Help

Help

Theme: Prayer

Aim:

1. To help children to pray.

Keyword:

1. Help.

Materials:

1. One large and easily visible plastic insect.

(I used a very large plastic fly.)

2. The Beatles’ song; Help.

(It will be played at the end of the children’s talk.)

Preparation:

The insect prop needs to be attached to your back just before you make an appearance. It needs to be attached to your clothing in a manner that can be quickly removed. Have someone ready in the congregation to remove the insect prop at the appropriate time. And some sort of equipment to play the Beatles’ song; Help.

Drama Points:

1. When the children are in place, run in from the back of the congregation crying, “Help me, help me, someone help me. What’s on my back? Get it off. Help me. Get it off.”

(Surprise and timing will add to the impact of the drama and message. While running around make sure that the children and the congregation see the insect on your back. By now your allocated helper will spring up and come to your rescue, and remove the insect prop.)

2. “Thank you for coming and saving me when I called out for help. I feel a lot better now.”

3. Now face and speak to the children. “Help is a wonderful word. Help is a short word to say. It is easy to say. It is a quick to say, ‘Help’. It is the right word to say when you need help. Help is a word where people sit up and pay attention. They look around to see what is happening. And someone will come to help.”

4. “Help is a very useful word and it is used a lot in prayer. There is a time for long prayers where we may close our eyes, fold our hands, kneel, or even hold hands in a prayer circle, and a lot of words are said.”

5. “Then there are times for short prayers where you may say something quickly in your head to Jesus. Perhaps, you may say a quick hello to Jesus, or a thank you, or a quick help prayer to Jesus.”

6. “There are a lot of help prayers, the list is quite long for example: Help me Jesus to have a nice day at school. Help me not to get hurt at school. Help me with my homework. Help me to find a friend at school.”

7. “You can also say a help prayer for someone else for example: While watching the TV news you might say, ‘help them Jesus to find that lost girl’ or at school; ‘help Johnny not to be so mean to others’, ‘help Sally to get better from her illness’, or at home; ‘help mummy and daddy to care for me’, ‘help grandma to get better soon’, ‘help grandpa not to be such a grumpy old man’”.

8. “When prayer becomes too hard then there is one more, ‘help me Jesus to pray’ and he will give you the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

9. “Before we return to our seats there is a song I would like you to hear. It is a song about help. Or is it a prayer?”

(Play the Beatles’ song; Help.)