Leader Guide

Video Leader Guide

Welcome (1 minute)

Hello! How is everyone today?

We are beginning a new Superbook story today called “Roar!” Can anyone guess what Bible story it is about?

For the next three lessons, we’ll be learning the story of Daniel, who prays three times a day. When the king makes a law that no one may worship anyone but him or face death, Daniel must make a big decision! Our friend Chris also faces a big decision in the first part of our video today. Let’s take a look. 

Play Video 2: Chris and Joy’s Dilemma (2 minutes)

Chris and Joy's Dilemma

Chris refuses to intervene when a bully harasses a smaller boy. 

SuperTruth and Discussion (2 minutes)

Have you ever faced a choice like that?

It sounds like many of you have had to make difficult choices. Who can give us courage to do the right thing? God.

God will give us wisdom and strength—all we need to do is ask Him! How can we do that? Pray.

Our SuperTruth today says, “God answers my prayers.”

Let’s watch today’s Bible story and learn how Daniel stood up for what was right, even though it was the most dangerous choice.

Play Video 3: Bible Story & Resolution (20 minutes)

Bible Story and Resolution

Superbook takes Chris, Joy and Gizmo to Babylon to meet Daniel, who prays three times a day. When King Darius decrees that no one may worship anyone but him or face death, Daniel is thrown into the lions’ den. God protects Daniel from harm, and the king commands everyone to worship the One True God. Learning how one person’s courage can change others’ hearts, Chris defends the boy from the bully.

Play Video 10A: SuperVerse Graphic 1

Graphic loops 2.5 minutes without audio; turn off or freeze video after children repeat the verse.

SuperVerse Graphic 1

SuperVerse Discussion (1 minute)

Let’s say our SuperVerse, Jeremiah 33:3, together:

“Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”

Children will have more time to learn the SuperVerse in Small Group.

Prayer and Send-Off (1 minute)

Dear Father, thank You that we can come to You whenever we need wisdom and courage. We praise You that You will always hear our prayers. In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

In our small groups today, we are going to have fun making wristbands to remind us of something very important! Have a great time.

Teachers take children to Small Group classes for Grades 1–3 and 4–6. If the combined group is small, all children may stay together for Small Group time.

Game

Divide the class into two groups. Have a child from the first group take a slip of paper from the container and SILENTLY act out the phrase from the Superbook story for the whole class. Give a point to the team that guesses the right answer first. Then have a child from the second group do the same thing. Repeat as time allows and announce which team won the most points.

Introduce today’s SuperTruth: “God answers my prayers.”

Does God hear and answer every prayer? Yes.

Does God answer “Yes” to every prayer? No.

He may say Yes, or No, or Wait. Whatever He says, we can trust Him, because He knows what is really best for us.

Did it seem like God was answering Daniel’s prayers when he was thrown into the lions’ den? No.

Yet God can see things that we humans cannot see! He had a plan to protect Daniel and show people how powerful the One True God really is!

We can trust God because He made us, He loves us, and He has a wonderful plan for our lives! In order to know His plan, we need to spend time with Him in prayer. As we pray, God will help us make good choices, give us courage and wisdom, and guide us in His ways.

Teaching

Do you think some people are so strong and smart and brave they don’t need to pray?

What about Jesus?

Jesus is God’s Son and did mighty miracles, like walking on water and bringing dead people back to life. Yet the Bible tells us that He often went away to spend time alone with God. If God’s Son needed to pray, do you think we should, too? Yes.

Listen as I read from the Bible, then tell me, how did Daniel pray? Daniel 6:10b–11 says:

He prayed three times a day … giving thanks to his God … and asking for God’s help.

What are some reasons we don’t pray? Too busy, forgetful, don’t believe God is powerful.

Discipleship Challenge/Practical Application

Give a piece of string — or ribbon — to each child.

How many times did Daniel pray every day? Three.

Let’s each tie three knots in our string.

As children are working, continue: Three times a day may seem like a lot, but the Bible tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17:

Never stop praying!

What are some times that we can pray? Mealtimes, bedtime, when we’re happy or worried, anytime!

Do the prayers have to be long and complicated? No.

A prayer can be just one word—like “Help!” Let’s tie a few more knots to remind us to think about God and pray throughout the day! After they have tied several knots, have the children help each other tie the string around their wrists.

Each wristband is a circle—and a circle never ends. Let’s wear these as a reminder of the verse,

Never stop praying!

Next time, I’ll ask when you remembered to pray—and how God answered!

SuperVerse

Today, we will learn our memory verse, Jeremiah 33:3, by creating hand motions to go along with the words.

“Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”

Divide the group in two to create motions to this verse. If your class is very small, you can do this activity as one group.

Group 1:“Call to Me, and I will answer you.”

Group 2:“And show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”

Both Groups: Jeremiah 33:3

They do not need to create a motion for every word, just the general concepts. Give the groups 2 minutes to make up the motions, then have them teach the rest of the class. Practice saying the whole verse together with the motions several times.

Note: Younger children may not be able to memorize the SuperVerse. They may simply repeat it several times, while older children may memorize part or all of it. Be sure all children understand its meaning.

Prayer

Have you ever wondered how to pray?

The disciples did! When they saw Jesus praying, they asked Him to teach them to pray. See Luke 11:1.

Here is the prayer Jesus taught His followers in Matthew 6:9b–13. Feel free to substitute the version your church uses.

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Have you ever prayed a prayer like this in church? 

Do you know what it’s called? The Lord’s Prayer.

