The Best Sunday School Worship and Prayer Tips

Use these Sunday school lesson tips, tactics, and strategies on worship and prayer to help inspire and guide your lesson planning! God bless!

Worship and Prayer Tips

• The Importance of Worship Music for Kids – Wayne Stocks shares why worship is important and why it is imperative to have good worship for children.
• Helping Kids Worship: Entering The Worship Zone - Mimi Bullock offers 4 suggestions for helping children worship God in a true and meaningful way.
• If Your Worship Space Kid Friendly? - Use these five troubleshooting tips by Mimi Bullock to help evaluate the space your children are worshiping in.
• Where Should Children Worship? - Understand the different sides of the worship debate with Children's Ministry Magazine's article discussing the pros and cons of different modes of worship in the context of children's ministry.
• Exciting Ideas for Kid-Friendly Worship – These tips and suggestions from Mimi Bullock can help make your worship more effective for children.
• How to Choose Worship Songs for Kids – Use this guide by Jenny Funderburke to help choose worship sets that children can understand and respond to.
• Christian Music for Children – Tim Challies shares several different albums that all have great music and are appropriate for children's worship.
• Kids Worship Songs + Scripture Memorization Music – Jeri Tanner gives you access to several resources that help children memorize scripture and engage with Jesus.
• Teaching Children About Singing – Jeri Tanner frames 7 tips from John Wesley about singing and praising God with your voices.
• New Jesus Loves Me Song and Video for Children's Worship
• 10 Reasons Why I Still Love One Night Kids' Crusades – If you're wondering whether a short event is worth it, check out Mimi Bullock's 10 reasons to use events to focus on Christ's salvation.
• Sharing Communion With Children – Mimi Bullock outlines how you can share the Lord's Supper with children in a meaningful way.
• Tips for Kids' Altar Calls – Use these tips from Mimi Bullock to help make your altar calls effective and useful for children to meet with God.
• Teaching Kids How to Pray for Others – These 3 steps from Mimi Bullock help children learn how to pray.
• Leading a Prayer Meeting for Kids – Mimi Bullock outlines some ways that you can lead prayer meetings for children.
• How to Pray for Your Kids and Someone Else's - Use these 3 tips from Mimi Bullock to guide your prayers for your children, and the children you teach.
• How to Make Prayer Time Special at Home for Kids - Use these 5 ideas from Mimi Bullock to help engage kids in prayer at home as well as at church.
• 4 Tips for Teaching Prayer - Use one or all of these tips by Mimi Bullock to teach children about prayer.
• 6 Tips for Praying Along with Children - If you feel lost when leading or praying with children, these 6 tips from Mimi Bullock should help you understand what to do.
• Five Finger Prayer for Children – Use this illustration from Tony Kummer to help teach children one method of remembering what to pray for.
• Simple Prayers for Children – Tony Kummer shares some simple, short, and memorable prayers that you can help children memorize.
• Leading a Child to Christ – Mimi Bullock shares 5 tips to effectively leading a child into a true, full relationship with Jesus.
• How to Have a Children's Church Revival – Follow these steps from Mimi Bullock to help prepare the ground for God's spirit to move in a powerful way among your children.
• The Power of Prayer – Wayne Stocks shares on sharing the power of prayer with children.
• Teaching Sunday School Students How to Pray – Kelly Henderson discusses how she helps children pray in Sunday school.
• Children & Prayer: What are real kids praying about? - Tony Kummer shares a video that shows the core things that children are praying for.
• How Do You Teach Children to Pray? - Tony Kummer asks other children's ministers how they teach children about prayer. Their answers can inspire and instruct you.
• Teaching Children to Pray – Jeri Tanner shares 5 ways you can teach your children to pray.
• Living a Life of Prayer – Terry Delaney discusses how your life serves as one of the best examples for children to learn how to pray.

Nehemiah and Ezra Sunday School Lesson for Kids -

Rebuilding Jerusalem

from...

