First Thoughts: This beloved passage is familiar to many of us, so much so that we might actually miss the radical nature of its claim. Jesus tells us that our God will never fail to provide our needs -- NEVER. The only stipulation for us...? We must ask. Asking for what we really need or want is surprisingly difficult. Do you ever notice in your own prayer life that you censor what you ask of God? Or perhaps you close any request with "if it's your will," to soften it a bit? Somewhere we got the idea that we shouldn't be asking God for too much. Perhaps we are motivated by our pride ("I should do it on my own") or our insecurity ("If I ask God for too much I will annoy God"), or our fearfulness ("What if I ask and God just ignores me?"). When we make an honest request of God, we are vulnerable, exposed, and risk rejection. It takes a lot of courage to ask God for what we want, but it's also a primary way to build our faith. Spend a few moments asking your heart what you want most right now from God. You might need to take a few calming breaths and just hold the question open in the silence. What do you want most? Will you ask God for that? Allow your experience to inform your time with the children.
Teaching On Your Own: Hi everybody. Boy, am I tired today! I had a really tough night and didn't sleep at all. You know why? My friend called and texted and messaged me all night long. It started around 9 pm. He called to ask if he could borrow my soccer ball. My SOCCER BALL! Can you believe it? I guess he was invited to lock-in and they were going to stay up all night playing. Anyway, I told him to forget it. I was already in bed and I was going to sleep. And that's when he started texting me every ten minutes and every time he texted, my phone beeped, so I turned off my phone. Then he started sending me messages on my computer. So I turned THAT off. Then do you know what he did? He came to my house and threw pebbles at my window to wake me up. Guess what I finally did to get him to stop? I gave him the soccer ball! Whew. That guy loves soccer. It kind of reminds me of our story today, about one man who went to his neighbor to borrow some bread.
The neighbor was already asleep and didn't want to be bothered, but the guy kept on bothering him until the neighbor finally decided it was better just to get up and give him the bread. Sounds a bit like my situation with my friend, right? Jesus used the story to teach us something about prayer. Even if we don't want to help somebody, if they keep on bugging us finally we'll just go ahead and help them to get them to leave us alone. Prayer is like that, except God really does want to help us. So when we ask God for help, what do you think happens? God helps us! Jesus told us that praying to God is like knocking on a door that always opens, looking for something we always find, asking for something we always receive. It's nice to know we can always count on God to help us out -- even when our friends are asleep. Isn't it?
Teaching As A Team:
(Leader 2 looks very tired)
Leader 1: Hey, (name), you seem tired today. What's going on?
Leader 2: I had a hard time sleeping. My friend called and texted and messaged me all night long!
Leader 1: All night? Why?
Leader 2: It started around 9 pm. He called to ask if he could borrow my soccer ball. My SOCCER BALL!
Leader 1: Why did he need it?
Leader 2: I guess he was invited to lock-in and they were going to stay up all night playing. Anyway, I told him to forget it. I was all ready in bed and I was going to sleep. And that's when he started texting me every ten minutes.
Leader 1: He did?
Leader 2: YES! Every time he texted, my phone would beep. So I turned it off, and then he started sending me messages on my computer. So I turned THAT off. Then do you know what he did? He came to my house and threw pebbles at my window to wake me up.
Leader 1: What did you finally do?
Leader 2: What do you think? I gave him the soccer ball! Whew. That guy loves soccer.
Leader 1: I guess so. You know, that connects to the story Jesus told today, about one man who went to his neighbor to borrow some bread. The neighbor was already asleep and didn't want to be bothered, but the guy kept on bothering him until the neighbor finally decided it was better just to get up and give him the bread.
Leader 2: That does sound familiar!
Leader 1: Jesus used the story to teach us something about prayer. Even if we don't want to help somebody, if they keep on bugging us finally we'll just go ahead and help them to get them to leave us alone. Prayer is like that, except God really does want to help us. So when we ask God for help, what do you think happens?
Leader 2: God helps us!
Leader 1: Right. Jesus told us that praying to God is like knocking on a door that always opens, looking for something we always find, asking for something we always receive.
Leader 2: It's nice to know we can always count on God to help us out -- even when our friends are asleep.
Leader 1: You're right about that.
Closing Prayer: Loving God, help us to be courageous enough to ask you for what we need and to keep asking knowing that you hear us and will take care of us. Help us to be just as kind to others as you are to us. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.
Follow-Up Lesson: To reinforce this message in a classroom or home environment talk a bit more about what it means to ask God for what we want in our deepest hearts. It is in our hearts that we are most closely connected to God's Spirit, and so that's the place where we know what is most important for us. But when we're too busy or too loud, it's hard to hear our hearts talk to us and know what we really need. Invite the children to slow down a bit, closing their eyes and taking three or four deep breaths, allowing their breaths to calm them down. Now invite them to think about their heart, what it looks like, how it feels. What does their heart seem to need right now? Do this exercise slowly, giving the children some time of silence to listen to their hearts. Invite them to share what they felt during this exercise. Then help them see that when they grow quiet and pay attention to their hearts, it's a form of prayer, a way of opening to God's wisdom inside us. When we pray like this, it's like knocking on the door. And what happens when we knock on the door? Somebody opens it. Go on to a few of Jesus' sillier statements, connecting it to their lives with their parents: "If you ask for an egg, will your dad give you a scorpion? If you ask for a fish, will your mom give you a snake?" (You could update this with something more modern, like "If you ask for a peanut butter sandwich, will your dad give you a mud pie?" or "If you ask for a hug, will your mom give you a sharpened knife?" Invite the children to respond with a loud, "No!" acknowledging how ridiculous this is. Jesus says that as much as our parents love us and wouldn't harm us, God loves us even more and will always provide for us what we need and ask for.
For a craft idea, give each child a piece of plain paper and a piece of construction paper (same size). Somewhere on the plain paper write or type the words, "Jesus said, 'Knock and the door will be opened,' so I'm gonna keep on knocking!" Cut the construction paper in half and make a half-inch crease on the short sides of both halves. The creased side will be glued to the white paper on the edges, creating a door effect. Invite the kids to decorate the door and draw a picture of Jesus in the middle. (You can also use a Jesus coloring page instead of the plain paper.) Ask the children to read the words on the paper together. Make it into a cheer and close with a big "Amen!"