Christians around the world pray this same prayer, although they say it in many different languages. Now I’ll use a modern version of the Bible* to say each phrase, then you tell me what you think it means:

Our Father in heaven, ... help us to honor Your name. ... Come and set up Your kingdom, ... so that everyone on earth will obey You, as You are obeyed in heaven. ... Give us our food for today. ... Forgive us for doing wrong, ... as we forgive others. ... Keep us from being tempted ... and protect us from evil. ... The kingdom, the power, and the glory are Yours forever. ... Amen.*

Let’s make this our prayer today!

Pray from Scripture or use your own words, pausing between phrases so children can think about the meaning:

Our Father in heaven, ... help us to honor Your name. ... Come and set up Your kingdom, ... so that everyone on earth will obey You, as You are obeyed in heaven. ... Give us our food for today. ... Forgive us for doing wrong, ... as we forgive others. ... Keep us from being tempted ... and protect us from evil. ... The kingdom, the power, and the glory are Yours forever. ... Amen.*

*Contemporary English Version

Object Lesson

Gather the children around a table and display the items for the demonstration. Pour about 1 teaspoon of salt on the plate.

This salt represents each of us. Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of pepper on the plate. This pepper represents the things we want to give God—our hopes, dreams, worries, and concerns. How do we give things to God? We can pray.

Rub the plastic spoon over the wool several times. This spoon represents God. Watch what happens when I wave the spoon over the salt and pepper.

As you slowly wave the plastic spoon about 1 inch above the plate, the pepper goes up to the spoon. Our prayers go straight to God.

Give each child an opportunity to try this experiment.

Prayer Game

The Bible tells us Daniel prayed three times a day near a window facing Jerusalem. That’s because the Temple was in Jerusalem. In 1 Kings 8:29–30 (cev), when King Solomon dedicated it many years earlier, he prayed:

“This is the temple where You have chosen to be worshiped. ... So whenever any of us look toward this temple and pray, answer from Your home in heaven and forgive our sins.”

Centuries later, things changed when Jesus came into the world! He told His followers, John 20:22b cev:

“Receive the Holy Spirit.”

When we accept Jesus as our Savior, His Holy Spirit lives inside us. Our hearts become a special place where God’s Spirit lives. The Bible tells us, 1 Corinthians 3:16b cev:

You are God’s temple and ... His Spirit livesin you.

That’s amazing — we are God’s temple and His Spirit lives inside us! So do we need to face Jerusalem when we pray? No.

Why? His temple is in our hearts.

Let’s all say the SuperTruth, “God answers my prayers.” Children repeat.

Will God hear us if we pray kneeling down? Yes.

Sitting down? Yes.

Lying down? Yes.

What about running, walking, skipping, hopping, twirling, or swimming? Yes.

Let’s play a game about that!

This is a version of Simon Says. Divide the class into two teams on opposite sides of the room. Each team member stands about an arm’s length away from the others. Teams alternate turns, choosing a “Daniel” to lead the game for one turn. Both teams follow Daniel’s directions at the same time. If any players do not follow correctly, their team gets a point. The team with the FEWEST points at the end wins! Let each Daniel lead for about 30 seconds or until a point is scored. A player from the other team then becomes Daniel. End the game when all children have had the opportunity to play Daniel, or as long as time allows.

Daniel should start some instructions by saying: Daniel prayed ________ sitting down/walking/kneeling/lying down/riding a bike/swimming/ skipping/playing soccer/climbing stairs/etc. Sometimes Daniel should try to trick players by not saying “Daniel prayed” and simply giving the action; a point is scored if any member of a team accidentally follows the command.

That was fun! You had to act out some crazy prayer positions, didn’t you? Yet God will always hear your prayer! Let’s shout the SuperTruth once more, this time while you do jumping jacks! Is everybody ready? At the count of three: 1, 2, 3! “God answers my prayers.”

Craft

Ask the children to say the SuperTruth with you: “God answers my prayers.” Lions are ferocious creatures. Can you imagine how frightening it must have been to be thrown into a den of lions? God answered Daniel’s prayers and protected Him.

In English, “foil” can mean a very thin sheet of metal, such as aluminum foil; and it can also mean stopping something. God stopped—or “foiled”—the lions by sending an angel to close their mouths. Let’s “foil” the lions with a fun craft!

Distribute a lion pattern, a piece of foil, an index card, a pencil, and a piece of tape to each child. Slowly give these step-by-step instructions.

Ready?

Place the shiny side of your foil down on the table, then put the index card in the very middle of it, with just a narrow edge of foil showing all around.

Carefully fold all four edges of the foil over all four sides of the index card.

Turn the card over so only the foil side shows.

Place your lion pattern on the foil card, then tape them together at the very top so you can lift up the pattern like a flap, if necessary.

Use a pencil to firmly trace the lion on the pattern page—which will make the design on the foil at the same time!

If you need to check the design on the foil while you’re working, carefully lift up the pattern like a flap, then put it right back in place.

Sign your name on the pattern, which will also put your signature on the foil.

When you’re done, carefully peel off the pattern and enjoy your foil lion!

Coloring Craft

As you pass out supplies, discuss how nothing could stop Daniel from praying to God. In fact, Daniel did not try to hide what he was doing he prayed by an open window!

In our movie, who joined Daniel to kneel down by the window? Joy.

Talk about how brave Joy was because she knew it was the right thing to do.

Draw a picture of yourself praying between Daniel and Joy, then color the picture. If you have craft sticks, tell the children to glue the craft sticks to the sides of the window like shutters. Review today’s SuperVerse, Jeremiah 33:3:

“Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”