God Provides-Week 1

Memory Verse

“And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19

Day 1-God Provided a Helper

  • Pray.
  • Introduce the memory verse. You say it aloud. Have your children repeat you a couple of times. Break it up in chunks:
    • And my God will supply
    • all your needs
    • according to His riches
    • in glory
    • in Christ Jesus.
    • Philippians 4:19
  • Explain to your kids that for the next few weeks, we will be learning about how God provided for His people. Talk about what the word provide means. Have your older ones look it up if you have time.
  • Read or summarize Genesis 2:4-9, 15-25. Be sure to read aloud verse 18.
  • Ask
    • Who saw that there was a need-God or Adam?
    • What did God provide for Adam?
  • Briefly talk about what happens next (Genesis 3).
    • The serpent
    • Sin entered the world
    • They were guilty and ashamed so they hid from God.
    • Consequences given
  • God showed His compassion and grace for His people, even after they sinned. Read Genesis 2:21.
  • Explain that God knows all of our needs, and He knows how to provide for them.
  • Ask, “How does God provide for our family?”
  • Activity
    • Have kids write the verse down. Younger kids can trace it.
    • Work together on coming up with motions for the verse.

Day 2- God Provided Safety

  • Pray.
  • Practice the memory verse (Philippians 4:19).
  • Read about Noah.
    • Genesis 6:5-22.
    • Summarize Genesis 7:1-16.
    • Genesis 7:17-24, Genesis 8:1a.
    • Summarize or have your kids tell you what they know about the rest of the story (Genesis 8-9:17).
  • Discuss how God provided for Noah:
    • What need did the people in this story have? What was going to happen?
    • Who knew of the need first, Noah or God?
    • What did God provide?
    • Why did God provide safety for only Noah and his family (see Genesis 6:8-9)?
    • What does God want you to learn from the story of Noah?
  • Things to remember:
    • God knows our needs even before we do. He will provide for our needs in His way and in His timing. He made you and loves you and knows what is good. We can trust Him to provide what we need as we remember how He has provided for His people in the past.
  • Pray. Thanking God for knowing what we need and for giving us what we need. Ask Him to help you stay faithful to Him and trust Him like Noah did.
  • Activity

Day 3-God Provided A Ram

  • Pray.
  • Practice the memory verse (Philippians 4:19).
  • Ask, “What is a substitute? What do substitutes do?”
  • Read and discuss Genesis 22:1-14.
    • What did Abraham call the place where this event took occurred? Why?
    • When did God provide-too early, too late, or at just the right time?
    • Can you think of another time in the Bible that God provided a substitute sacrifice?
  • Talk with your kids about God providing a substitute sacrifice for us. Jesus took our place in death (separation from God because of our sins-Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Romans 5:8, Hebrews 9:22) in order that we might be redeemed.
  • God knows what we need, and He knows right when we need it.
  • Parents, can you think of a time when God provided at just the right minute? Tell the story to your kids.

Day 4- God Provided Food and Water

  • Pray.
  • Practice the memory verse.
  • Very briefly discuss what happened from Abraham, whom we read about yesterday, to Moses, whom we will read about today. See if your kids know the correct order of events:
    • Abraham had Isaac
    • Isaac had Jacob
    • Jacob had twelve sons
    • Joseph, one of Jacob’s sons, became the 2nd in command in Egypt so all of his dad’s (Jacob’s) family, moved to Egypt. Jacob is also known as Israel; that is where we get the name Israelites.
    • Jacob’s family, the Israelites, grew and grew for over 400 years in Egypt. They became slaves to the Egyptians, but God used Moses to lead the people out of slavery. They were heading to the Promised Land that the Lord had promised to give them.
  • That is where we pick up our story today.
  • Read and discuss Exodus 15:22-27.
  • Read or summarize Exodus 16:1-7.
  • Read Exodus 16:11-21, 31-32, 35. (An omer is a little more than two quarts.)
  • Read Exodus 17:3-6.
  • Discuss
    • What did God provide?
    • What was the attitude of the Israelite like when they were hungry and thirsty?
    • What does their attitude show us about their trust in God to provide for them?
    • Why did they save a jar of manna?
    • What does God want you to learn from this story?

Weekly Activity

  • Make a list of everything you can think of that God has provided for you. Put this in a prominent place and add to it when you think of something else.