Stevie, Eva, Colby, and Clay Duke

Scripture

“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

Mark 11:24

Eva Duke’s favorite verse

LESSON:

Supplies:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       glass of warm water                                                                                                                                                                                                                   round, white plate                                                                                                                                                                                                                      bag of Skittles

Everyone take a handful of Skittles. Think about something you would like to talk to God about: School, sports, work, friends, family, illness, forgiveness, etc. Put your skittles on the round plate single file around the outside edge of the plate. The skittles should form a round circle with each skittle touching the one next to it in a circle around the edge of the plate. The skittles represent all the prayers that the people in your family have. Now pour the warm water in the middle of the plate. Just enough to touch all the skittles, but not enough to float them. For a quick demonstration use this link

https://youtu.be/Yupy6iXnXjQ?si=ZVVa-ZRlKEgjnnUu

As the colors start to go out from the skittles to the center of the plate, talk about all the prayers that go up at once and how God hears and answers them all.

In chapter 11 of Mark, Jesus is hungry and goes to a fig tree to eat some of its fruit. However, the tree has no fruit and Jesus ‘curses’ it by saying, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.”  The next day, Peter seems almost surprised to see that the cursed fig tree has withered from the roots. “Rabbi, look!” he says, “The fig tree you cursed has withered!”

The Bible clearly points out that all the disciples heard Jesus curse the fig tree. However, it sounds like Peter wasn’t really believing that anything would happen to the tree. In verse 24, we are told to do two things: ask and believe.

Sometimes our prayers can be repetitive because we, like Peter, don’t really believe God will act. We believe in God, we just don’t believe He is listening and acting in our lives. Because we don’t believe, we don’t ask. We say our mealtime and bedtime prayers, but don’t really talk to God believing that He will answer. We must talk to God and ask.

There is only one way to improve our prayer lives: Pray.

JR Merritt has often said that Jimmy Lee taught him to pray.  Jimmy Lee prayed as if Jesus was standing right next to him. Jimmy talked to God the way he would talk to a friend, and he trusted God to answer just like a friend would answer and help.

Asking is the easy part. Believing takes trust.

Practice praying as if you have received what you are praying for:

“Lord, I’m excited to see how you will grow me because You have already set me free.”

“Father, I look forward to the day that all my children will put their faith in You.”

“I thank you God, that I can hear Your voice and read Your Word to know what You would have me do.”

Believing can be difficult because sometimes God answers prayer with ‘Yes.’ Sometimes He answers ‘No.’ And sometimes He answers ‘not now.’ It is usually when He answers with ‘not now’ that we are unhappy or frustrated. We must trust God’s perfect timing. God created the world so He  knows the right time (appointed time) for our answers to prayer. Sometimes ‘not now’ answers are meant to teach us patience and grow our faith. Our job is to keep asking, keep trusting, and keep believing that we have what we ask.

It is important to teach our children to pray. Talk to your children about the things you are praying about for them. Explain to them the different answers to prayer. You can explain how God answers prayer by the way you answer your child:

“Mom, can I have a pet elephant?” No, we don’t have room, and it wouldn’t be happy here.

“Mom, can I read a book?”  Not now, it’s about time to go to bed.

“Mom, can I read a book?”  Yes! And we can read it together.

We are going to start a 30 day Prayer Challenge. Each family member who participates will receive a prayer calendar. The goal is to find a good uninterrupted time that you can find everyday to pray. Talk to God just like you would talk to a friend. Don’t make it complicated! Write down each day on the Prayer Calendar something that will remind you what you prayed about that day.

Start today! Look back at the things you talked about with your Skittles and write them down on your calendar and then pray about them.

It only takes 21 days to make something a habit!

Example questions for kids taken from “Prayer Warriors” by Anne Marie Gosnell