Memory Verse

“I praise you,

for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;

my soul knows it very very well.”

Psalm 139:14

Day 1- I Am Not Made to Fear

Key Verse- 2 Timothy 1:7

• Pray.
• Practice the memory verse.
• Have your children tell you some things that make them fearful. Ask them what they usually do when they are afraid. Ask them what God wants them to do when they are afraid?
• Read Psalm 56:3.
• Tell them briefly about Timothy. He was young, but He had a big job of helping Paul tell people about Jesus (2 Timothy 2:1-6). The time that Timothy was alive was a scary time for Christians. (2 Timothy 1:8) Many people did not believe in Jesus and often times they wanted to hurt those who did believe. Paul reminded Timothy of what God wanted him to hear.
• Read 2 Timothy 1:7.
• Ask
  • What does not come from God?
  • What three things does this verse say that God gives?
  • How does fear make you feel? (small, weak, worried)
  • How does it feel to have power, love, and a strong, disciplined mind? (bold, confident, capable)
• Help your kids understand that what God gives is opposite of fear. Talk about how if they were superheroes, the gifts God gives are like our superpowers.
• Pray. Ask God to bring this verse to the minds of your children today as they face things that make them fearful.

Day 2- I Am Cared For

Key Verse-1 Peter 5:7

• Pray.
• Practice the memory verse (Psalm 139:14).
• Ask, “Who cares about you? Why do they care about you? How do you know they care about you/”
• Read 1 Peter 5:7.
• Discuss
  • What does the verse say about God?
  • What does this verse say about you?
  • Does this verse give you any instructions to follow?
• Explain that “casting all your care/anxiety on Him” means that we can bring to God, we can tell Him, everything that we care about (good or bad). Casting means to “throw something on something”. We can take all that worries us or discourages us or hurts us and throw it to Jesus. He cares for us and can settle our hearts (Matthew 11:28). We can trust Him for what He is doing in our lives.
• Read John 21:1-14.
• Discuss
  • What was the problem?
  • What was the solution?
  • How does this verse relate to 1 Peter 5:7?
  • What are some ways that Jesus shows He cares for His disciples?
  • What are some ways that Jesus shows He cares for you?
• Have each child pray individually and silently, thanking God that He cares for him/her. Remind them that they can tell God about any fear or worry they have because He cares about them.

Day 3- I Am Seen

Key Verse- Psalm 32:8

• Pray.
• Practice the memory verse (Psalm 139:14).
• Play “I Spy”.
• Read and discuss Psalm 32:8.
• Summarize Genesis 16 (be sensitive because the nature of some of the content is pretty mature).
  • God had promised Abraham that his descendants would be so many he wouldn’t be able to count them, yet he had no children and he was an old man.
  • His wife, Sarai, was old too. She had a maid named Hagar. She wanted a child so she told Abraham to let Hagar have a baby for her.
  • After Hagar found out she was going to have baby, she and Sarai could not get along. Eventually Hagar ran away.
• Read Genesis 16:7-11, 13.
• Explain that eventually God gave Sarah a baby named Isaac. By this time Ishmael, Hagar’s son, was older.
• Read Genesis 21:9-21.
• Ask
  • What do we learn about God today (Psalm 32:8)?
  • How was Hagar feeling when God spoke to her both times?
  • Have you ever feel sad or misunderstood or like no one is seeing or understanding what you need?
• Explain that in our best days and our worst days, God sees us. He really sees us. He knows just what we need. Just like He guided and comforted Hagar, He will guide you and comfort you.
• Pray, thanking God that He always sees us.

Day 4- I Am Known

Key Verse- Nahum 1:7

• Pray.
• Review the memory verse.
• Ask, “Who knows you the best? Why does he/she know you so well? Does he/she know everything about you? Does he/she know all of your thoughts or every single thing you have ever done?
• Discuss how there are people who know a lot about us (mom/dad, husband/wife, siblings, best friends), but no person knows everything about us. God does. He made us and He sees us and knows everything about us.
• Read about Peter’s experience with understanding how he was known by God. Explain that the first two references took place the night that Jesus was arrested.
  • Matthew 26:31-35
  • Luke 22:54-62
  • John 21:15-17 This took place after Jesus had risen from the dead.
• Discuss
  • How does Jesus show Peter that He knew all about him?
  • Do you think Jesus had a reason for asking Peter three times if he loved Him? What was the reason?
  • Do you think Peter had been worried about what Jesus was thinking about Him since He knew that Peter had denied him?
  • Are you ever worried about what Jesus thinks of you when you sin?
  • After realizing that Jesus had forgiven him and still loved Peter even after his denial, how did Peter feel?
  • How does Jesus show us that He knows all about us?
  • Does understanding that Jesus knows all about you, the good and the bad, help you love Him more? Why?
• Read Nahum 1:7.
• We can trust in the Lord because He knows us and loves us even still. We can always run to Him.

Day 5- I Am Heard

Key Verse- Jeremiah 29:12

• Pray.
• Review the memory verse (Psalm 139:14).
• Play a game of “Telephone”. One person thinks of a sentence or phrase and whispers it to the person beside him/her. That person then whispers what they heard to the person next to him. The message should go all around the circle. The last person says aloud the message he/she heard. Did the sentence/phrase change from what it originally was?
• Younger kids
  • Whisper something sweet in their ear and have them tell you what you said.
  • Pretend to talk on the phone with them. Tell them that God always hears when we talk to Him.
• Tell your kids that God hears when we call to Him. Compare it to a telephone call. When we call on Him, He will always answer. He always hears us and the connection is never spotty or lost.
• Ask, “How do we call on God?”
• Read Jeremiah 29:12.
• Ask, “What happens when we call on God?”
• Discuss with your kids why God wants us to call on Him. Remind them that He is our Father and He loves us. He made us and He loves hearing from us. He wants to help us and comfort us and guide us.
• Read Jeremiah 29:11.
• Ask, “What does God have planned for you?”
• Help them understand that this doesn’t mean that life will always be easy (John 16:33), but we know that God is in control and living in the way He planned for us is always best.
• Ask, “How do we hear what God says when we call on Him?”
• Read Jeremiah 29:13.
• Discuss how we can know what He says by seeking Him. This is done by reading His Word to us (AKA the Bible) and by praying.
• Activity-
  • Play Hide and Seek
  • Remind them that God says He will always be found by us when we seek after Him.

Weekly Activity Ideas

1. Wax Resist Messages
   • Take a blank piece of white paper (we used card stock).
   • Write a message or verse in white crayon.
   • Have your kids paint over the entire paper with watercolor paints.
   • The message will appear, kind of like invisible ink.

• Spend some one-on-one time talking with each child. This doesn’t have to be long or expensive. Here are some ideas:
  • Tea time (have a cookie and something fun to drink) in your bedroom or in their room.
  • Go on a walk.
  • Work in the garden.
  • Shoot baskets together.
  • Swing.
  • Build Legos.
  • Go fishing or feed the ducks at the pond.