Kids of the King, Arise!

Day 14: STEP FOUR – LISTENING TO GOD

Focus:

1. Explain: As we investigate what it means to listen to God, we are going to look at the life of someone who is known as “One whom God spoke to face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” - Ex. 33:11.
2. Ask: Does anyone know who I am talking about? (Accept responses.)
3. Show scene from The Prince of Egypt DVD where God calls Moses from the burning bush.
   
   

Procedure:

1. Ask: Why did God talk to Moses? (he wanted him to do something) What was Moses’ response? (he made excuses, but eventually he obeyed).
2. Explain: If we want God to speak to us, we need to make a choice in our hearts to obey Him. This can sometimes mean that, before He says anything, we tell Him that we want to do what He says.
3. Pause for prayer: If you’re ready to say that to God, say out loud right now, “God, I want you to speak to me and I am ready to do what You say. If it’s hard, I know You’ll help me. I want to do what You ask of me.

4. Explain, This was just one of the times that God spoke to Moses, and this one wasn’t even “face to face”! Let’s look at where Moses was the Bible says he spoke to God “face to face.”
5. Read Exodus 33:7-11.
6. Ask: Where was he? (in a tent). (If possible, have a tent set up in advance in another area. Go stand near the tent for this part of the lesson.)
7. Explain: God set up a place on earth where He would meet with His people, the Israelites. Moses went, but he was not the only one who could go. It says that “anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting,” and that Moses’ assistant, Joshua, would stay in the tent even longer than Moses.
8. Ask: What do you suppose God and Moses talked about? (discuss ideas) Tell students that we can read one of the conversations between God and Moses later in this chapter, where Moses asks God to give him help as he leads the Israelites to the Promised Land. God says that he will go with him.
9. Read Ex. 33:12 – 14. Ask: Doesn’t this sound like a conversation between friends to you? It sure does to me! This encourages me, because I know that I can still have a conversation with God today. I know that I’m not Moses, but I am a child of God and Heb. 4:16 says that we can enter the throne room of God “with freedom and confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

CLOSURE:

1. What do you need God’s mercy and grace for today? Spend a few moments talking to Him about it, and then be still and listen. (As a group, wait and “listen” for 3-5 minutes.
2. What thoughts come to your mind? Write them down and check if they agree with what the Bible teaches. If they do, that just might be God speaking to you! If you don’t ‘hear’ anything, don’t worry. God speaks in many ways. Keep “listening” throughout the day. We’re going to close with a song that talks about many ways that God might speak to us today.
3. Close by playing “God Speaking” by Mandisa, from her album True Beauty. Or, close by reading a psalm aloud. Pray, thanking God for being a God who still wants to meet with us.

Activity:
Cut leaf shapes out of green colored paper. Then cut flame shapes out of red and orange paper. Glue them onto a coloring page to make the burning bush. Then draw a picture of Moses in front of the bush.

Optional: Watch the Prince of Egypt DVD and see how God spoke to Moses and How he responded to that call.

You’ve guessed it: it’s time for the camps for the Disabled and Handicapped among the Garbage Collectors I work with! From May 18 to the 30th I will be at the conference centre that we use on the banks of the Bitter Lakes, just south of the Suez Canal, receiving groups of between 30 and 60 adults and children (plus 20 helpers) for 3-4 days of camp each. Why do I not know the exact numbers at this late date? Simply because so many of them get sick just before camp and don’t ever make it!

Sometimes these camps run like a charm, as we have run them for about 14 years now and so kind of know what to do. Other times the devil tries his best to ruin things—like the year we had a severe wind storm which caused power failure for a day and water failure for a couple, right during our most difficult camp. Sometimes I am healthy all the way through and it is usually when I’ve remembered to ask you all to pray for me. Other times I get severe vomiting and once even de-hydration, which required a doctor to come and hook me up to an Intravenous tube! Sometimes the mentally challenged boys (always our toughest group) are as sweet and healthy as can be. Other times they are not, like the year we had to take 2 of them to the local hospital (scary!) with asthma attacks and another one almost drowned!

So please pray for these kids! I sincerely believe that the devil loves to knock the weakest and most neglected people, perhaps because they are the very ones God most cares for. It takes all of us praying together in unity, to keep his evil schemes from working and to unleash God’s Spirit to work wonderfully among these people.

