“Our Father, in Heaven, hollow be Thy name…” that was my version of the Lord’s prayer when I was a little girl in Sunday school. As you can imagine, I was pretty confused! It was many more years before I learned it correctly. One of the problems was I was never actually taught the Lord’s prayer; we just recited it as a class.
The prayer that Jesus taught His disciples to pray is a beautiful example to us as believers of how to approach God ourselves. But, it can also be a daunting task for children to learn it. It’s full of big words that are sometimes hard to say and even harder to understand. These ideas can help you make teaching the Lord’s prayer easier for your Sunday school class.
Create a Visual of the Lord’s Prayer for Kids
A great way to teach kids is to provide them with something interesting to look at. You can easily make a poster with the Lord’s prayer on it with everyday craft supplies. Using a large piece of poster board, write out the Lord’s prayer line by line. At the end of some of the lines, add an interesting picture to help them remember that line. If you’re good at drawing, you can make a picture yourself, or print one you find online. Here’s an example:
Our Father in heaven (picture of a bright, castle like city surrounded by clouds)
Hallowed be Your name
Your kingdom come (a king’s crown)
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven (Earth and the bright city picture next to each other)
Give us this day our daily bread (loaf of bread)
And forgive us our debts
As we forgive our debtors (broken shackles)
And do not lead us into temptation (the word “Temptation” in a circle with a line through it)
But deliver us from the evil one
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen ( a picture of Jesus, maybe on the throne)
Be prepared to help explain some of the words the children might be unfamiliar with, such as “hallowed”, “debts and debtor“ and for younger crowds, “temptation”.
Sing the Lord’s Prayer
Most kids love music, and one tool I’ve used with my own children is teaching the Lord’s prayer through song. If you’re musical, you can make up your own tune, or you can choose from some of these great songs by well-known artists.
Steve Green, Our Father in Heaven, from Hide ‘em in Your Heart Volume 1
The Wonder Kids, The Lord’s Prayer, from Bible Songs for Baby and Me
The Praise Baby Collection, The Lord’s Prayer, from Sleepytime Lullabies
All of these songs are catchy yet reverent, and you can find them in Mp3 format on Amazon.com.
As you prepare to teach the Lord’s prayer, take some time to study it and pray it yourself. It is amazing to think we can pray the same words our Lord Jesus did. What a precious lesson to teach our Sunday school kids!