Acts 12: Peter Escapes from Prison

"Prayer Walk" "Hand Prayer" Workshop

Summary:

After "unbinding" from chains like Peter, students will be "free" to engage in a "prayer walk" that leaves encouraging notes at various locations around the church. Prior to the walk, they will create a "Hand Prayer" reminder on cardstock to take home.

Preparation:

• Gather supplies
• Determine the stops for the Prayer Walk. Make note of any specific prayer requests at each stop.
• Write out the six types of prayer on the board: Praise, thanksgiving, confession, intercession (for others), petition (for me), listening.

Supplies List:

• Index cards
• Markers
• Cardstock
• Colored Markers
• Post-it notes

Lesson Plan

Opening:

Welcome the children and tell them what they'll be doing and learning about today.

Following these opening questions about prayer, you'll do a brief demonstration using a student who you've asked ahead of time.

Ask: What is prayer? (accept all answers)

Draw a giant hand on the board and then ask...

Ask: What "types" of prayers can you pray?    Accept all answers and help them refine a list of ideas. generally getting it down to five or six categories:

1. Praise: prayers that say great things about God, who he is, what he has done
2. Thanksgiving: prayers that thank God for his blessings, especially things in our lives we are grateful for.
3. Intercession: Things and problems we ask God to help others with.
4. Confession: Admitting our sins and asking for forgiveness.
5. Petitions:  Personal things we ask God to help us with.
6. Listening: Quiet time contemplating God's world and word and feeling God's comfort.

"Unbound" Prayer

As you say the following, gently WRAP the student's arms/chest/head with rope or decorative lamp chain to symbolize being locked up -- kind of like Peter was in the story.

We are taught that God understands even our mutters and mumbles, and "things too deep for words." God knows what's on our heart even before we say it, but God wants us to SHARE IT with him. But praying is hard for some people because they are BOUND UP with too many other things on their mind.

As you say the following, begin to BREAK FREE the chains/binds around the student:

To be an effective pray-er, you need to find the time, a quiet spot, and learn to open your heart, and mind, and words to God.  One way I do that is by breathing deeply and closing my eyes. And then when my spirit and body feels quiet, I ask God to be with me.

Study:

Say: In today's story, we're going to hear about the Apostle Peter getting ARRESTED and thrown in jail. It takes place several years after the resurrection of Jesus when his followers were trying to stay together and get organized.  King Herod Antipas, the son of the first King Herod who was alive when Jesus was a baby, is angry with the Christians and is afraid they are going to start a rebellion.

Ask: When Peter was thrown in jail, what do you think the church of Jerusalem did FIRST?  Did they try to bail him out? Try to break him out?  No... they prayed to God for his deliverance. Which of the kinds of prayer WAS THAT?

Say and Ask: The early followers of Jesus prayed all the time, "without ceasing" said the Apostle Paul (1 Thess 5). How can someone pray "without ceasing" ??   

Ask: Can you pray with your eyes open? When you are at school?  During TV commercials? During a football game? Yes, you can pray anytime.

Ask: Does God answer EVERY prayer? What if you prayed to "pass a test." God might answer that IF you are listening!  And the answer would probably be:  "II will love you pass or fail,  but it would be unfair for me to give you the correct answers."

Let's Read Peter's Story Together in Acts 12:1-22

You may choose to assign part, or read it all yourself, or have everyone read along, or use a Bible storybook

Questions after the reading:

1. Did Peter ask to be set free in his prayers?  Who did?
   This story is a great example of God answer a prayer you may not have even prayed! But needed!
   
   
2. What did Peter DO with his "answer to prayer"?  He went to the home of a disciple and later resumed his leadership of the Jerusalem church. It was very important for him to do that, because very soon, the Apostle Paul would come to Jerusalem and ask for Peter's blessing to go preach to the Gentiles far and wide.
   
   
3. Do we have any Gentiles in the room today?  (We are all Gentiles! -- People descended from the ones Paul preached too. Thank God Peter was there to approve of Paul's mission!
   
   Thank God that THE CHURCH -- Peter's friends prayed to God to help Peter.

Hand Prayers

As a reminder of the importance of prayer and the many different ways we can pray, you're going to make a Hand Prayer to take home.

Directions:

1. Have each child trace their hand on a piece of cardstock. Have them spread their fingers before tracing. If needed, have them help each other.
2. Let students color in the line to make it heavier and complete.
3. Have them write the following key words on the fingers, starting with "Praise" on the thumb and so on.
   • Thumb - Praise
   • Index finger - Thanks
   • Middle finger - Confession
   • Ring finger - Intercession (for others)
   • Pinkie - Petition (for ourselves)
   
   
4. Now have them draw a heart in the palm of their hand drawing and label it "Listening."
   • Heart - Listening
   
   
5. Finally, let them decorate the area outside their traced hand, and include the words
   
   "The church was earnestly praying to God." Acts 12:5

Prayer Walk Activity

For our closing activity, we're going to go pray for some people and things around the church and leave behind our prayers. When we get to those locations, I'm going to give you a post it note to write a prayer on with your marker. We'll discuss some possible prayers at each location when we get there.

Possible Prayer Walk Locations to Leave a Post-It Prayer:

1. Church Office  (thanksgiving, intercession)
2. Choir room (praise God for their praising voices, thanksgiving for sharing)
3. Nursery (Intercession for the parents and caregivers)
4. Pastor's Office (thanksgiving, intercession for strength, leadership)
5. Window by the front door where people come in (Confession, Asking God to forgive our sins so that we can enter his gates with a pure heart)
6. Outside by a tree (Praise God for Creation)
7. Wall outside our classroom (Petition for things we ourselves need)  *Student may hold these privately and put them in a pocket if they wish.

Close with a prayer asking God to unbind our time and spirit, so that we can praise and thank him, pray for others and our world, and lastly prayer for ourselves, and listen with our heart to God's answers.

A lesson by Jaymie Derden with updates from the Rotation.org Content Team