The Lord's Prayer for Kids
Gathered together on this page are a number of resources for helping children to learn and say the Lord's Prayer. There is a version of the prayer in modern English, a short video of children saying the "Our Father", and some suggested activities to help with understanding this famous prayer:-The Lord's Prayer
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your Kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom,
the power and the glory are yours.
Now and for ever. Amen
(The New English Version is generally used with children.)
resources on this page
The Lord's Prayer for Children
"Cheeky Monkey TV!" is a fun way of introducing prayer to children. In this episode, Cheeky Monkey is asked what the Lord's Prayer means. The video finishes with an invitation to follow Monkey in praying a child friendly version of the prayer:-
But Jesus said, "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children."
(Matthew 19:14, NLT)
Teaching Children The Lord's Prayer
You will need to consider the age of the children you are teaching. It may be that with younger children you could encourage them to recite the Lord's prayer with you. With older ones, you might want to get them to think a little more about the meaning behind the words, a see if they can write their own prayers to God based on one or more of the elements in the Lord's prayer. Here's a Lord's prayer lesson with some activities that you can use to help children discover this prayer for themselves:-
It's always good to begin by worshipping God and focusing our hearts on Him in some way. You could explain that this is the first thing that Jesus did when he prayed: -
"Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name". Perhaps at this point you could sing a childrens song about prayer. If you're not aware of any, Ishmaels childrens worship is a good place to start. Here you'll find lots of resources (including kids music and free games for children to play) that Ishmael has produced over the years.
Lord's Prayer Coloring Activity
Here's some great free coloring sheets that you can print out and use with your child (or sunday school class). There's seven sheets altogether, each covering different elements of the Lord's Prayer, such as "Give us this day our daily bread" with a fun picture of a boy eating his packed lunch!
Ask some questions
Here's some questions you could ask your children in response to the Lords Prayer coloring sheets:-
1. "Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven"
What would you like to ask God to do? For example, do you have a friend who is ill, who we could pray will get better? Depending on the age of the children, you could ask them if they have seen God answer any prayers.
2. "Give us today our daily bread"
Do you thank God for your lunch? Which foods are your favourite ones? Which ones would you most like to thank God for?
3. "Forgive us our sins"
Do we remember to say sorry when we've done something wrong? Did we say sorry to God?
Short Closing Prayer
Here is a short children's prayer suitable for closing your lesson:-Dear Lord,
Thank you that you promise us
That when two or more come together in Your name
You are with us.
Thank you Lord that you have been with us throughout this lesson
And that you are with us right now.
Inspire us as we leave this place
To love and serve You always.
In the name of Jesus.
Amen.
(a short closing prayer from www.lords-prayer-words.com)
more prayers for children to pray...
here are links to some wonderfully inspired prayers to aid your journey