Preface for Pastors and Parents
I’m so glad I get to bring you a children’s sermon on Luke 11:1-13! It’s Luke’s version of Jesus teaching his disciples “The Lord’s Prayer.“
(It’s the Gospel reading for Proper 12(17) in Year C of the lectionary, and you can find my Monday Meditation on the passage here.)
Matthew also shows us Jesus teaching the Lord’s Prayer, but the context is different. In Matthew it is part of the “Sermon on the Mount.” In Luke, the disciples see Jesus praying and ask him to teach them how to pray. This is his answer.
The content of the prayer is also slightly different. Matthew’s version is the one we remember, and it’s the one most churches use in worship every Sunday.
I suspect that he often taught the same things in different contexts. If you really want to get your point across, and have people remember it, of course you bring the topic up more than once. And you might very well phrase it differently at different times.
In both Gospels Jesus is quite insistent: when you pray, this is what to say — or what to include, since it really functions as a list of topics.
Since my book came out (Kneeling with Giants: Learning to Pray with History’s Best Teachers, InterVarsity, 2012) I’ve done a lot of speaking on prayer in a lot of contexts — churches, retreats, conferences, clergy spiritual formation programs. When the event includes preaching at a worship service, this has always been my text. So it’s really fun to bring the core of it to kids in this children’s sermon on Luke 11:1-13.
A Children’s Sermon on Luke 11:1-13
Good morning, kids! I’m so glad to see you here in worship this morning. Thanks for coming up to hear the children’s sermon.
This morning our story from the Gospel is about something very familiar. It’s about the Lord’s Prayer. You hear the Lord’s Prayer every time you come here for worship. Each week when we talk to God about all the things we’re grateful for and all the things we need help with, we always end it with the Lord’s Prayer.
This week’s story from the Gospel shows when Jesus taught that prayer to his disciples.
What’s He Doing?
One day, the disciples were looking for Jesus. When they found him he was up on top of a hill, perfectly still.
“Hey there’s Jesus!” said Peter.
“What’s he doing?” said James.
“He’s so quiet. I think he’s sleeping,” said John.
“Maybe we should ask him,” said Andrew. So Andrew went up and tapped Jesus on the shoulder.
Jesus turned and saw them all standing there. He looked very calm and peaceful.
Jesus said, “Oh, hi you guys. What’s up?”
“We’ve been looking for you,” said Peter.
“We were wondering what you were doing” said James. “Were you taking a nap?”
“No,” Jesus said. “I was talking to my dad.”
“Your dad?” John asked.
“Yeah,” Jesus said, “God. I talk to him all the time. Its called praying.”
“Oh, right!” Andrew said. “When I was a disciple of John the Baptist he taught us to pray his way. Maybe you could teach us to pray your way. What do you think?”
The Lord’s Prayer
“Sure,” said Jesus. “When you pray, here’s what to say.”
Father, may your name be revered as holy.
May your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial. (Luke 11:2-4 NRSVUE)
“That’s the main stuff.”
“Oh yeah,” said John. “You were teaching that the other day, to the whole crowd. Wasn’t there a bit more that time?”
Jesus said, “That’s right. I was also saying to pray ‘Your will be done on earth as in heaven’ and ‘lead us not into temptation.” And to end the prayer, ‘For the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.’
“That’s a cool prayer,” said Peter. “There’s just one problem.”
“What’s that?” Jesus asked.
Peter said, “I don’t know what it means,”
“Ah,” said Jesus. “Good point. Let me explain. It’s not just a prayer to memorize and say over and over. It’s really a list of the things you should always remember to talk with God about.”
Piece by Piece — about God
“Okay,” said John, “why should we start by saying ‘Our Father in heaven’?”
Jesus said, “When you pray remember God loves you so much he adopted you as his very own child, and give thanks.”
Peter said, “Why do we pray for God’s name to be made holy? Isn’t God’s name already holy?”
Jesus said “Now that you’re in God’s family, you carry his name. Pray that you can live in ways that help people see God’s goodness and love—so they will know God’s name is holy.”
James said “Why do you say ‘your Kingdom come?’”
Jesus said, “Ask God to help more and more people belong to him in his Kingdom. And pray that people will live under God’s law of love and justice.”
Andrew asked, “Why do we pray for God’s will to be done?”
Jesus said, “You’ll be praying for God to help all kinds of people. It can be confusing to know what to ask God to do. God’s will is always the very best thing. So ask God to do that.”
“But how do we know what God’s will is?” asked Andrew.
Jesus said, “Remember what I’ve shown you. I heal the sick. I feed the hungry. I welcome strangers. Start with those things.”
Bit by bit—About Us
Peter was looking confused. He said, “But all that stuff is about God — God’s name, God’s kingdom, God’s will. Can’t we pray for ourselves?”
Jesus smiled. “That’s a really good question Do you remember the next line of my prayer?”
“Yeah,” Peter said. “You said ‘Give us today our daily bread.’”
“Right,” said Jesus. “You should ask God for the food you’ll eat when you are hungry today.”
“What about other stuff?” Peter asked.
“Of course,” said Jesus. “You can talk to God about anything. And for sure God wants you to ask for the things you really truly need.”
Andrew asked, “What about the next part? You said to pray to God to forgive us our sins.”
“Yes,” Jesus said. “You should ask God to forgive you just the way you have forgiven other people.”
“Wait a minute!” Peter said. “My brother Andrew did some really mean things to me when I was a kid, I don’t know if I can forgive him!”
“Well,” said Jesus, “forgiving someone just means you decide not to punish them. Try that.”
“Alright,” Peter said. “But I don’t think that it’s going to make everything okay between us.”
“You’re probably right,” said Jesus. “At least not right away.”
John said “And what about that last thing? You said to pray that God won’t lead us into temptation. Why do we have to pray for that?”
Jesus said, “Sometimes you really want to do things God told you not to do. So ask for God to help you stay out of trouble. Everyone needs help to do the right thing.”
The Ending
Peter said, “So that’s it? We just talk to God about all those things?”
“Yep,” said Jesus.
“But how do I know God hears me?” Peter asked.
“First trust me,” said Jesus, “because I told you God wants to hear from you about all these things. And finish by reminding yourself that God really can do what you asked.”
“How do I do that?” Peter asked.
Jesus said, “It’s the last part of my prayer. You say ‘for the Kingdom and the power and the glory are yours, now and forever.’ That means ‘You can do it!’ Then say ‘Amen!’ That means ‘It’s true!’”
Wondering
I wonder if you ever talk to God?
I wonder if it’s hard to believe God wants to hear from you?
I wonder which part of the Lord’s Prayer you would like to talk to God about today?
++++++++++++
You are, of course, free to use this children’s sermon, or adapt it as you find most useful. But, if you use it, please do one (or more!) of the following.
- You can let me know that you are using it, either in the comments below, or using the contact form above.
- You can put a little notice in your church bulletin that your children’s sermon is adapted from one published on GaryNealHansen.com.
- You can support my work over on Patreon. (Just $1 per month brings my children’s sermons straight to your inbox about two minutes after they go live. And every little bit keeps me going…)
This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase my book on Amazon (please?) I’ll get a small commission.
Leave a Reply