Day 4: God's Amazing Power in Prayer!
Because GOD IS ALL-POWERFUL, (The Biggest and the Strongest), He can help me with anything.
Read or quote the memory verse: O Sovereign Lord! You made the heavens and the earth by Your strong hand and powerful arm. Nothing is too hard for You. Jeremiah 32:17, Discover God Bible, (NLT).
Remember when we discovered that God is a Personal Spirit and we can get to know Him better every day? One of the best ways to get to know Him is by talking with Him. Talking with God is called prayer, and prayer is one of the best ways for us to see God's power in action!
Listen to a story about one woman who didn't dare to ask God for a miracle and one woman who did.
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Faith in the Power of Prayer
There is a story of a native woman living in a village deep in a rain forest in South America. She was a Christian.
One day her little daughter became very sick. Her fever was dangerously high and a missionary doctor said that if she weren't put in a bath of ice to cool her body down, the young girl would die.
The native woman told the missionary that she would pray and ask God to send ice. The missionary was concerned that this new Christian would be disappointed so she tried to discourage her. "We live far from any city or electricity. There has never been ice in the rain forest. I don't know how God would answer such a prayer."
The woman responded, "Didn't you tell me that God is powerful enough to do anything? If He is, then He can send ice to save my daughter, and I am going to ask Him for it."
That afternoon, the clouds over the rainforest became very dark. Soon, it seemed that the heavens opened up and hail poured down from the sky covering the ground with small ice pellets. The villagers quickly gathered the "ice," and they placed the little girl in a tub of very cold ice water. The fever finally came down and she got better.
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Why didn't the missionary want to pray for ice? (She couldn't figure out how God would answer the prayer, and so the missionary decided not to even ask.)
Why did the native woman pray for ice? (She remembered that God has the power to make ice appear anywhere He wants -- no matter how hot it is.)
Listen to what Jesus said about prayer: Read John 14:13,14.
You can ask for anything in My name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask Me for anything in My name, and I will do it! - Discover God Bible, (NLT).
Talk about power! But does this mean that prayer works like a magic wand...that you can ask for anything and "poof!" it appears? (No!) Why not? (NOTE: See what your children will say!)
Let's read the first part again:
Jesus said, "You may ask Me for anything in My name and I will do it."
How are we supposed to pray? (In Jesus' name)
You can be totally honest with God; ask for anything and expect Him to do amazing things! But always remember that His will is perfect and so is He. He will never do anything if it is not the best for you. For instance, you may pray for a room full of candy, but I doubt He would think that would be best for you!!
Do you think God would ever use His power to hurt you just for the fun of it? (No!) God can NEVER use His power against His other attributes. For instance:
- God loves us so much He will never use His power to hurt us unnecessarily.
- God is Totally Truthful and will never use His power to lie.
- God is Perfect and Clean and will never use His power to do evil.
You can be sure that God will always answer your prayers (with a yes, no, or wait) in a way that is perfect and best.
Listen to a prayer from the Bible in Ephesians 3:16-18, 20.
I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit. Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is . . . Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. - Discover God Bible, (NLT).
I'm going to pray that prayer for you in a minute, but first, is there anything you would like to ask God to do? (NOTE: Write down your students' prayer requests.)
Listen to this quote:
"Since nothing is too hard for God, we do not have a need too great for Him to meet nor a problem too complicated for Him to conquer. We can never pray a prayer too difficult for Him to answer." - Bill Bright, Discover God
Why does it matter?
There is nothing too hard for God. You can take every problem to Him and know that He has the power to help.
Talk with God and Stay Connected to the Vine!
NOTE: Pray the following prayer from Ephesians 3:14-21 for your children and insert their names. If you have more than one child, you can either pray the prayer for each child or pray it once, inserting all the names as you pray.
"I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower (name) with inner strength through His Spirit. Then Christ will make His home in (name) hearts as you (they) trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is... Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think."
All Bible Times for God Is All-Powerful