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A Prayer of the Teacher
Heavenly Father, I come to you humbly asking for your grace and mercy so that I can be the Sunday school teacher you want me to be.
I need your wisdom. Help me to understand what you are teaching us in your Word. Help me to know how to relate it to the life experiences of my students. Help me to share your truth in a way that is real and practical to their lives. Holy Spirit, work through the lesson and the words that I say to encourage, challenge, and convict.
Father, I need your strength. Help me to immerse myself in your Word so that I do not become spiritually empty and dry. Fill me with a hunger and passion for your truth. Make the Bible come alive to me in fresh new ways each time I read it. Help me to express that love to my students in a way that creates in them a fresh desire for your Word.
Thank you for your loving care. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Following God’s Guidance
Read Psalm 119:25-32
“I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart” (v. 32).
In this psalm, David declares an earnest desire to travel the path of the Lord. He prays for guidance and seeks the anointing of the Lord that he may have the strength to fulfill the will of God.
The story is told of a young African boy who was asked if he could run. “ ‘Can I run?’!” the boy replied, “Where I come from we have to run to survive!” He quickly became the lead runner for the school track team, and as the season progressed, the young man won every race he participated in and broke the record for several specific events. Finally, the last race of the season was upon them. As the starting gun was fired and everyone took off, the coach watched in disbelief as the young man lagged behind the rest. On the final lap of the race, however, something happened. Our hero lifted his head, took off in a flash and finished the race in first place. When asked later what had happened, he declared, “My feet felt like they were full of lead. I just couldn’t run, so I prayed, ‘Lord, if you’ll pick my feet up, I’ll put ’em down.’ Then, just like that, I could hardly keep my feet on the ground.” (Daniel P. Edwards)
“My Strength is made perfect in weakness” (God).
Following God's Guidance
Read Psalm 119:25-32
“I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart” (v. 32).
In this psalm, David declares an earnest desire to travel the path of the Lord. He prays for guidance and seeks the anointing of the Lord that he may have the strength to fulfill the will of God.
The story is told of a young African boy who was asked if he could run. “ ‘Can I run?’!” the boy replied, “Where I come from we have to run to survive!” He quickly became the lead runner for the school track team, and as the season progressed, the young man won every race he participated in and broke the record for several specific events. Finally, the last race of the season was upon them. As the starting gun was fired and everyone took off, the coach watched in disbelief as the young man lagged behind the rest. On the final lap of the race, however, something happened. Our hero lifted his head, took off in a flash and finished the race in first place. When asked later what had happened, he declared, “My feet felt like they were full of lead. I just couldn’t run, so I prayed, ‘Lord, if you’ll pick my feet up, I’ll put ’em down.’ Then, just like that, I could hardly keep my feet on the ground.” (Daniel P. Edwards)
“My Strength is made perfect in weakness” (God).
Divine Guidance Through Prayer
Focus Text: Genesis 24:10-28
Central Truth: God can direct our lives through prayer.
Objective: By the end of this lesson my students should be able to identify ways in which we may know God’s will in our lives.
Lesson Outline:
I. A Specific Prayer (Gen. 24:10-14)
II. An Appointed Encounter (Gen. 24:15-21)
III. A Fulfilled Mission (Gen. 24:22-28)
A Special Focus
During this Sunday school quarter, “Tips for Teachers” will have a different focus. If asked, we would probably all agree that prayer is essential, not just for every Christian, church, and Sunday school class, but also in the preparation of Sunday school lessons, etc.
The problem often is implementation. We say we believe in prayer, and we know we should pray, but do we actually take time to do it? In an attempt to encourage his own prayer life, this writer has found it helpful to use a book of prayers as a prayer starter each day.
With that idea in mind, the “Tips for Teachers” in Lessons 2-12 of this quarter will be written as prayers that you could pray each day of the week for each particular lesson, or you could choose from these prayers one or more to pray for each day of the week.
Heavenly Father, we pray for each teacher reading this text right now. Encourage them in their faith. Bless them in their teaching ministry. Help them to reflect you in everything they do, say, and think, so their students may find in them Christian role models to imitate, and thus grow in their faith. Amen.
Necessary Instruction
Read Luke 11:1-4
“And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth” (v. 2).
In an environment where self-aggrandizing hypocrites sought the attention and adulation of others when they prayed, and where idol-worshiping heathen used meaningless repetition in prayer (Matt. 6:2), the disciples wanted to learn how to pray from Jesus, whose prayers clearly received a response from God the Father. What did Jesus teach?
In contrast to those hypocritical and meaningless prayers witnessed by the disciples, Jesus taught them to pray with directness, sincerity, and transparency.
Jesus invited them to begin by addressing God as “Our Father.” From this simple, direct form of address, Jesus’ disciples were reminded of their status in relation to each other (“Our”) and God (“Father”). They belonged in the family of God.
Jesus’ teaching on prayer was also a contrast to the affectation of the hypocrites: it was a call to sincerity. Unlike the pompous language of the self-righteous or the vain repetition of the heathen, Jesus wanted the disciples to pray with sincere simplicity. Their prayers were to be meaningful.
Finally, Jesus taught His disciples to pray with transparency, acknowledging their needs rather than touting their own righteousness. Jesus’ disciples were to confess their physical and spiritual needs while seeking the will of God. Their walk and talk with God were to be authentic. (Lyle A. Witt)
God help us to pray with directness, sincerity, and transparency!