Lesson 2
How to Pray
Having the Right Attitudes & Motives
Unit Game
Play the Books of the Bible Game you have chosen for today’s lesson as students arrive and settle in. This should only take up about five minutes of your time. The point is to repeat a handful of games throughout the year so that the kids memorize the books of the Bible, so this really shouldn’t take a long time. If the students are new to it, feel free to help them find the answer so the game keeps moving.
Prayer
We are always going to begin our lessons with prayer, because we want the Holy Spirit to be the One who is leading our lessons.
Pray, thanking and praising God for everything He does for us, and that He loves us and wants to teach us more about Him. Thank God for His Word. Invite the Holy Spirit to lead the lesson and open up hearts and minds to be able to understand the truth of His Word.
Lesson
Review
Does anyone remember what we learned about last week? Prayer.
Does anyone remember what prayer is? Talking to God. Having a conversation with God.
What are the two parts of a conversation? Talking and listening.
What is the word we use to describe feeling close to someone? Intimacy.
What is the word we use to describe how God knows everything? Ominiscent.
Attitudes and Motives
Today we are going to learn a little bit more about praying. First we are going to focus on the talking part of prayer. We are going to learn how we should pray (talk to God), and how we should not pray. Did you know there can be a wrong way to pray?To find out the right way to pray we are going to look at how Jesus taught His disciples to pray. Jesus gave His disciples something called the Lord’s prayer. Has anyone ever heard of it? Allow answers.
Does anyone know where we can find the Lord’s Prayer? Allow answers.
The Lord’s prayer can be found in Matthew 6:9-13 (The Lord’s Prayer can also be found in Luke 11:2-4, but the version we are most familiar with is found in Matthew). Let’s read it. Assign a reader or read yourself.
Jesus didn’t mean that His followers (including us) needed to say this exact prayer every time they prayed. That would be silly! But He gave it as a guide—like a map or an outline of how He expects us to pray. The Lord’s prayer begins with praise and submission to God. It has thanksgiving for all that God does for us, it has confession and forgiveness of others, and it has a place for asking God for the things we need as well. It is the perfect guide to use when we pray!
We will look at the Lord’s Prayer more closely in our next unit. Right now we are going to look at the instructions Jesus gave His followers about how and how not to pray. How we do something is just as important as what we do. So Jesus gave his followers instructions on what their attitude should be when they prayed.
Can anyone tell me what an attitude is? Allow answers.
An attitude is how you feel inside your heart when you are doing something. You can have a good attitude or a bad attitude. You could have a joyful, happy attitude—or you could have an angry or rebellious attitude.
Have your parents ever told you to change your attitude? Allow answers.
Maybe they told you to change your attitude when they told you to wash the dishes, or take out the garbage, or do your homework? If you obeyed, but had a bad attitude about it (like being grumpy and complaining) you were doing the right thing, but how you did it was wrong. Parents can usually tell when their kids are doing something with a wrong attitude! God can also tell when we are doing things with a bad attitude, because He is omniscient! Omniscient means that He knows all things. Doing the right thing while having a bad attitude is actually sinful behavior. God looks at our behavior on the inside as well as the outside! Since we are all humans, we are all sinful and we are all guilty of having bad attitudes sometimes.
Jesus also told His disciples what their motives should be when they prayed. Does anyone know what a motive is? Allow answers.
A motive is the reason why you do something. Both motives and attitudes are very, very important because they happen inside our heart. Both of them can be either bad or good. In other words, we can have sinful attitudes and motives, or we can have righteous attitudes and motives. Our attitudes and motives usually come out in the things that we say and do.
Praying Humbly
Now, let’s get back to the instructions Jesus had about prayer. He had some things to say about attitudes and motives in the verses right before He gave the Lord’s Prayer.
Let’s read them now.
Matthew 6:5-6. Read or assign a reader.
Who did Jesus say we shouldn’t act like when we pray? The hypocrites.
What a funny word! A hypocrite is a word for someone who should know better, and tells everyone else what the right thing to do is, but then they go and do the wrong thing themselves.
What did Jesus say they loved to do that we shouldn’t do? Stand and pray for everyone to see.
