Colossians 3:12 - Lesson 5 - Patience

Lesson 5: Patience

Story: Elijah prays for rain

Bible passages: James 5:17-18; 1 Kings 18

Introductory Discussion:

Have you ever had to wait for something or are you currently waiting for something?  What about a gift you�d like to receive, but have to wait for Christmas?  How about something that you have to earn money to buy?  Is it easy to wait?  What is patience?

Story:

Tell the story having the kids use the Bible characters.  Print them out and do one of the following: 

�         Put magnets on the back to tell the story on a white board.
�         Put flannel on the back to use with a flannel board.
�         Attach craft sticks and use as puppets to tell the story

Craft:  Raining Cloud  The inspiration came from here.

Supplies: 

Ziplock bags
Paper (sky blue, white, and green)
Hole punch
Scissors
Cloud template (click here) Cotton balls
Glue sticks
Man praying coloring page

Before the lesson, use the hole punch to make little �raindrops� out of the blue paper.  Also cut a strip of brown paper to use as dirt.  Print the cloud templates.  Cut out the clouds.  Put lots of raindrops into each ziplock bag and close it (you may want to tape or staple it closed as well (so the kids can�t open them and make a mess).  Don�t squeeze all of the air out or the rain won�t fall. Print the coloring page for each kid on the sky blue paper. 

During the lesson, have the students put glue on the edges of the bag and glue it onto the back of the coloring page (upside down too, so you'll have to flip it over to see the cloud picture).  Then, glue the cloud on top of it and the strip of brown for the dirt.  After that, have them glue cotton to the cloud.  When they are done they can show the picture of Elijah praying, then flip it over so the rain falls from the cloud.  As they work, remind them of how long Elijah had to wait for it to rain.

Discussion:

How long did Elijah wait for rain?  When he prayed, how many times did he have to send the servant to look for the rain?  Prayer sometimes takes time.  When we pray, sometimes God says yes, sometimes He says no, and sometimes He says wait.  Is there something that you have prayed for that has taken a long time?  Should you stop praying about it?

Game:  Go and Wait game

What should you do while you wait?  Pray.  Play the game like red light/green light.  When the teacher says �go� the students walk toward him/her.  When the teacher says �wait� the students have to kneel to pray.

Links to all the lessons:

Lesson 1 - Compassion - David Spares Saul's Life 

Lesson 2 - Kindness - David and Abigail 

Lesson 3 - Humlity - the Life of Solomon 

Lesson 4 - Gentleness - Rehoboam and the Division of the Kingdom of Israel  

Lesson 5 - Patience - Elijah Prays and Waits for Rain 

Wrap Up Lesson - Review Games and Memory Verse Games 

Click here for all of my Bible Lessons Unit: