “Which prayer pleased God the most?” and then “Why?” Discuss the other prayers and what was right and wrong with them.

Actor 1: Dear God, I am not really sure what to do right now. I want to go and play at Dylan’s house, but I know he’ll want to play that video game that Mom doesn’t like. I know it isn’t good for me, but I am really tempted. God, please help me to make the right choice. Give me courage to say no so that I can be strong and grow to be the person You want me to be.

Actor 2: Dear God, Your Word says that You are a compassionate and understanding God, and besides, lying isn’t really such a big deal. So please overlook the little lie I told my brother today. After all, it is better for everyone that he doesn’t know I took his model car to school. It’s not like I can see the future like You can and know it would break. You don’t want me to get in trouble, do You, God? Thanks for letting me bend the rules a little. It’s for his own good after all, You understand. Thanks for being so cool about it.

Actor 3: Dear God, I know that You have been pointing out to me that I shouldn’t use so many bad words, but I just can’t help it. It’s not my fault, really. After all, the kids at school swear all the time, so it is really hard to avoid. And I use lesser bad words anyway. I don’t want to look silly to my friends, You know. Just be glad that I don’t swear as much as Alan down the street. You should hear that kid! You’d think he was in the Army or something. Dang, I gotta go. Amen!

Actor 4: Dear God, I’m sure You didn’t mean stuff under twenty bucks when You said not to steal in the Bible. I really wanted that new video game, and there was no other way for me to get it, so I stole it. Besides, I heard Your rules were for Old Testament people anyway, so I’m glad we’re still good pals! It’s not like I’d ever rob a bank or anything! And don’t worry, I’ll put another I.O.U. in the offering Sunday. You know I’m good for it. What are we up to now?

Which prayer pleased God? Which prayer showed a desire for God’s path? Which prayer showed a teachable heart?

Object Talks—The Badge and the Stop SignSupplies: video projection

The video clip for this lesson features Karl, the Kidologist, doing a short object lesson featuring a badge and a stop sign discussing why God does not always say “yes.” Use this short teaching video to show the kids or to train a leader to do the talk “live.” Featured verses: Joshua 24:23; Psalm 32:8

INSPIRE ACTIONEncourage kids to apply the Bible truth to their lives.

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Let’s Talk!—Small Group DiscussionProvide a piece of playdough and a building block for each group. Pass each item around the group and let kids play with each item.

Use the following discussion questions to encourage discussion.1) If you wanted to change the shape of one of these items, which one would you choose and why?2) Why is it easier to change the shape of the playdough?3) Which do you think is easier for God to change—a soft, teachable heart or a hard heart?4) How can we have soft, teachable hearts toward God?5) How do our hearts become hard toward God?6) Why is yielding to God’s changes in our lives important?7) What might be the consequences of being stubborn and not letting God change our hearts?

Prayer Suggestion: Have children each share one area of their lives where they need to be a little bit more like play-dough and a little bit less like a brick and allow God to shape them. The leader can close in prayer and ask God to help the kids grow and be moldable to Him.

DiscipleTown Super CitizenChoose a child who obeyed a leader at some point during the service—even if he or she was doing something wrong and was corrected. Responding and obeying are what God expects—for us to yield when we are corrected.

Let’s Pray!Option 1: Lead the children through the four steps of P-R-A-Y. Allow one full minute of silence for each letter. Briefly review before each silent minute and then let the children, in the quietness of their own hearts, praise the Lord, repent of sin, ask for their needs, and yield to God.

Option 2: (This can be done also, or instead of Option 1.) For the final closing prayer, put the Lord’s Prayer up on the screen, but challenge the children who have memorized it to close their eyes and recite the Lord’s Prayer as your closing prayer. (If you are doing the optional fifth review found in the Supplemental Resources folder, then use this option next time.)

Cy’s Challenge: Spend time in prayer listening to God this week!

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Let’s Review!If you have extra time, use these review questions to keep the kids focused on the lesson until time to dismiss. A handful of candy will help you keep their attention. After each question, take a minute to reiterate the lesson point related to the question.

1) T/F To yield, you must STOP. 2) T/F Flipping a coin is a good way to make decisions.3) T/F God’s way is usually the best way.4) T/F God has a plan for every single person.5) The “T” in H-E-A-R-T stands for .6) How are we like a mirror?7) F-R-O-G stands for .8) What was Paul’s name before he met Jesus?

For the HomeDiscipleTown Table Talker: Give each child a copy of this week’s DiscipleTown Table Talker. Be sure to show the kids how to put it together and encourage them to ask their parents to lead family devotions three times this week.

Parent Email: Copy and send the email below to help your parents connect with their kids during the week. Send them early in the week, but not on Sunday. As a courtesy, be sure parents have opted to receive these emails. Review and edit as necessary to reflect the lesson elements you have used. You can also find this email as a Microsoft Word document in your download bundle.

Dear Mom and Dad,

As we conclude our DiscipleTown series on How to Pray, we come to the most difficult part: learning to yield to God’s correction and direction. Often our first impulse is to fight for what we want instead of discovering what is important to God. This week we challenged the kids to let God have His way in their lives, no matter what.

