Hearing Game

In our teaching today, we discussed how prayer brings results. Think about this for a moment; what must God do before He can answer our prayers? He must hear our prayers.

Hold up your hand if you have asked someone to do something, but they didn’t do it because they said they didn’t hear you? 

Have your parents ever asked you to do a chore, but you later said you didn’t hear them? Children answer.

Maybe you were focused on a game, texting a friend, or watching TV, and you didn’t listen carefully. I’m sure this has happened to all of us. Now, think about all the prayers that people pray every second of the day all around the world. God hears them all and answers.

Read Psalm 34:15:

The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right; His ears are open to their cries for help.

He not only hears us—He sees us, too! To help us understand how amazing this is, we are going to play a fun game to see how well we can hear people’s requests!

Choose two children—a boy and girl, or a younger and older child—to be listeners.

• Have them stand out in the hallway with an adult volunteer so they cannot hear what is said in the classroom. 
• Select a Request Card and give it to the class.
• The first child will say item 1 aloud and remember that word, then pass the card to the second child, who will say item 2 aloud and remember that word, etc. Repeat until all ten items on the card have been named. If there are fewer than 10 children, start again with the first child and repeat. If there are more children, continue to circulate the card until all children have a word. It still works well if more than one child has the same word.  
• Have one listener return to the classroom and stand with their back to the class. Explain that they should try to remember as many items as they can when they hear the class shout.  
• Count to three, and have all the children SHOUT the names of the items on their cards at the same time.
• Have the listening child say all the items heard. Write the item names on the board.
• Next, count to three and have all the children WHISPER the names of the items.
• Have the listening child name any additional items they heard.
• Count to three and have all the children SAY the item names.
• Have the listening child name any additional items they heard.
• After the third time, count all the items and write that number on the board. Erase the item names but leave the number on the board.
• Call the second child into the classroom and repeat the activity.
• Discuss the differences and how it was difficult to hear everyone at one time.
• If you made other cards, repeat the activity with two different children as listeners.

Conclusion: How many children are in the room today? Let’s count off aloud. 

We have {number} children. On the count of three, I want each of you to shout your name as loud as you can. Oh, I’d better ask; do you all know your names? 

Then you should be able to shout very loudly! Here we go: 1, 2, 3! Children shout their names. 

Do you know how many names God heard? {Total number named earlier.}

Write the number on the board. Yes, God heard all of you. Now, imagine real prayers, from people around the world, at the same time, in different languages! God hears every prayer and He answers each one. What is our SuperTruth today? “Prayer produces results.”