One more thing—we have been trying for 2 years to raise money to build a centre for these same, disabled people at the Mokattam Garbage Village, called the Centre of Love. Praise God, enough has come in to build most of it, and we have put in the foundation (it took 124 truckloads to carry off all the garbage that had been thrown on the empty land!) But then the government decided we needed a building permit and all the work stopped for at least 3 months (this is the first time such a permit has been required for church buildings at that garbage village.) Well, praise God we have just received one of the needed permits, and oral consent for the second. PLEASE PRAY that the written one will come soon, and that nothing further will stop us from building this very important, multi-purpose centre for these hurting people

Rebecca Atallah

ACTIVITY:
To have an idea of what the people that live in the Garbage Village experience, ask your parents to take you to the Garbage Dump in your city. In my town, you can bring your garbage there, or dump bigger items. If possible carefully walk around. Think from their point of view. They are hungry and in some garbage villages THIS is where they will find their meal. Do you see any food? If so it is old, mushy and perhaps moldy, yet this is what they would eat. What about other things, bottles for example, this could be collected and some places will give money for pop bottles. Clothes, people throw clothes out that maybe doesn’t fit, or isn’t in style, and these could be washed and brought to a second hand store sometimes for money, or there cold be clothes that they could wear.

Spend some time now to pray for all the people around the world that live and work in the garbage dumps. Ask God to show you what is on His heart and pray or do what He shows you

Day 13: STEP FOUR – LISTENING TO GOD

Focus:
1. Review last week’s focus of talking to God – A,C,T, S. Then ask students to imagine that they are having a conversation with a friend that goes like this. (Get a volunteer to act this conversation out or do it yourself):
1. (Two friends enter from opposite sides of the stage. One starts talking to the other, very quickly but excitedly. She is truly excited to see the other but completely absorbed in herself.)
“Hi, Stephanie, it’s so great to see you. I feel like I never see you so when I do it’s just awesome. You’re such a great person to be with, too, so I love hanging out with you. I want to tell you all about my week! I went on vacation and it was great and we had an amazing time. My family went to Disney and I saw Mickey and Minnie and Goofy and MGM studios where they make all those cool computer-animated videos and it’s the MOST AMAZING place in the world so you should really go sometime! But it wasn’t all great because sometimes by sister and I got into fights because she always wanted to stay longer than I did and I wanted to see everything, you know? Anyway it was still a great week and I’m really glad we got to go. And this has been great chatting with you I’m so glad we could talk because it’s been a while. OK – bye!”
(Talking friend exits and listening friend is left standing, confused, in center stage. She pauses for a moment and then exits.)

Procedure:
1. Ask: What do you think of this conversation? Of the relationship these friends have? How do you think the “listening” friend feels?
2. Explain: This is often how we treat God when we pray. We come to him with a “report” of our week, or a list of questions or problems, but we spend all of our time talking.
3. Ask: Do you think you would want to be friends with someone who just talks all the time? (probably not) What do friends need to spend time doing in a conversation? (listening)

Closure:
4. Explain: In the same way, we need to spend time listening when we come to God in prayer. Otherwise, we are just having a one-sided conversation and we can’t really claim to be a “friend of God” at all. Today/this week, we are going to be investigating how we can listen to God, since we can’t see him and talk to him face to face.
(Optional) Divide students into teams. Have each team brainstorm a list of ways they know God speaks, either from Bible stories, in their own life, or to people they know. Discuss together and emphasize that God does want to communicate with us, we just need to have a heart that is ready to listen.

Think back on a time when you noticed someone not treating someone else with respect. How about at the grocery store when someone complained …LOUDLY…that the line was going to slow and WHAT IS THE MATTER with the cashier after all?
How about at a Hockey game, or soccer practice when the referee made a call that wasn’t popular? How did the team react? What kind of things did they say to the referee or behind his back?

Look up these verses and fill in the blanks.
They are taken from the NIV version of the Bible.
Luke 6:31 Do to _________as you would have them do to ___.
Romans 12:21 Do not be overcome by____, but overcome evil with ____.
Philippians 2:3 Do nothing out of _____________or vain conceit, but in humility _____________________than yourselves.
HMMM, it seems that our society could sure use some more respect don’t you. This is a very important behavior trait of the son’s and daughters of the King.

Treat others like you want to be treated

Be thoughtful of the feelings of others

Accept those who are different from yourself

Be fair

Don’t swear

Be polite to others

Try to show good manners by saying please and thank you

Be patient with others when they make mistakes

Complete the following:
I show respect for the bus driver by:
I show respect for my teacher by:
I show respect for the cafeteria monitor by:
I show respect for my fellow students by:
I show respect for the janitor by:
I show respect for the environment by:
I show respect for my family by:
I show respect for myself:

If you were going to change only one thing about your behavior…
What behavior would you change to improve?
For example, if before you always wanted to be first in line, would you now wait in line patiently or be willing to give it to someone who needs it more than you?