Memorizing Scripture is one of the best ways to know God’s desire for our lives. In DiscipleTown we’ve been memorizing both Philippians 4:6 and Matthew 6:9-13 (the Lord’s Prayer). Let me encourage you to continue finding Scriptures that your child(ren) can memorize. As they hide God’s Word in their hearts, it has a profound impact on the way they live and the choices they make.

I hope you have found that the DiscipleTown Table Talkers provide amazing discussion starters as you share and practice the power of prayer. Let your child(ren) see an area in your life where you have chosen to yield to God’s plan over your own. There is an old saying, “You are the best Bible your kids will ever read.”

As we walk forward, continue to pray with your child(ren). Allow them to pray for you! I’m convinced kids’ prayers have a special place in God’s heart. The Bible promises that the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective (James 5:16).

As always, if you have any concerns or prayer requests you would like to share, please don’t hesitate to let me know! I’m looking forward to the next opportunity to partner with you as we strive to equip our children with God’s Word and a love for our Savior.

Building young disciples,

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Chip’s Snack Time!Supplies: brown lunch bags, any snack, building blocks, string or tape

Ahead of time, place one snack in each brown paper bag, fold and tape shut. On the floor, make a narrow, winding path with string or tape. At the end of the path, place all the paper bags containing one snack for each child. In order to get the snack, the kids must follow the narrow, winding path to the end. If they step off the path, they must start over.

In order for us to benefit from all the good things God has for us, we must obey him and follow His path. If we go our own way, we will miss out on God’s great plan and reward for us. When we yield to His plan, we will receive all the good things God has for us.

Additional Ideas“Secret Prayer Pals” Revealed!—If you chose to do the “Secret Prayer Pals” idea from Lesson One, be sure to reveal who the secret prayer pals are to the children. Encourage them to continue to pray for each other. You may find that they will want to swap the cards and do another month of secret prayer pals!

Kid Prayer Cards—Have the children make “Kid Prayer Cards” about themselves to give to their parents to pray for them. It could include their photo, or they could draw a picture of themselves. Have them write facts about themselves such as height, hair and eye color, favorite Bible verse, book of the Bible, Bible story, Bible character, etc. Then ask them to think of three to four prayer requests for themselves. Send the cards home for kids to give to their parents to place somewhere as a reminder to pray for them. As an option, collect and scan them so kids have multiple copies to mail to friends and relatives.

Prayer Letters to God—Have the children write a prayer to God on paper, seal it in an envelope, and drop in a “mailbox” that you have made out of cardboard. Instruct them not to sign their names because God will know who has written the prayer. Encourage them to express to God praise, repentance, asking, and yielding. Later, if you feel comfortable, you can read through the prayers to glimpse the hearts and minds of the children, what they have learned, and what kinds of things they are concerned about and struggling with. By having them leave off their names, you avoid any violation of their privacy.

Contract with God—This can be a very powerful activity. Create a “Contract with God” document for each child and make it look as official as possible. The key is that the text of the document is blank, except for a place for the children to sign at the bottom. Explain that this is a contract with God on which He has filled in no details in advance. Challenge the children to take a contract and prayerfully consider if they are willing to sign the contract, not knowing what God may write on it in the years ahead. Have kids sign it, date it, and then take it home as a reminder that no matter what happens, they have decided to yield to God. Leaders should obviously model this commitment by being the first to sign their contracts with God and posting them on the wall for all to see!

BONUS MATERIALSUse these options to extend your time or as substitutes for the ideas above.

How to Pray—Lesson 4 © 2010, DiscipleLand. Permission granted to reproduce for volunteers.

DIRECTOR’S NOTESThe words in italics are notes for you and your puppeteers; they are not to be read aloud.

You will need a large coin for puppet to hold. If you make it a double-headed coin, you can use ENDING 2.

Leader: Whoa, [puppet name], that’s a might big coin.

Puppet: Neat, huh? It’s my Decision Maker Coin!

Leader: [Dubious:] Can you explain that a little more?

Puppet: Sure. Whenever I have to decide between what I want to do, and what God wants me to do, I flip this here coin. Heads, God wins! Tails, I win!

Leader: [Shocked:] I can’t believe my ears!

Puppet: Well, you don’t have to believe your ears, believe me—it works! I used to really struggle with whether to obey God or go my own way, but now… I have the Deci-sion Maker Coin, so it’s a piece of cake! Just flip and go!

Leader: [Puppet name], I can’t believe you would do this. This is so wrong! You need to go God’s way every time!

Puppet: Well, that’s easy for you to say—you’re our high-and-mighty leader. It’s not so easy for me. I really strug-gle with doing what God says. Sometimes it’s really hard. Sometimes my way is the easier way.

Leader: Oh, don’t think it’s easy for me, [puppet name]. I know it can be hard to go God’s way. Sin often seems the easy way, but it is never the better way. God’s way may ac-tually be hard at times, but it is always the best way—and God will always help us go His way. Whatever God asks us to do, it is always for our own good—to protect us, to help us, or to keep us from getting hurt.

Puppet: Really? Are you sure about that?

Leader: [Softly:] Yes, [puppet name]. I can tell you, every time I’ve gone my own way against God, I’ve always regret-ted it. And every time I’ve gone God’s way—even when it was difficult—I was always glad I did. Later, I got to see why God asked it of me.

ENDING 1Puppet: So I’d better ditch the Decision Making Coin, and just do what God says, huh?

Leader: That’s what I think. You should just yield to what God says and pray for Him to give you strength to do the right thing.

Puppet: Okay, I’ll use this to buy some bubble gum in-stead.

ENDING 2Puppet: Good thing this is a doubled-headed coin then!

Leader: What?!

Puppet: You think I would flip a coin over God’s will? What kind of crazy puppet do you think I am?

Leader: [Pauses.] Do I have to answer that?

Puppet: I know the smart thing is to yield to God’s will and pray for strength to do the right thing.

Leader: Maybe you can use that coin to buy some bubble gum instead!

Puppet: Now you’re talking!

*PUPPET: Develop a puppet character to use regularly. The children will get to know the personality and enjoy these regular visits. Dee, Cy, and Paul puppets are available at DiscipleLand.com

Puppet Intro—Decision Making Coin

DiscipleTown Visitor Script

How to Pray—Lesson 4 © 2010, DiscipleLand. Permission granted to reproduce for volunteers.

DIRECTOR’S NOTESThe words in italics are notes for you and your volunteers; they are not to be read aloud.

[As leader is finishing his talk, a handyman comes by and starts tinkering with something on the stage.]

Leader: Oh, hey kids, it’s Construction Dude Chris! Chris, come on over.

Construction Dude Chris*: Hey.

Leader: Chris, this may sound like an odd question, but I wondered if you might have any insights about yielding.

Chris: Actually, I do. “Yield” is both a traffic and a construc-tion term.

Leader: Really? How so?

Chris: Well, in traffic you will see yield signs, which simply mean to let the other guy go first. And in construction, we will put yield signs up because we are working on the road and we want the drivers to know we are working to make the road better, or fixin’ something, and we need them to watch out for us and let us have the right of way. So—

Leader: [Interrupts.] What does “right of way” mean? Some of the kids might not know that phrase.

Chris: Oh, I’m sorry—any of you kids have your driver’s li-censes yet? [Let kids respond.] Oh, guess not. Silly me. Well, right of way simply means, if I’m moving, you gotta stop. I get to go first, basically. The person with the right of way gets to go first. In driving, there are rules as to who has the right of way. A yield sign tells you that you don’t have the right of way—someone else does. So when you see it, you gotta stop and look. If you don’t see anyone, then you can go. It’s not a stop sign.

Leader: That’s a good point, Chris. A stop sign says you need to stop—it’s a command, but a yield sign means you only need to stop if someone else is moving. If no one is crossing your path, you don’t need to stop.

Chris: Yup, most of the time, you are free to go, but the yield sign means “Be on the lookout and check both ways, just in case there is a possible conflict. And if there is, well, sorry, but you’re the one that has to give in and let the other go. Then you are free to go on your way.” Does that make sense?

Leader: Oh, it makes perfect sense, and it’s very helpful.

Chris: How’s that?

Leader: Well, we’re learning to yield in our relationship with God, and you just explained it so well, Chris.

Chris: [Surprised:] I did?! I don’t know much about God.

Leader: Well, you hit the nail on the head. [Chris laughs.] You see, God’s commands are like stop signs. They say, “Stop! Don’t do this or that,” but yielding is different. Most of the time, we are okay, going on our way and doing our best to live for God. Yielding to God in prayer, however, means slowing down, checking in with God, and asking, “How am I doing?” If God does show us a conflict—that we are about to cross Him—then we know that God has the right of way. We let God have His way and correct our path to follow Him. Yielding is a willingness to submit to God.

Chris: God always has the right of way!

Leader: Good job!

Chris: I’m learning—it’s like I always say: “Be patient, God isn’t finished with me yet. I need an ‘Under Construction’ sign right on my forehead!”

Leader: We all do, but as long as we yield to God, our re-modeling will go well, and every day we will look more and more like Jesus.

Chris: Well, I gotta get to work, but I think I need to come to “Church Depot” more often!

*CHARACTERS: These are suggested characters and names. Please feel free to change or adjust according to the actors and props you have available.

curriculum Map

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How to Grow Spiritual Fruit

How to Make Good Friends

How to Walk in the Spirit

How to Be Jesus’ Disciple

How to Build Character

How to Navigate the New Testament

How to Explain My Faith

How to Earn Eternal Rewards

How to Follow God’s Plan

How to Make Good Choices

How to Navigate the Old Testament

How to Study My Bible

How to Know the Truth

How to Discover Gifts and Talents

How to Walk Victoriously

How to Meet with God

How to Worship God

How to Use My Bible

How to Show Respect

How to Pray

How to Be Faithful Workers

How to Love God

How to Memorize God’s Word

How to Be Global Christians

(DiscipleTown Units in no particular order)

Each DiscipleTown Unit will teach your kids an essential “how to” skill to become victorious disciples of Jesus!