Pray Always

Children’s Chapel

October 16, 2016

Proper 24C

Theme: Pray Always

Bible Reference: Luke 18: 1-8

Introduction: Good Morning girls and boys! I am so happy to see you all this morning! Do we have any new friends with us? (Welcome new friends.) Today I want to ask you a question that may seem a little silly. How many of you like to wait on something, raise your hand. Not many of you like to wait. Let’s think of some things that we have to wait for (Allow answers.) You all have come up with wonderful answers! Sometimes we may have to wait for our birthday to come or a holiday or we may have to wait in line to ride on a roller coaster, or we may have to wait in line to get ice cream. All that waiting seems like it’s going to take forever, right? Have you ever just decided not to wait anymore and left the line? These things that we wait for are things that we look forward to but sometimes we wait even when we don’t look forward to the thing we are waiting on. We may wait at the doctor’s office or the dentist or we may wait to get better when we are sick. Waiting for something no matter if it is something we are looking forward to or not is very hard, isn’t it? 

       Now I want to ask you something that may seem like it has nothing to do with waiting. How many of you say prayers to God? All of us pray in some way either in thanksgiving or in asking God to take care of us during the day and night. Sometimes we may even pray for something that we hope God will help us with or that God will give to us as a blessing. We may pray too for God to help us to get well when we are sick or for someone else who is sick. What happens when we have to wait on God, do you think we should stop praying? Before we answer that question, let’s listen to a parable or story that Jesus told to his apostles. This parable comes from the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament.

Bible Story: Luke 18:1-8 (Read Aloud)

18 Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. ²He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. ³In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ ⁴For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, ⁵yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’” ⁶And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? ⁸I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Response: In the parable that Jesus told, he wanted to encourage his apostles and us to not lose heart or become discouraged when we are praying to God and have to wait for his response. God always hears each of our prayers. God loves each one of us so much and he loves to hear our prayers to him. Sometimes we do have to wait for God to answer our prayers and sometimes we have an answer right away. God’s plans for our lives are not always easy to see or understand and sometimes we may not receive exactly what we may pray for, but the good news is that God loves us so much that he is always listening to our prayers and he will always answer our prayers in his perfect timing. Prayers to God are pleasing to him and as we trust in him we will hear an answer to our prayers sometimes sooner and others later. The good news too is that God loves us and hears all of our prayers.

Pray: Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of prayer so that we may talk to you. Help us to trust in you so that we may continue to pray always without giving up. In your holy name, Amen.

Say the Lord’s Prayer together.

Response Activity (Crafts, Singing, or another activity will be provided.)