Prayer

Join millions of Christians all around the world who are uniting in prayer, purpose, and faith TODAY, Pentecost
Sunday, May 11th for the Global Day of Prayer.
Kids of the King arise and be a part of this amazing time of prayer and worship. IMAGINE 200 million Christians all uniting to seek the King. There has never been anything like it in history and you can be part of it!

Click on globaldayofprayer.com and download
videos and all sorts of interesting reports on the GDOP.

See if you can find the prayer that will be said.

This is the prayer that will be said ALL over the world today, JOIN IN! and if possible have a map of the world or globe handy as you pray.

Ten Days Of Prayer leading up to the Global day of prayer

Day Nine

Theme: Healing through Jesus

When Jesus was still on earth He told His disciples that they were to go to all the world and preach te gospel (of the kingdom) to all the nations. He also said that …these signs will accompany those who have believed, In my name…they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover. Look at how the disciples did just that in Acts 5:14-15

This command is for today as well. Take out some construcation paper and draw an outline of a medicine bottle, or if you have some empty ones lying around your house that would work as well. Write down the following prayer points, and either put them in the bottle or write it on the construction paper bottles.

Pray:

• That God would bring miraculous healing to the sick.
• That Christians would become doctors and nurses and go to places in the world that need basic health care.
• That we would pray for the sick people that we know.
• Pray for anyone that you know that is sick. If one of the people in your family or group is sick, gather around that person and lay your hands on him/her and ask Jesus to heal them.
• Pray for the end of HIV/AIDS in your generation
• Pray for health care for children around the world. 30,000 die each day from preventable diseases

Take a stephescope and listen to your heart beat. Pray that God would make your prayers for the health of the world as strong as your heartbeat.

“Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your Holy servant Jesus.” Acts 4:30

Ten Days Of Prayer leading up to the Global day of prayer

Day Seven

Theme: For the nations to hear the voice of God

Read Acts 2:1-11

What do you notice? Yes people of MANY different languages were able to hear the good news IN their OWN language. Amazing isn’t it! As soon as the Holy Spirit came in power it was so much on God’s heart that everyone hear the Good News of the Kingdom of God that He made sure that everyone present could understand. It is still on God’s heart that the nations of the world hear about God’s love and forgiveness.

Cut and paste this URL to connect with “Operation World”

http://www.24-7prayer.com/ow/

When you log on click anywhere on the map of the world and it will pull up a discription of the country and some prayer points. Choose 2 -3 three countries, or as many as you wish. It is really sweet to have all this info at your fingertips. For supper tonight find out what the national dish is for one of the countries you checked out and prayed for, and have it for supper.

ACTIVITY: Use an inflatable globe to help you pray for the world. Throw the globe to each other and when it’s caught say a 30 second prayer for Jesus to be Lord over all nations.

“The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, for all the Lord will call.” Acts 2:30(NIV)

Ten Days Of Prayer leading up to the Global day of prayer

Day Six

The theme today is God’s purpose for families and young people

Did you know that there are about 6.5 Billion people on earth today. 52% of these are kids under the age of 15. Imagine over half of the people on earth are kids. Now many of these children are not living in warm homes with plenty of food and comfy beds. If you look at kids all over the world what does it mean to be a child today?

It means to grow up in a world with AIDS. There are 3.2 million new cases of AIDS each year, and 134 million AIDS orphans. There are more than 100 million street kids. 28% of the world’s children are malnourished, and 35,000 die each day from starvation. There are 200 million child laborers between the age of 5-14, 10 million children are trapped in the sex industry, and there are 300 thousand child soldiers. That is just a few of the statistics.

The children in the west too are affected but often in a different way. There is poverty here as well but a greater influence in many kids lives is media bombardment, family disintegration and information overload. This can lead them to feel powerlessness and full of dispair. Suicide, drug and alcohol abuse are everywhere in our cities.

This is overwhelming isn’t it. We amy think “What can we do about it?” First we can pray and ask God to give us His heart for the hurting children and families in the world. We can start right at home. Are there children in school or your neighbourhood that need a smile and a word of encouragement? Try and look at your class or neighbour hood with Kingdom Goggles and see what Jesus sees. Then ask Him what he wants you to do about it. There are also many oragnisations through which you can sponsor a hurting child overseas.

To be close to God we need to share His heart of COMPASSION for the pain and injustice of the world.