Kindle $1.99, Print $4.99

Use this children’s Sunday School lesson about Ezra and Nehemiah to teach kids about the forgiveness of God and the unity of Christians.

Needed: index cards with “Exile!” and “God Forgives You!” written on them, building blocks

Lesson

Say, The two kingdoms of Israel and Judah had been conquered. God let the Assyrians and the Babylonians conquer Israel and Judah because the people of Israel and Judah had done so many bad things. They had believed in and worshiped fake gods instead of the real God, and they had done all the wrong things that God didn’t do want them to do. So, God let the Assyrians and the Babylonians conquer their kingdoms and carry the Israelite people back to Assyria and Babylon.

But God didn’t punish the Israelites forever. He had promised that after 70 years, He would let them go back to their homeland.

Game: Going Home 

Print out or write the words “Exile!” and “God Forgives You!” on index cards. You should have an equal number of cards that say “Exile!” as “God Forgives You!” Place three each in a direct line for as many teams as you plan to have. You’ll have three “Exile!” cards and three “God Forgives You!” cards laid out in front of each team, stretching from one side of your play area to the other. Mix them up within each line, but always have a “God Forgives You!” card as the last one in the line.

Then, divide the kids into teams. Tell them that their goal is to make it to the other side of the room, their Home. When you say, “Go!” the first student on each team races forward and picks up the first card. If it says, “God Forgives You!” they can go on to the next. If it says, “Exile!” their turn is over. They go to the back of their team’s line, and the next student runs out to pick up the next card.

The team who picks up all their cards and makes it to the Home side of the room first wins. Play again if time allows.

Lesson continues...

In our story today, we’ll read about how God forgave the Israelites and let them go home to Israel and their capital city of Jerusalem.

(Read the following summary story based on Ezra and Nehemiah.)

Summary Story

After God’s hand wrote on the wall that He was bringing the kingdom of Babylon to an end, two kingdoms divided Babylon. One of the kingdoms was Persia, ruled by King Cyrus.

When Cyrus became king, he let the Israelites go back to their homeland. The Israelites were very happy.

Everyone, cheer to show that you’re happy for the Israelites getting to go back home.

King Cyrus even gave them back all the items Babylon had stolen from God’s Temple church. King Cyrus told the people of Israel to rebuild the Temple because the Babylonian army had destroyed it.

When the Israelites started rebuilding the Temple, other people in the area wanted to help.

Everyone, cheer for other people wanting to help.

But these other people believed in many gods, not the true God only.

Everyone, boo that the other people believed in other gods.

So, the Israelites told the other people that they couldn’t help rebuild the Temple church.

Do you think it was right that the Israelites wouldn’t let the other people help? Why or why not?

Remember that God’s number 1 rule is that we can only believe in Him as God. God wouldn’t want people working on His Temple if they believed in other gods.

So, the Israelites started building the Temple church themselves. They were doing well rebuilding the Temple, but it took a long time. They didn’t have trucks or power tools to help them build back then, so building the Temple took years and years. In fact, it took so long that King Cyrus died before they finished.

When Artaxerxes became King of Persia, Israel’s enemies wrote King Artaxerxes a letter telling him lies about the Israelites. They said that the Israelites would rebel against the king if they finished building the Temple.

Everyone, boo for the people telling lies about Israel.

Why do you think Israel’s enemies didn’t want them to finish the Temple?

They didn’t want the Israelites to come back to their home and start rebuilding the Temple. They wanted to take over and live in the Israelites’ homeland. People still want to take over and live in Israel even though God gave that country to the Israelites.

When King Artaxerxes read the letter from the Israelites’ enemies, he believed their lies and told the Israelites to stop building the Temple.

Everyone, boo for King Artaxerxes making the Israelites stop building the Temple.

Later, another king told the Israelites that they could finish the Temple, and they did.

Everyone, cheer for the Israelites rebuilding the Temple.

