Pray And Dont Give Up Group
Group Activities

PERSISTENCE IN PRAYER BOARD GAME: The teacher will print out game boards. You you will need a game board for every four to six children. (CLICK HERE for the game board master in PDF format. The master prints out two pages which will be taped together to make one game board.) Each child will also need a game piece and each group will need a die. These items can be purchased from Amazon.com, a craft store, or you could use colored buttons or something similar.

PRAYING HANDS SILHOUETTE: Have the Children trace a picture of folded hands onto black paper and cut it out. Glue it onto lighter colored construction paper and have the children trace or draw letters of their own for a title of PRAYER CHANGES THINGS.

ASK AGAIN GAME:

Option 1: The leader asks a question of a specific child and the child responds ASK AGAIN. The leader asks again and again and then gives the child the answer to read from a piece of paper.

Option 2: The teacher will have several objects that children would enjoy receiving (ex: donut, toy, marker, candy bar, etc). The teacher gives each child 10 pennies to play this game. Teacher asks a child to give a penny for the object he would like; child will give one penny; teacher will ask again and again until the child has given all the pennies and then will receive the object! Discussion - God wants us to really KNOW we really want it and that we are willing to give all that we have to get what we want.

PERSISTENT PRAYER CHART:

Option #1: The teacher will have pictures of many objects on a chart. The children take turns going to the chart and writing PRAY under a picture and telling WHAT to pray for about that picture! (Examples to follow on 2nd option)

Option #2: The teacher will have the child draw a quick picture of an object and write PRAY underneath it, such as CAR (PRAY for protection and safety); HOUSE (PRAY for the family who lives inside); SCHOOL (PRAY for the children to obey and to follow Jesus; CHURCH (PRAY for the people to learn about Jesus; MUSIC NOTES (PRAY that the children will listen to the right kinds of music; MOUTH (PRAY that children will say the things that will please Jesus; HANDS (PRAY that children will use their hands for Jesus; EARS (PRAY to be careful what we listen to; EYES (PRAY about what we look at); etc.

PRAYER MATCH GAME: Cut colored recipe cards in half. Draw matching pictures on two cards. Write "prayer changes things" on the other side of each card. After drawing 10 different matching sets of cards, mix the cards up and lay out in rows (20 cards total), with words side up to play the matching game. Take turns trying to turn up two cards to match. When a PRAYER MATCH is made, the class will say, PRAYER CHANGES THINGS. (For ideas for card pictures, see above pictures for the Prayer Chart and continue discussion as above.

PRAYER JOURNAL: Have pages available for children to staple or tie together to make a prayer journal booklet. Children can make a TITLE page for their booklet: PRAYER CHANGES THINGS and PRAYER CHANGES ME. The first few pages can be designated as PRAYER CHANGES THINGS and children can start a prayer list of requests and needs. A column can be made for marking the number of times that they ASK the Lord for an answer. Another few pages can be designated as the PRAYER CHANGES ME section and children can list such words as trust, humility, determination, love for others, seeking God, faithful in SS and church, Using my talents and helping, etc. Encourage children to write in their prayer journal during the week and to bring their journal back to S.S. next week!

PRAYER CIRCLE: Have the children form a circle and say sentence prayers or even single WORD prayers with the teacher suggesting a topic and children taking turns around the circle to pray that way. Example: Thank you Jesus for ______: or Let's Praise Jesus for ____________: or Jesus we just want to pray for___________: This is an awesome and fun way to show children that PRAYING is just talking to Jesus and will be much less intimidating for the children!

Song:  "Never Give Up" by Cindy Jordan

Words and Music

MP3 Demo

MP3 Accompaniment Track

Song courtesy of Cindy Jordan.  Our thanks to Cindy for allowing Sermons4Kids to use her music.

Song: "Whisper a Prayer"

Words and Music

MP3 Piano Accompaniment