Explore the parable of the persistent widow with this free Bible lesson. By looking at Luke 18, kids discover that God wants us to persist in prayer.
Guide kids in realizing that God wants us to be persistent in our prayers—not to wear him out like the judge in this parable, but to grow in our faith and love for him. Use this lesson to remind kids that God is always listening, so we can pray without giving up.
Bible Lesson: The Persistent Widow
Scripture: Luke 18:1-8
Departure Prayer
Supplies:
- upbeat worship music
Gather kids and welcome them. Ask kids to complete this sentence:
I never get tired of…
Be sure to complete the sentence for yourself, too! When everyone has shared, say: We all have things we love to do—things we could do again and again and again. But sometimes we kind of wear out, even doing something we like. Let me show you what I mean.
Turn on upbeat worship music and have kids stand up and start jumping up and down.
Say: Keep on jumping until you get tired. When you get tired, you can sit down.
After a few minutes (or when all kids are sitting), turn off the music.
Ask:
- I thought kids loved to be active and move around! What happened?
Say: Believe it or not, we can even get tired of doing something we like. Today we’re going to talk about prayer and how we might give up on it if we feel like we’ve prayed and prayed about something. We’ll discover that God wants us to keep praying, no matter what.
Pray: Dear God, we’re so thankful that you want to hear us. Guide us as we learn more about prayer and how we can come to you again and again. Help us to listen and learn so that we can know you better. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Experience the Parable
Supplies:
- Bible
- fist-sized stones (a few per child)
- large basket to hold the stones
Open your Bible to Luke 18:1-8, and show kids the words.
Say: Jesus loved using stories to make a point. Sometimes he explained what the story meant, and sometimes he wanted people to keep thinking about it and figure it out themselves. This parable is super clear! Listen to these words from Luke 18.
“One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.”
Ask:
- Why might Jesus want us to always pray and never give up?
Give a handful of stones to each child and direct kids to hold the rocks, not set them on the floor. Stand up and hold the bucket in front of you.
Say: This is the parable Jesus told.
The Parable of the Persistent Widow
Say: In a certain city there was a judge who didn’t fear or respect God, and he didn’t care about people. There was also a widow in that city—a woman whose husband had died. Now, in Bible times, a widow was most likely poor and maybe had a tough time on her own. She no longer had a husband to care for or protect her. This widow came to the judge and said, “Give me justice in this dispute I’m having.”
Bring me a rock to represent the persistent widow bringing her request to the judge. Pause while kids plunk rocks into the bucket you’re holding. When everyone has added a rock, continue: The judge ignored the widow. But she came back with her same request. Let kids each add another rock to the bucket. And she came again. Kids may add another rock to the bucket. And again! Let kids bring up any remaining rocks they have.
Say: Finally, the judge said, “I may not fear God and I sure don’t care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy! Show kids how heavy the bucket is and how weary you are from holding it. I’m going to see that she gets justice because she’s wearing me out with her constant requests!”