Game: Rebuilding the Temple

Divide the students into two or more teams and give and have them line up on one side of your play area. Place a set of building blocks in front of each team on the other side of the play area. The blocks can be any type or size. Tell the students that their goal is to build a Temple using their blocks, but that they can only retrieve one block at a time.

                                                         

When you say, “Go!” the first student from each team runs to get a block. When they return, the second student runs to get one. The first team to retrieve all their blocks and use them to build a Temple wins. But to illustrate the lesson, you’ll yell “Bad king!” to signal each team to freeze in place and then, “Good king!” to unfreeze them.

When the game is over, remind students that the Israelites had to stop building the Temple for a while when Israel’s enemies told the king lies about them, but that they eventually finished it when another king said they could continue building.

Story continues...

Later, a man named Nehemiah was the cupbearer for the king. He was the one who would bring the king his drinks. He also tasted the king’s drink before he gave them to the king to make sure that no one had put poison in the king’s drinks.

One day, the king noticed that Nehemiah was sad. He asked Nehemiah why he was so sad, and Nehemiah said that it was because the people hadn’t finished rebuilding Jerusalem. Then, the king told Nehemiah that he could go back to Israel and finish building the walls around the city.

Why do you think it was important to have walls around Jerusalem?

A wall was important to keep Israel’s enemies out of the city if anyone wanted to attack them.

So, Nehemiah went back to Israel and told the people that they could start rebuilding the walls. Everyone worked together, and every family did their part to build a section of the wall.

Everyone, cheer for the Israelites working together!

It’s important for us to all work together too. As Christians, we can work together in our church to do great things for God. What are some things that we work together to do? (Provide suggestions based on your church’s ministries.)

And we can also work as Christians with other churches and Christians groups to do great things for God in our world. What are some things we can work with other Christians to do for God in the world? (Examples include supporting missionaries to evangelize and ending poverty.)

So, all the families in Israel worked together to rebuild the wall. The enemies of the Israelites tried to make them stop building the walls, but the Israelites didn’t listen to them. Sometimes, people try to make us stop being Christians, but we can’t listen to them either.

Why do you think some people don’t want us to be Christians?

Some people think that believing in God is silly. Other people don’t like the rules God gives us. But we know that God is real and that the rules He gives us helps us to be happy. So, we don’t listen to other people when they say we shouldn’t believe in God because we know that we should believe in Him.

Because God forgave the people of Israel for all the wrong things they did, He let them come back to their home. And, eventually, they were able to all work together to rebuild the Temple and the walls around Jerusalem.

Activity: Acting It Out

Divide students into groups of three or four. Have each group decide on and act out a scene in which a group of Christians from other churches or countries can work together to do something.

Closing Prayer

Father God, we thank You for forgiving us too when we do wrong things. And we ask that You’ll help us and all Christians work together to do what You want us to do in our church and in our world. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Recommended Extras

Superbook:Nehemiah – an animated video from the updated Superbook series, includes time-traveling children who learn lessons from the story

More info...

The Complete Illustrated Children’s Bible – for telling the stories with beautiful artwork and Biblical accuracy

More info...

The Beginner’s Bible: Timeless Stories for Children – for telling the stories to younger children

More info...

MangaComic Book: Messengers – for your classroom or church library 

More info...

My Big Book of Bible Heroes Devotional – a devotional to recommend for families or older students

More info...

The Story of Nehemiah – free coloring and activity pages

Queen Esther Sunday School Lesson for Kids – 

For Such a Time as This

from...

Kindle $1.99, Print $4.99

Use this children’s Sunday School lesson about Esther to teach children about being ready for God to use them.

Needed: a copy of the script for each character (or each student if you want them to read along), soft balls, empty two-liter bottles or other lightweight items to knock over

Intro Game: Right Time Bowling

Divide the students into two or more teams. Give each team a soft ball and set an empty two-liter or another lightweight item in front of each team. Set a timer for 5 minutes. When you say, “Go!” the first student from each team rolls their ball toward their two-liter. The trick is that one or more leaders pace from one side of the room to the other, walking in between the players and their two-liters.

