Kids are the church of today so why don’t we make it a priority to teach them to learn how to pray now. One great way to get started is to teach a Lord’s Prayer Sunday school lesson that helps kids understand and practice Jesus’ model for prayer. We don’t want kids to memorize the Lord’s prayer and simply say it out of habit, we want them to discern what Jesus was teaching through the Lord’s prayer and apply it to their spiritual walk.
The Lord’s Prayer Sunday School Lesson
Introduction:
Begin your lesson with a video introduction of The Lord’s Prayer where kids can hear the words spoken by other kids. Make a video using kids in your own church or use this video here.
Open The Bible:
Explain to the kids that The Lord’s Prayer is found in two of the Gospel books in the Bible, Matthew and Luke. Invite kids to turn to Matthew 6:9-13 and see the prayer in their Bible.
Break it Down:
While The Lord’s Prayer may be familiar to the kids, they may not really understand what it means. Take time to break down The Lord’s Prayer and help kids truly grasp the truths of the prayer Jesus prayed.
Part 1 – Matthew 6:9-10
In these verses we learn that Jesus is teaching us to pray, “This, then, is how you should pray.” Unlike many of our prayers that begin with us, this model prayer starts with God. Not only does this prayer begin with God, it praises Him for who He is from the very beginning. God is hallowed or Holy. He is in charge and powerful not just in Heaven but on earth. That’s a great place to start! How can we bring anything to God that He can’t handle after we paused to praise Him for all that He is?
Part 2 – Matthew 6:11
In the next verse, “give us this day our daily bread”, we have a great example of praying not for what we want, but for what we need. Help kids understand the difference. Our prayer time is not to be a shopping list of all that we want God to magically make appear for us, it is a time to go to Him with our needs. God already knows our needs before we ask, but what assurance we have that the God who is in charge will give us what we need.
Part 3 – Matthew 6:12
This third section gets really personal. Helps kids understand that we are all sinners (Romans 3:23) and we need forgiveness. Just like God forgives us, we are also to forgive others. Lead kids to understand that forgiving someone for what they did is not saying what they did was okay, but we are releasing ourselves from becoming bitter.
Part 4 – Matthew 6:13
Lastly, we see that Jesus prayed for help from God. Explain to kids that it is okay to pray for themselves. We need God’s guidance and help in this journey and time in prayer with Him is a great place to seek direction and comfort. We can also pray for others. When we pray for others we are interceding, which simply means going to God on their behalf.
Practice Praying:
Now that you have walked through the Lord’s prayer with your class, let them practice praying using the four sections as guides.
Prayer 1 – Praise God
- Invite kids to praise God using the alphabet. With each letter, come up with a word that God is and pause and praise Him. Or you can pick one letter and try to exhaust all the things to praise God for using that letter.
Prayer 2 – Go to God with their needs.
- Help kids distinguish a want from a need. Give them paper and have them draw a line down the middle. On one side list needs in their life and on the other side list things they want. Challenge kids to pray through the “needs” side.
Prayer 3 – Confess sin and ask for forgiveness
- Give kids a quiet space to pause and reflect. Give then pen and paper to write an “I’m Sorry” note to God. Make sure kids understand that to confess means to agree with God and help them see that we need to agree that our sin is wrong.
Prayer 4 – Pray for themselves or others.
- Invite kids into a different prayer posture (kneeling or face flat on the ground) and challenge them to pray for themselves. Next, invite kids to find a friend in the classroom. Instruct kids to reach out and put a hand on that friend’s shoulder as they pray for them.
Take-Home:
Check out this free Lord’s Prayer coloring book for kids to continue the lesson into the home.
Other Lord’s Prayer Resources for Kids
The Lord’s Prayer Poster FREE
The Lord’s Prayer Sunday School Lesson FREE
The Lord’s Prayer Song by Summit Kids
Pray Like This Curriculum