ACTIVITY

Take a large piece of paper and draw an outline of a child. Now get pictures of kids all over the world from magazines or newspapers and make a collage in the outline of the child.

As you do pray for the children you glue down. When you are done, place your hand on the collage and pray as God leads you for the children of the world. Look back at some of the statistics and ask God to show His love in a special way today. Pray for all the children in the world that are the same age as you. What are some things you are concerned about? Pray for that as well. For Example. “I pray for all the 12 year old boys that have a hard time learning math at school. Please help them understand and help them know that You are their heavenly Father and love them.” God’s heart is that children everywhere come to know His love and care for them

Pray that many children, teenagers and parents would serve Jesus with EXTREME devotion.

Pray that God would encourage kids to be strong witnesses for Jesus. (I know a young boy that prayed that God would raise up kids to preach when he was 8 years old. Now he is 10 and he preached a great sermon of hope and God’s love at a youth detention center here in Winnipeg a few weeks ago.)

Verse for today:

“for the promise is for you and your children” Acts 2:39

Ten Days Of Prayer leading up to the Global day of prayer

Day Five

Theme: Peace: For relationships to be restored

All over the world there are situations where people don’t get along. Brother’s and sister’s fight over all sorts of stuff. Why do you sometimes fight with your brother or sister? What about? Now, how about Mom and Dad? Somethime whole families fight over silly things, and get mad at each other and then don’t talk to each other any more. The same happens at church where one church thinks they are better than the other or have a better program than another. Now take that to your city, and your nation, and then around the world. That is how wars start. One country wants what another has and so on. What other types of things cause divisions between people, and nations?

But when Jesus came He brought us back to God, and the things that stood in the way between us and God He paid for so that we could once again have a close relationship with Him. This was called reconcilliation and as sons and daughters of the King, since we want to act just Like Jesus, we are called to help bring people back to each other in love and to God. Remember we are a New Creation (Look at Day 4 Keys of the Kingdom)

2 Corinthians 5: 17-18

Therefore if any man is in Christ, He is a new creature; the old has passed away; behold new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and GAVE US THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILLIATION.

ACTIVITY

FAMILIES; What are some things in your family that are pulling you apart? Talk about them. Ask Jesus to help your family come close to each other. If there is something that you have done to hurt another family member ask for forgiveness.

Ask God to heal any broken relationships in your neighbourhood. If you have offended a neigbour, think of something Kind you can do for them.(One of our neighbors didn’t like our dog barking. So I baked some cookies and brought it over for his afternoon tea.)

CHURCHES; Take a rope and divide yourself equally for a tug of war. Think of things that pull churches apart. As you do a Tug of War talk to God about these things. Ask Him to take away divisions. Now drop the rope and come together for a group Hug. Pray that Christians would show love to one another and kindness and patience.

WORLD; Go to a newspaper and check out the World Section. There is probably something in there about a conflict somewhere in the world. Ask God to show you how to pray for that situation. Ask for His peace to come into that situation.

Does your nation have an enemy? Invite friends around to eat a meal specific to that nation and pray for Jesus’ peace and love to grow between you and them.

” All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possesions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need…They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people” Acts 2: 44-47

Ten Days Of Prayer leading up to the Global day of prayer

Day four

The theme for today is that God would pour out His Spirit on us all.

In the Bible the Spirit of God is often likened to a wind. The wind blows where it wills, has great power, and you can’t see it but you can see its effects. When it is hot outside the wind cools you and refreshes you. If it is really strong it can wake you up when you are sleeping. Wind is often at the beginning of a weather system and brings change and tells you that rain may be coming. Rain is another symbol of God’s spirit in the Bible. Rain washes, helps the crops grow, and quenches thirst.

Isn’t it neat How God uses everyday symbols all around us to help us understand Him better. Makes sense doesn’t it as He made it all anyways!

Activity:

Place a fan in the room that you are praying. Think of people and places that need a fresh wind of the Spirit of God. Write their names on short pieces of ribbon streamers. Then tape them to the front of the fan grill while it isn’t plugged in.

Turn on the fan while you Pray: That the Spirit of God would wake up people all over the world to hear His voice.

That Chrisians all over the world would listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and be God’s hands and feet to share the Good News wherever they go. (If you can’t remember clearly what the Good News is all about then go back to Keys of the Kingdom days 1-3)

That the effects of the Holy Spirit would be seen by every one.

Pray especially for the places and people you wrote on the streamers.

The verse for today is;

“In the last days,” God says, “I will pour out My Spirit on all people” Acts 2:17