Welcome

Thank kids for coming.

Just for fun, have kids give a foot-five (a high-five with a foot) to two friends.

Make announcements.

Introduce new kids.

Celebrate birthdays by having kids say “happy birthday” in sign language.

Collect the offering.

Introduce the Lesson

Say: Today we’re going to learn that God hears our prayers. We’ll learn about a woman in the Bible who prayed and how God heard her prayer. Let’s talk about what we hear.

Share

Tell kids what your favorite sound is. For example, you might like to hear your kids laughing, the sound of rain, or classical music.

Have kids form pairs and tell their partners their favorite sounds.

After partners have discussed, ask two or three kids to share with the whole group what they talked about with their partners.

Summarize

Open a Bible to 1 Samuel 1, and say: One of God’s favorite sounds is our prayers! God hears our prayers. Let’s see what the Bible says about the prayer of a woman named Hannah. The Bible is special because it’s full of true stories about what God has done. God can talk to us as we read and hear about his works. Let’s listen to God as we hear from the Bible today and as we pray to him.

Pray, thanking God for hearing our prayers.

Talk About It

Say: Think about something you really, really want for your next birthday.

Tell kids what you really want for a gift. Then have kids share their answers with a partner. Afterward, ask a few kids to tell the whole group what they talked about.

Ask: • Explain whether you think it’s okay to ask God for that gift.

Say: Today we’re going to learn that God hears our prayers. I want to make sure you know that doesn’t mean we can treat God like a vending machine. Prayer isn’t about just making a wish list and expecting God to give us everything we want. But it’s okay to talk to God about what we want. Let’s look at today’s true Bible story to think more about what prayer really means.

Ask

Say: We’re going to learn from the Bible about how a woman named Hannah prayed. Hannah really wanted a son, but she didn’t have one. In Bible times, men sometimes had more than one wife. Hannah’s husband was also married to a woman named Peninnah, who did have children. Here’s how Peninnah treated Hannah.

Read 1 Samuel 1:6.

Ask: • Tell about a time someone made fun of you. Share your own example first, and then have kids share with their partners.

Say: It hurts when people make fun of us. But this was especially hurtful to Hannah because it hit a sore spot. Hannah really wanted a baby.

          Hannah’s desire for a baby was different from the things we said we’d want for our birthdays. This was a deep desire of her heart, so she prayed to God for a baby.

Read 1 Samuel 1:10-11.

Distribute red construction paper, scissors, and pens. Say: Cut out a heart, and then think about your heart’s desire. Remember, this is different from wanting a video game or a new phone. Hannah was really hurting because she wanted a baby so badly. Think about it this way: What would you ask God to change about your family, friendships, or even yourself? What really makes your heart hurt?

          Write or draw on your heart what you would ask God. No one else will see it; this is between you and God.

Allow time. You may wish to play reflective music to help set a more serious tone. When kids have finished, have them tape their hearts to a wall with the words facing in so only blank hearts are visible.

Pray: God, we can’t see the desires on these paper hearts. But you see them, just as you see inside our human hearts. We ask that you’ll hear our prayers and satisfy our hearts’ desires. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Say: God hears our prayers. He sees our hearts’ desires, and he hears when we ask him for help.

Thank

Say: God hears our prayers. And he heard Hannah’s prayer. This is what happened.

Read 1 Samuel 1:20.

Say: Although this verse doesn’t use the word thanks, Hannah named her baby based on the fact that he was an answer to prayer. She showed a thankful attitude.

          Let’s give thanks to God, too.

Have kids sit in a circle.

Say: Let’s think of things we want to thank God for, and we’ll use each letter of the alphabet to come up with a list. The first person will say something to be thankful for that starts with A, the next person will say something that starts with B, and so on.

If you want, you can skip the really hard letters like Q, X, and Z. So let’s pray! Older kids may need to help younger kids sound out words, or you can let younger kids simply name something they’re thankful for, regardless of the letter it starts with.

After you’ve gone through the alphabet, have kids put their hands in the middle of the circle like a sports team and say “Thank you, God!” as they lift their hands.

Say: God hears our prayers, including our prayers of thanks.

Give to God

Say: We talked about asking God for things, but we can give to God, too. That’s what Hannah did next. She remembered her promise to God, and she was thankful that God heard her prayer. She took Samuel to the Tabernacle to give him to God.

Read 1 Samuel 1:27-28. Then give each child a new piece of plain white paper, and set out markers and tape to share.

Say: Think about a gift you could give God. A good gift is something that is a little hard to give up. Maybe it’s giving some of your time or helping your brother or sister when you don’t feel like it. Write or draw your gift on your paper. Then decorate the other side of your paper to look like wrapping paper. Fold it up, and tape it together like a gift.

Allow time. When kids have finished with their gifts, say: Since Hannah returned to the Tabernacle where she’d asked for a son, let’s return to our wall of hearts and give our gifts to God. Have kids make a pile of gifts in front of the hearts. You may wish to play reflective music as kids present their gifts.

Say: God hears our prayers, and we can respond to him by giving back to him.

Praise

Say: Hannah can teach us one more kind of prayer.

Reread 1 Samuel 1:28, emphasizing the last sentence. Distribute colorful paper, and have kids cut out strips of paper about 1 inch tall and 4 inches wide.

Say: Worship or praise often means telling God things we love about him. For example: I love you, God, because you’re… Share your own ending to the sentence.

Say: Now it’s your turn. On your strips of paper, write your endings to the sentence, “I love you, God, because you’re…” If you can’t write, ask someone to help you write your ending.

After kids write, lead them in standing up and throwing their papers like confetti while shouting out their praises to God. You could also play upbeat praise music as kids throw their confetti.

Say: God hears our prayers. He loves to hear our praise and worship!

Leave the hearts and gifts in place for use in the Life Application Wrap-Up section.

Tips

• Smaller funnels work best. When purchasing tubing, it helps to take a funnel along to confirm that it will fit inside or around the tube. When we tested this activity, the inside diameter of our tubing was ½ inch.

Attach the Balloon

Say: Today we’re discovering that God hears our prayers.

Ask: • Think about inventions that help people hear more clearly. Can you name some?

Say: A stethoscope helps doctors hear heartbeats more clearly. Let’s make a stethoscope and experiment with our hearing.

Form mixed-age pairs, and give each pair two funnels, a 2-foot piece of tubing, a balloon, and a pair of scissors.

Say: First, let’s cut off the part of the balloon we blow into so we can stretch the balloon over the funnel. Demonstrate so kids can see, making sure the balloon is as tight and flat as possible. Secure the edges of the balloons with duct tape. Have older partners do the same.

Attach Funnels

Have partners place the narrow end of the funnels either inside or around the ends of the tubing. Twist to make sure the funnels are nice and tight.

Say: Great job! You’ve made a homemade stethoscope! Let’s tap a heartbeat on the balloon side of the stethoscope.

Listen and Respond

Have partners each hold an end of the stethoscope. The partner holding the balloon side should gently tap on the balloon like a heartbeat while the other partner listens through the opposite funnel. Invite partners to switch ends so both have a chance to tap and listen. Encourage kids to listen and compare taps with and without the funnel.

Ask: • How did the stethoscope change the sound you heard?

Say: The heartbeats we tapped were louder when we listened through the stethoscope. Now let’s experiment and see what other ways we can communicate.Encourage kids to try different experiments. Options include:

• Tap different rhythms and have their partners clap them back.
• Whisper messages into the balloon end that the partners repeat or respond to.
• Remove the balloon and talk to each other through the funnels as if using telephones.

Talk About It

Ask: • How is talking and listening through our stethoscopes like or unlike talking and listening to God?

Say: God hears our prayers. He doesn’t need a stethoscope to hear us better. Even if we don’t say a word, God hears our hearts’ deepest feelings. In our Bible story, Hannah’s heart longed for a baby. She prayed with words and with her heart, and God heard and answered her prayer.

Ask: • Who do you usually share your deepest thoughts and feelings with? Share an example from your own life to start. Perhaps you share with a spouse or a best friend you’ve known for a long time.

Say: Good friends and family members listen to us. But sometimes we have thoughts and feelings that we don’t share with anyone but God. God hears our prayers. He hears our hearts and always knows what’s best for us.

Tips

• If you’d rather not have kids share a blindfold as they take turns being “It,” simply have them close their eyes.
• If you have two kids with the same first name, have one of them use his or her middle or last name for the game.

Recommended for 6 or more kids.

Play a Version of Marco Polo

Say: Today we heard the story of Hannah and how God answered her prayers for a son. God hears millions of prayers from all over the world every day, and God can pick out every voice and every prayer. God hears you and me when we pray, even among all those millions of other voices. That’s amazing! Let’s play a game to see how well we can pick out voices in a crowd.

Invite a willing child to be It. Then blindfold It, and help him or her to the center of the play area. Have the other kids spread out around It.

Explain that you’ll whisper the name of one of the other kids to It. It will continually call out that name and try to find that person by listening for the name in the crowd of other names. The other kids will call out their own names. Kids may move slowly around the room, and It will try to find and tag the person he or she is calling.

When It tags the person he or she was calling, that person will become the new It. Play as many rounds as you can in about six minutes.

Talk About It

Ask: • What helped you hear one voice out of many voices?

• Why are you glad God can pick your voice out of millions of voices and hear your prayers?

          • What are some things you’ve prayed about that are important to you?  Say: No matter what our prayers are about, they’re important to God. God hears our prayers, even when there are millions of other prayers coming his way!

Choose a Corner

Say: As we close our lesson, you’ll have a chance to pray in one of the ways we did during our Core Bible Discovery. You can choose which way you want to pray.

Set the red construction paper, scissors, tape, and some of the pens in a corner near the hearts from Core Bible Discovery. Say: If you choose to come to this corner, you can cut out another heart and write or draw a prayer on it, asking God for your heart’s desire. Then you can tape it to the wall with the other hearts.

Set some plain white paper and pens in a second corner. Say: If you choose to come to this corner, you can make another list or picture collage of things you’re thankful for. This time, you don’t have to use each letter of the alphabet; just make a list.

Set some plain white paper and some markers in a third corner, near the pile of gifts from Core Bible Discovery. Say: If you choose to come to this corner, you can give another gift to God.

Set the colored paper, scissors, tape, and some markers in the fourth corner. Say: If you choose to come to this corner, you can write more praises to God and arrange them in a fun mosaic on the wall. But do it quietly so you don’t disturb others. Only choose this corner if you know how to write.

Let kids choose a corner and complete their prayer experience.

Pray

Bring everyone back together in a huddle. Pray: God, thank you that you hear our prayers, whether we’re asking, thanking, giving to you, or praising you. Help us turn to you in prayer every day. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Thank kids for coming, and encourage them to come back next week.