What do you think their motive was? (Why they did what they did.) Allow guesses.
They probably wanted to be seen by men so people would think they were very spiritual. Jesus said when they do this “they’ve had their reward in full.” That means, that’s all the reward they will get! They were praying with a prideful attitude, instead of a humble attitude. They wanted everyone to look at them and think they were really great!
Does anyone know what humble means? Allow answers.
Humility is thinking of yourself honestly. Some people think to be humble means to think everyone else is better than you, but that wouldn’t actually be true! To God we are all valuable and he loves all of us, but we are also all sinners in need of Jesus to save us from our sin! Being prideful is the opposite of being humble. It’s thinking you are better than others. We need to think of ourselves honestly—humbly!
We want to learn how to pray with the right heart attitude, and motives, so we are going to keep looking at what Jesus had to say about how we should and shouldn’t pray.
Jesus said the people who prayed in public because they wanted to be noticed wouldn’t get any more reward than that—being noticed. But wait a minute! That means there must be a reward waiting for those who pray with the right motives and attitude, don’t you think?
How does Jesus say we should pray? It’s in verse 6. Privately.
That’s right! The heart behind it is that we shouldn’t be praying to show off. That would be the wrong attitude and motive! Our prayers should be honest and sincere. We are supposed to be praying to God, not trying to look good.
Who does it say will reward us? The Father (God), who sees what is done in secret.
That’s right! So we shouldn’t pray so we can be noticed by others. We should pray because we want to talk to God!
Jesus actually told a parable, which is a story. Jesus told “parables” to illustrate a point He was trying to make. They weren’t necessarily about things that really happened, but they helped the people to better understand what He was teaching. He told this parable to show how we shouldn’t be prideful when we pray and we are going to act it out!
Assign parts and act out the play: The Pharisee and the Tax Collector
This parable is found in Luke 18:9-14. Let’s look at Luke 18:9 to see who Jesus was telling this parable to. Read or assign a reader.
Who did Jesus tell this parable to? People who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt (which means they looked down on them, thought they were better than them.)
Who were the two men who went up to the Temple to pray? A Pharisee and a tax collector.
A Pharisee was someone who knew God’s Word and served Him. You could think of them kind of like a pastor or someone who teaches the Bible. They were leaders.
Do you expect the pastor to know how to pray with the right heart attitude? Allow answers.
But every Christian should know how to pray, right? Allow answers. Yes they should!
The tax collector was a sinner. He wasn’t really following God’s law, and he wasn’t a leader. There was nothing special about him.
Which one prayed the right way, according to Jesus? The tax collector.
What was it that Jesus said the tax collector did right? It’s in verse 14. Let’s look at it. Read or assign a reader.
He humbled himself.
From this parable, we get the idea that God was really pleased with the tax collector’s humble prayer. God isn’t impressed by things that people are usually impressed by. He looks on the inside of a person, at their heart’s thoughts and motives.
If you have younger students, you can move on to the next section.
[Older students: Let’s read a few more verses about what God has to say about the motives of our hearts.
Proverbs 16:2. Read, or assign a reader.
From this verse we get the idea that even we may not understand our own motives completely, but God does! How is He able to understand and “weigh” our motives? He is omniscient.
1 Samual 16:7. Read, or assign a reader.
In this verse we see that the Lord is telling us something about His character—how He thinks and acts. He says that He doesn’t get impressed by the person’s outward appearance like men do. He looks inside the person, at their heart! He is able to do that because He is…. Omniscient.
James 4:3. Read, or assign a reader.
In this verse, and many others, we learn that it’s even possible God will ignore our prayer if we have wrong motives in our hearts! He will hear us, because He always hears us, but He may choose not to answer us if we have wrong motives or if we are purposely sinning. That’s a scary thought! I think that should give us a healthy fear of having wrong heart attitudes and motives. What do you think? Fear is sometimes a good thing! If we have a healthy fear of cliffs, we are less likely to fall off of one, right?
1 Peter 3:12. Read, or assign a reader.
This verse is quoting another verse from Psalm 34 and it’s saying the same thing as James. The Lord wants to answer the prayer of those with right heart attitudes and motives, and He doesn’t want to answer the prayers of the unrighteous. In fact, it says He is against those who do evil. That should be a warning to us! It matters how we live.
Proverbs 28:9. Read, or assign a reader.
Wow! This verse actually says the prayer of the person who is breaking the Law is actually an “abomination.” An abomination is something that “causes disgust or hatred.” I don’t want my prayers to God to make Him feel disgust or hatred, do you?
After reading all of those verses about the Lord not listening to prayers and hating them, let me reassure you that the Lord always hears when people cry out to Him in repentance, honesty, and humility. Remember the tax collector? He knew he was a sinner and He prayed to the Lord sincerely (in truth), and humbly (without pride), and the Lord was pleased with His prayer and answered. We can learn from all of these verses and examples that God is always pleased with an honest, humble prayer, no matter who the person is, or what their past has been like. ]
Younger students continue from here:
The tax collector’s heart attitude was humble. He knew he was a sinner and he admitted it and was repentant. His motive was that he wanted mercy from God. He had the right attitudes and motives. The Pharisee had a prideful attitude. He thought that because he was following all the rules on the outside, he was better than the tax collector. He was trusting in his own righteousness. His motive was earning God’s approval by doing good works. But his heart was wrong. He was looking down on someone else. And it turns out God was more pleased with the person he was looking down on!
Great job listening today.
Review Game
Play the Review Game you have chosen for today’s lesson using the questions below.
Review Questions
- There is a right way and a wrong way to pray. True or false? True.
- What is the Lord’s prayer? A prayer Jesus gave His followers as an example to follow.
- Are we supposed to say this exact prayer every time we pray? No.
- What is an attitude? How you feel inside your heart when you are doing something.
- Doing the right thing while having a bad attitude is ____. Sin.
- Can God tell when we are having a bad attitude while doing something good? Yes.
- How is God able to know that we are having a bad attitude while doing something good?He knows everything. What is it about Him that makes Him able to know that—what is the word we’ve learned? God is omniscient.
- What is a motive? The reason why you do something.
- What is a hypocrite? Someone who knows the right thing to do and tells others to do the right thing, but then does the wrong thing themselves.
- What does humble mean? Thinking of yourself with honesty.
- How does Jesus say we should pray? In private. Not showing off.
- How did the tax collector pray the right way? He prayed humbly.
- How did the pharisee pray? Pridefully.
- What was the motive of the tax collector? He wanted mercy from God. Repentance.
- What was the motive of the pharisee? He wanted to earn God’s approval. Showing off.
- What is a parable? A story that is told to make a point. They aren’t necessarily true.
- Whose prayer was God pleased with? The tax collector’s.
- Even though we are sinners, God will still hear and answer our prayers if we have what? The right attitudes and motives. Humble, repentant hearts.
Older Students
- Who is able to “weigh” the motives of our hearts? God.
- What does God look at when He looks at a person? Their heart.
- What do people usually look at? The outside of a person. Their appearance.
- Why might God not answer your prayer? If you have bad motives.
- What kind of prayer is an “abomination” to God? The prayer of a person who turns away from God’s Law.
- God might ignore someone’s prayer if their motives aren’t good or if the person is purposely sinning. True or false? True.
- The Lord _______ to answer the prayer of those with right heart attitudes and motives. Wants.
- We should have a healthy _____ of having the wrong heart attitude and motive. Fear.
- What should we learn from all of these verses about God ignoring the prayers of sinful, unrepentant people? It matters how we live. We should want God to hear our prayers, so we should make sure we aren’t acting sinful and unrepentant!
- God is always going to be pleased with what kind of prayer? An honest, humble prayer.
Memory Verses
Choose a memory verse that fits your class’ abilities. Or choose more than one and award prizes accordingly.
Non-Readers/Beginner Readers:
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7 NIV
“You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.” Psalm 139:1-2 NIV
Older Readers:
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8 NIV
“The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to blot out their name from the earth.” Psalm 34:15-16 NIV
“You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.” Psalm 139:1-4 NIV
Play the Memory Verse Game you have chosen for today’s lesson or play the memory verse song to review the memory verse.