Students need to time their rolls so that the leader doesn’t get in front of them and block them. After they roll, they run to retrieve their ball and hand it off to the next student. Students score a point for their team each time they knock over their bottle. The team with the most points after 5 minutes wins.

After the game, ask students, When was the best time to roll your ball? (When the leader wasn’t walking in front of them.)

So, you saw when it was the right time, when you had an opportunity, and went for it! Today, we’re going to learn about a woman whom God made queen during a certain time so that she would have the opportunity to do something very important.

Lesson

Say, The two kingdoms of Israel and Judah had been conquered. God let the Assyrians and the Babylonians conquer Israel and Judah because the people of Israel and Judah had done so many bad things. They had believed in and worshipped fake gods instead of the real God, and they had done all the wrong things that God didn’t do want them to do. So, God let the Assyrians and the Babylonians conquer their kingdoms and carry the Israelite people back to Assyria and Babylon.

Then, after 70 years, God forgave the Israelites, and the people of Judah and He told King Cyrus to let the people go back to Israel. Many Israelites went home to Israel. They rebuilt the Temple church in Jerusalem and rebuilt the wall around the city. But some of the Israelites stayed in Babylon. One of them was a young woman named Esther.

(Perform the following drama with your students to learn the story of Esther. Then, follow up with the review questions at the end.)

The Story of Queen Esther

Characters: Narrator, King Xerxes, Esther, Haman, Mordecai

King Xerxes: I am King Xerxes. I was having a feast, and I ordered my wife, Queen Vashti, to come to the feast so that I could show off how beautiful she was, but she said that she would not come. Now, I am going to have a contest to see who the new queen will be. Whoever is the most beautiful woman in the country, will become the new queen.

Narrator: A young Israelite woman named Esther (Esther stands up) was the most beautiful woman in the whole country, so King Xerxes chose her to be his new queen.

Esther: Yes, I know. I’m very beautiful. But I didn’t tell anyone that I was an Israelite, not even King Xerxes.

Mordecai: That’s because I warned her not to. Hi, I’m Mordecai, Esther’s older cousin. When Esther’s parents died, I adopted Esther and took care of her like she was my daughter. I told her not to tell anyone she was an Israelite, though, because a lot of people still didn’t like Israelites and I thought King Xerxes might not pick her to be the new queen if he knew she was an Israelite.

Esther: So, we kept it a secret, and I married the king.

Narrator: A little while later, two of King Xerxes’ guards decided to try to kill the king and take over the kingdom for themselves.

Mordecai: But I heard them talking, and I told Queen Esther about it.

Esther: And I told King Xerxes.

King Xerxes: And I ordered that those two guards be killed. But I forgot to thank Mordecai for telling us about it and saving my life.

Narrator: Instead, King Xerxes found a new favorite servant named Haman.

Haman: That’s me!

Narrator: Haman became very powerful because he was King Xerxes’ favorite servant. Everyone would bow down to him – everyone, that is, except for Mordecai.

Mordecai: Why should I bow down to Haman? It’s not like he’s God or anything. He’s a regular person, the same as me.

Narrator: So, Haman hated Mordecai because he wouldn’t bow down to him.

Haman: I’ll kill you, Mordecai.

Narrator: And when Haman found out that Mordecai was an Israelite, he decided to kill all the Israelites, not Mordecai only.

Haman: King Xerxes, can I kill all the Israelites living in your kingdom?

King Xerxes: Sure.

Narrator: So, Haman set a date and sent letters all over the kingdom, saying that on a certain day, everyone in the kingdom should attack and kill all the Israelites living in the kingdom.

Esther: I was the queen, but I didn’t know anything about this plan.

Mordecai: I was the one who heard about it and told her. I wanted her to tell King Xerxes that she was an Israelite too so that then, the king would change his mind and not let everyone kill the Israelites.

Esther: “I can’t tell the king I’m an Israelite,” I said. “I’ll be killed too. Besides, I’m only the queen. I can’t go talk to the king unless he calls for me.”

Mordecai: You have to tell him, Esther. Maybe this is why God made you Queen, so that you could change the king’s mind and help save all the Israelites.

Esther: I knew Mordecai was right, so I said, “Okay, tell everyone to pray for me. Then, I’ll go see the king, and if I die, then I die. At least I’ll know I tried.”

King Xerxes: Three days later, Queen Esther came to my throne room. She knew I could have her killed for coming to see me when I hadn’t called for her, but I liked Esther, so I let her come in. “What can I do for you?” I asked her.

Esther: King Xerxes, I’m making dinner for you tomorrow night. Please come with your servant Haman. Then, I will tell you what I want you to do for me.

Narrator: A little while later, King Xerxes told Haman about how the queen had invited them both to dinner.

Haman: All right!

Narrator: But when Haman left the palace, he saw Mordecai again, and Mordecai didn’t bow down to him.

Haman: I hate you, Mordecai!

Mordecai: I only bow down to God.

Narrator: Haman was so angry that he decided not to wait for the day when all the Israelites would be killed. He wanted to kill Mordecai right then. He went home and built a pole to hang Mordecai on. The next morning, he went to the king to ask him if he could kill Mordecai and put him on the pole. But before Haman could ask, King Xerxes said,

King Xerxes: Haman, what should I do if I want to reward someone?

Narrator: Haman thought the king wanted to reward him since he was the king’s favorite servant, so he said,

Haman: You should give him one of the king’s robes and one of the king’s horses and let him ride around town.

King Xerxes: That sounds like a great idea, Haman! I want you to give one of my robes and one of my horses to Mordecai, and lead him around the city. He heard two of my guards planning to kill me once, and I forgot to thank him for warning me.

Narrator: Haman was very mad that he had to reward Mordecai instead of killing him, but he had to do it because that’s what the king ordered him to do. After he was done leading Mordecai through the city, it was time for Haman to go to dinner with the king and Queen Esther.

Haman: At least I get to eat some good food now.

Narrator: But when they were at the dinner, King Xerxes asked,

King Xerxes: So, Queen Esther, what did you want me to do for you?

Esther: I want you to save my life and the lives of my people. I am an Israelite, but Haman has convinced you to kill all the Israelites in the kingdom.

Narrator: King Xerxes didn’t know what to do, so he got up from the dinner table and walked out of the room. He had to think about what he could do. Meanwhile, Haman leaned in really close to Esther,

Haman: Please, Queen Esther, I didn’t know you were an Israelite. I wasn’t trying to kill you. If the king thinks I was trying to kill you, he’ll kill me instead.

Narrator: Just then, King Xerxes came back into the room. He saw Haman leaning in close to Queen Esther, and he thought Haman was trying to kiss her.

King Xerxes: This man is trying to kiss my queen! Hang him on the pole he set up in his yard.

Narrator: So, Haman was hung on the pole he had set up to hang Mordecai on.

Mordecai: And I became the king’s favorite servant instead of Haman!

King Xerxes: And I ordered that the Israelites could fight back if anyone tried to kill them.

Esther: So, everything worked out. I guess God really did make me Queen so that I could change the king’s mind and save all the Israelites.

Narrator: The end.

Review Questions

Why did Haman hate Mordecai so much? (Because Mordecai wouldn’t bow down to him.)

Why wouldn’t Mordecai bow down to him? (Because Mordecai knew that we’re only supposed to bow down to God.)

Why did God make Esther the Queen? (So that she could change King Xerxes’ mind about killing all the Israelites.)

Remember, there are times when God might want you to do something, just like He wanted Queen Esther to save the Israelites. Always try to think about what God wants you to do, and then, when He gives you the opportunity, do it.

Game: Right Time Bowling 

Play the intro game again and remind students that we need to look for the opportunities that God gives us.

Closing Prayer

Lord, we thank You for making Esther the queen so that she would have the opportunity to save the Israelites. We pray that You’ll help us to see what opportunities You’re giving us. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Recommended Extras

Superbook: Esther- For Such a Time as This – an animated video from the updated Superbook series, includes time-traveling children who learn lessons from the story

More info...

Greatest Adventure Stories from the Bible: Queen Esther – animated video with time-traveling teenagers who witness the Biblical story, realistic art style

More info...

The Complete Illustrated Children’s Bible – for telling the stories with beautiful artwork and Biblical accuracy

More info...

The Beginner’s Bible: Timeless Stories for Children – for telling the stories to younger children

More info...

MangaComic Book: Messengers – for your classroom or church library 

More info...

My Big Book of Bible Heroes Devotional – a devotional to recommend for families or older students

More info...

Esther is Chosen as Queen – free coloring and activity pages

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego Sunday School Lesson for Kids -

Being Brave for God

from...

Kindle $1.99, Print $4.99

Use this fiery furnace Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego children’s Sunday School lesson to teach children about the need to be brave and do the right thing.

Needed: Bibles, soft balls or paper wads, a world map, drawing paper and crayons or colored pencils

Intro Game: Angels’ Protection Dodge Ball 

Divide your play area in half and divide the students into two teams. Give each team an equal number of soft balls or paper wads to throw. They have to stay on their side of the play area.

The trick to this version is that each team can choose one or two players to be Angels. The Angels run in front of the balls or paper wads to protect their teammates. They can’t get out. Remind students that God sends His invisible angels to protect and help us.

The team who gets all of the opposite team’s regular members out first wins.

Lesson

Ask, Can anyone think of some things that you’re afraid of?

What would you do if someone told you that you were going to get in trouble if you kept believing in God? Would you keep believing in God anyway, or would you stop believing in God so that you wouldn’t get in trouble?

What would you do if someone told you that they were going to kill you if you kept believing in God? Would you keep believing in God anyway, or would you stop believing in God so that you wouldn’t get killed?

The two kingdoms of Israel and Judah had been conquered. God let the Assyrians and the Babylonians conquer Israel and Judah because the people of Israel and Judah had done so many bad things. They had believed in and worshipped fake gods instead of the real God, and they had done all the wrong things that God didn’t do want them to do. So, God let the Assyrians and the Babylonians conquer their kingdoms and carry the Israelite people back to Assyria and Babylon.

But even in Assyria and Babylon, some of the Israelites still loved God and did all the right things that He wanted them to do. Three of those men were named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and today, we’re going to read about the scary thing that happened to them.

(Read Daniel 3 with your students, or read the following story as a summary.)

Summary Story

In the kingdom of Babylon, where the Israelites from the Kingdom of Judah were living as slaves and prisoners, reigned King Nebuchadnezzar. King Nebuchadnezzar didn’t believe in or worship the real God. Instead, he made a golden statue and told everyone to worship it as their god. He said that whenever his servants blew the horns and played their musical instruments, everyone had to bow down and worship the gold statue he made.

What did King Nebuchadnezzar say people had to do when they heard the music? (Bow down and worship his gold statue.)

Are we allowed to worship anyone or anything other than God? (No.)

God’s number 1 rule is that we can only believe in and worship Him, not fake gods or statues or anything like that.

Then, King Nebuchadnezzar said that if anyone didn’t bow down and worship his gold statue when they heard the music, he would throw them into a fiery furnace. The fiery furnace was a big fireplace that got hot enough to melt metal.

What would happen to people if they didn’t worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s statue? (They would be thrown into a furnace and be burned up.)

The horns blew, and the music played, and everyone bowed down and worshipped King Nebuchadnezzar’s gold statue. Well, almost everyone bowed down and worshipped it. Some of the king’s servants saw that three Israelites – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego – weren’t bowing down. They told the king, and King Nebuchadnezzar ordered that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego come before him.

The king said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, is it true that you won’t worship the statue I made? When you hear the music, I order you to worship the statue. If you don’t, I’ll have you thrown into the fiery furnace. Will your God be able to rescue you then?”

