Tuesday, September 13, 2011
this week in Kids church
For this devotion, think of some skill that your kids have recently
learned to perform, like riding a bike, tying their shoe, playing a scale on the
piano, catching a ball, etc. Ask them to demonstrate that skill, and then discuss
these questions:
* How long did it take you to learn to do this?
* How easy was it for you to learn?
* How did you feel when you couldn’t do it very well at first?
* What would have happened if you’d given up on learning how to do this?
* Can you think of anything good that came from the process of learning to
do this? For example, do you think it will be easier to learn something
similar in the future, or do you think you’ll have more patience next time
you have to learn to do something difficult?
Tell your kids that learning to trust God is a skill, just like learning to tie
your shoes. The more you do it, the easier it becomes and the more likely you
are to be patient as you wait on him to answer your prayers. The important
thing is to never give up. Even when it seems like God isn’t listening, he is; it
just may not be the right time for him to answer your prayer.
If there’s something that your family has been praying about for a long
time, pray about it again to end your devotion. This time, ask God not only to
answer your prayer, but also to help you stay strong and trust him while you
wait for his answer. Thank him for being trustworthy and faithful.
As a nation, we’re becoming less and less patient. Years ago, a
meal could take hours to prepare as you kneaded dough and left it to rise
or slaughtered and cooked a pig. Today, you tap your foot impatiently
while 45 seconds pass on the microwave. When it comes to our relationship
with God though, he’s rarely on the microwave schedule.
Talk about the following questions, especially as they relate to
waiting for prayers to be answered:
* Why do you think God may be making you wait?
* What can you learn from the waiting process?
* What might happen if you get ahead of God’s plan?
* What are some things you can do while you’re waiting?
* What are some things that go through your mind while you’re trying
to trust God to answer your prayer?
* Just because you can’t see God working in your situation, does that
mean nothing is happening? What could he be doing?
* How hard is it for you to believe God will answer your prayer after
you’ve waited a week? A month? A year? Longer?
God has an advantage when it comes to answering prayer: he
sees the past, the present, and the future all at the same time, and he
knows what the best possible timing is for every answer. Our responsibility
is to trust that he will answer our prayers in his tine, and that if hasn’t
answered yet, it’s because the time isn’t right.
Trusting God isn’t always easy, but the more we trust him, the
more we see that he can be trusted. Ask God to help you trust him more,
especially when you think he isn’t answering fast enough. Thank him for
answering prayers in the past, and ask him to help you remember that
he’s never failed you.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment