Childrens Sermon Service

He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.’ (v. 1)

Object: A mirror and a clear piece of glass or plastic.

Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) It is great to see you again. Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.)

One day, a man came to Jesus and said, “Lord, would you please teach us the right way to pray?” Jesus looked at him and said, “Sure. Whenever you want to pray, just say this:

Our father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.”

Have any of you heard that prayer before?  (Let them respond.) Even though Jesus taught that prayer to us a long time ago, we still say it today, don’t we? (Let them respond.) Does anyone remember what we usually call that prayer? (Let them respond.) We call it the Lord’s Prayer, and it is nice and short, so it is easy to remember, isn’t it? (Let them respond.) But there is something that is even more special about the prayer. Can anyone guess what else is so special about it? (Let them respond.) Let me give you a hint and see if you can figure out what else is so special about it.

What do I have here? (Show the mirror and let them respond.) A mirror. And if we look into the mirror, what do we see? (Let some of them look into the mirror.) We see ourselves, don’t we? (Let them respond.) Now, what is this? (Show the piece of glass and let them respond.) It is a piece of glass. And what do I see if I look into the piece of glass? (Hold the glass up toward everyone and have them look into it and respond.) I see everyone else, don’t I? (Let them respond.) If I look in the mirror, I just see me, but if I look into the glass, I see everyone else, right? (Let them respond.)

Now, let’s remember the Lord’s Prayer again. Does anyone remember what the first two words of the prayer are? (Let them respond.) They are “Our Father” aren’t they? (Let them respond.) They aren’t “My father,” like it is a mirror, but “Our father” like I am looking through glass and can see everyone else. And the prayer doesn’t say “give me my daily bread,” does it? Who remembers what it does say? (Let them respond.) It says “give US our daily bread” doesn’t it? (Let them respond.) And it doesn’t ask God to “forgive me,” but asks God to forgive who? (Let them respond.) It asks God to “forgive everyone,” right? (Let them respond.) And it doesn’t ask God to “lead me,” but asks God to lead who? (Let them respond.) It asks God to “lead us,” right? (Let them respond.)

And that is why, instead of calling it the Lord’s Prayer, sometimes I like to call it the Glass Prayer. Because when I pray the Glass Prayer, it reminds me to not just think about myself when I pray, like a mirror does, but it reminds me to pray for every one of us when I talk to God.

So, I’ll tell you what. Whenever I am going to pray, I am going to try to remember that Jesus wants me to look through glass and remember to pray for you too, and not just pray for myself. Will you try that with me too? (Let them respond.)

Let’s all pray together now and ask God to help us remember how Jesus wants us to pray for each other and always take care of each other.

Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us. Please help us remember that you love all of the people you have created and help us let the people around us know that we love them just like Jesus loves us. Amen.