Do you think Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego should listen to King Nebuchadnezzar and worship his gold statue, or should they listen to God and not worship the gold statue? (They should listen to God.)

But if they don’t listen to King Nebuchadnezzar and worship his statue, they’ll be thrown into the furnace and burned up. Do you think God can save them from being burned up?

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king. They said, “Our God is able to save us from your fiery furnace. But even if He chooses not to save us, we still won’t worship the statue. We will worship the real God only.”

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were pretty brave, weren’t they? They said that whether God saved them from the furnace or not, they still wouldn’t break God’s rules and worship the gold statue. They wanted to do the right thing that God wanted them to do, no matter what.

King Nebuchadnezzar became so angry with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that he ordered his servants to make the fiery furnace seven times hotter than normal and to throw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the fire.

So, the servants made the fire hotter, and King Nebuchadnezzar’s soldiers grabbed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and marched them up to the furnace. They threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the fire, but as they were doing so, the soldiers got burnt up themselves – the fire was so hot!

Then, King Nebuchadnezzar saw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walking around in the fiery furnace, but he also saw a fourth man in the fiery furnace with them. Who do you think that fourth man was? (God, Jesus, or an angel.)

God was in the furnace with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, protecting them. Did you know that God can protect us too when scary things happen to us?

God is always with us, even if we can’t see Him, and He can protect us from anything.

King Nebuchadnezzar ran up to the opening of the furnace and yelled, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, come out!”

They came out and were completely fine. They weren’t burned at all. Their clothes and hair weren’t even burned. They didn’t even smell like fire. The king saw how God had protected Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and he made a rule that no one in the kingdom of Babylon was allowed to say anything bad out the God of the Israelites. Then, he promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and made them leaders over the kingdom.

Everything worked out for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego because they were brave and did the right thing that God wanted them to do. So remember, if you will be brave and always do the right things that God wants you to do, then God will be with you too, and God will be happy with you.

Game: Fiery Furnace Tag

Divide students into two teams and set a timer for 5 minutes. The first team is the Nebuchadnezzars, and the other is the Shadrach, Meshach, Abednegos. The Shadrach team chooses one member to be an Angel. The Nebuchadnezzars chase and tag the Shadrach team. Whenever a member of the Shadrach team is tagged, they stand in the out section, the Fiery Furnace.

The Nebuchadnezzars cannot tag the Angel until at least three members of the Shadrach team are in the Fiery Furnace. At the point, the Angel can run into the Fiery Furnace, freeing any team members who are there. If the Nebuchadnezzars tag the Angel before he or she gets to the Fiery Furnace, the game is over. If the Angel succeeds in freeing his or her teammates, the Nebuchadnezzars cannot tag the Angel again until three members of the Shadrach team are again in the Fiery Furnace.

When the Nebuchadnezzars win or at the end of 5 minutes, switch roles and play again.

Craft Prayer Activity: The Persecuted Church

Look up a current news story about where Christians are being persecuted. Show the location on a map and summarize the situation for the children and explain why a certain government doesn’t want the people to believe in God. Then, have students write a prayer for their fellow Christians in that situation, or draw a picture illustrating God’s protection around those persecuted Christians.

Closing Prayer

God, we thank You for protecting Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. We pray that You’ll protect us like that too. But even more than that, we pray that You’ll make us brave for You and give us the courage to do the right things, no matter what. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Recommended Extras

Superbook: The Fiery Furnace – an animated video from the updated Superbook series, includes time-traveling children who learn lessons from the story

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The Complete Illustrated Children’s Bible – for telling the stories with beautiful artwork and Biblical accuracy

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The Beginner’s Bible: Timeless Stories for Children – for telling the stories to younger children

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MangaComic Book: Messengers – for your classroom or church library 

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My Big Book of Bible Heroes Devotional – a devotional to recommend for families or older students

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God Protects Daniel’s Friends – free coloring and activity pages