FOR PRESCHOOL AND YOUNG ELEMENTARY CHILDREN:

Have your child imagine he/she is stuck in a situation and needs help (exs: climbed too high in a tree, locked in the bedroom). Who are you going to ask for help when you need it?

There are lots of times in our lives when we need help, times when we can’t do something on our own and need someone else to do it for us. If you climb too high in a tree, you need a grown up to help you get down. If you lock yourself in your bedroom, you need someone on the other side of the door to unlock it for you!
The Bible tells us many stories about times when people needed help, too. Let’s read what King David wrote at a time when he needed help, and he knew God was the only one who could help him.

Read Psalm 13:1-6 together. As you read, have your child count how many questions David asked God.

This psalm is a prayer from King David, but it doesn’t sound like a lot of our prayers, does it? David was going through something difficult in his life that made him feel like God had forgotten about him.
Even though David was worried, sad, frustrated, and felt like God wasn’t listening, he still prayed to God and asked God to help him.

What are some of the things we pray for in our family?

Prayer is simply another word for talking to God. As a family, we pray and thank God for our food, we pray at the beginning of our days and ask God for protection, we pray at the end of our days and thank him for keeping us healthy and safe, and for all the people we love. We can pray when we are worried or scared, like David did in Psalm 13, and we can pray when we are happy and feel thankful. God wants us to talk to him about everything.

How do we know God hears us when we pray?

We know God hears our prayers because the Bible tells us He does. (For example, 1 John 5:14: “. . . If we ask anything according to his will he hears us.”)

In Psalm 13:5, David said that he trusted in God and in God’s love for him. That is why he still prayed to God, even when he worried that God had forgotten about him. Do you know what it means to trust someone?

To trust someone means to believe they are able to do things. You trust your mom will feed you, because she can and she does. You trust your dad will protect you, because he always has.

How do we know we can trust God?

David trusted that God loved him and would save him, because God promised that he would. The Bible tells us God is good, and he always keeps his promises. (For points of reference with your children, the toddler Sunday School curriculum uses the example of God’s promise to give Abraham and Sarah a baby to teach the truth that God is good and trustworthy. And your second graders have spent all year learning about the promises of God.)
Just like David, we can trust that God loves us and will take care of us no matter what is going on in our lives, because the Bible promises us that he will.

Review these songs we sing in Sunday School and Catechism worship:

Where do you learn how to love and obey God? In the Bible alone. Who wrote the Bible? Chosen men who were inspired by the Holy Spirit.
What else did God give Adam and Eve besides bodies? He gave them souls that will last forever. Do you have a soul as well as a body? Yes, and my soul will last forever. How do you know your soul will last forever? Because the Bible tells me so.
“My God Is So Big”
“All Creatures of Our God and King”

FOR OLDER ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOL CHILDREN:

If your child used the listening guide to follow along with the sermon, take a few minutes to talk through his or her notes.

Read Psalm 13:1-6 together. Have your children pick one thing that stands out or surprises them from David’s prayer.

Think about some of your recent prayers. How are they different from David’s in Psalm 13? Are they similar in any ways?

This psalm is a lament prayer from King David, and it is an honest and desperate cry to God for God’s help in his life. As Matt taught in his sermon, Psalm 13 shows us that we can pray honest and desperate prayers, and that often those help us learn to trust God more.

Like David’s example, God wants his children to be honest and open with him in their prayers, even if it means sharing worries and questions about how he is at work. Why does God want us to be honest with him?

Prayer is the primary way we communicate with God, and no relationship is healthy if it isn’t built on honesty and trust. When we take our questions, concerns, fears, and doubts to God in prayer, we are directing them at the only one who is truly powerful enough to do anything about them.

Matt mentioned that in addition to being honest, David’s prayer in Psalm 13 was desperate. David knew he had nowhere to turn but to God. Why are we prone to depend on ourselves first? What are some things that prevent us from asking God for help before we get to a place of desperation?

Most of the time, we try to do things on our own, don’t we? Every once in a while, though, we encounter seasons like this one we are in now, times when we are reminded that we are not in control of our lives, and we desperately need God. The best thing we can do in those times is cry out to God, like David did.

In Psalm 13:5, David said that he trusted in God and in God’s love for him. That is why he still prayed to God, even when he worried that God had forgotten about him. What are some reasons you know you can trust God?

David trusted that God loved him and would save him, because God promised that he would. The Bible tells us God makes many promises to his children, and he always keeps his promises. Among them are promises to be with us, to protect us, and to help us in times of trouble.

One of the main reasons we can trust God with today is because he has promised his children an eternity with him, free of pain and suffering, and he has fulfilled that promise in Jesus. Take a minute to think about what it will be like to spend eternity with Jesus. In the meantime, what are some ways we as a family can remind ourselves of the good things God has done for us?

Over time, we can see a “track record” of God’s faithfulness in our lives. As parents, sharing about God’s past faithfulness can help your children learn to trust him with their own lives. In addition to sharing stories, we can worship and read Scripture together. All of these are ways we can remind ourselves and our kids of God’s grace and faithfulness in our lives.