Christ Integration Camp

Say:

• Now that we have put on all the armor of God, we have to learn how to fight this spiritual battle. We have to communicate with our the Leader of the battle, Jesus Christ. We communicate with God through prayer. Prayer helps us fight and win the spiritual battle.

Activity Telephone:

• Whisper a phrase into the first child’s ear.
  • Use tricky phrases to throw the kids off. (Say things like, “Sandy sells sandy shells on the slushy slopes,” or, “a bare naked bear bearing boring berries on a board.”)
• Then have them whisper it to the next child, on and on until it reaches the last child.
• Have the last child say out loud what they heard.
• Tell them the original phrase.
• After a few rounds, discuss how the message got muddled from one person to the next, but when we talk with God, he always understands exactly everything we say, even when we don’t say things out loud.

Say:

• Over the past several weeks, we have discovered that we are at war with Satan. We have also learned that God has given us the tools we need to stand firm in this war.
• But what we have yet to learn is how exactly we are to fight.
• Raise your hand if you have ever played on a sports team. Now when you compete, does your coach let you go out and do whatever you want? No, your coach will give you instructions, a game plan. He will tell you what you need to do in order to win.
• Jesus Christ does the same this with us. Like any good commander will do for his troops, Christ has given us a battle plan. Can anybody guess what that is?  Right, the way we can fight in this war against Satan is through prayer. So, what is prayer? Prayer is talking to God. What are some things to pray for? The Bible tells us that it’s okay to pray for everything.
• In Philippians 4:6 it says, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” 
• How do we pray? We pray through the Holy Spirit. In Romans 8:26-27 the Bible says, “ And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.” 
• This means that the Holy Spirit helps us to pray. If you have asked Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins and live in your heart, then his Holy Spirit will guide your prayers.
• When should we pray? Ephesians 6:18 tells us to pray all the time. Does that seem like hard work to you? If we are praying all the time,  we wouldn’t be able to go to school or eat or anything, would we? When we are told to pray all the time, this does not mean we stop doing things. It means we should always be thinking about God and talking to Him. We can pray for anything, at any time. Can you think of some things to pray for, and places to pray?
  • Make sure the list covers topics such as friends, family, the church, missionaries, countries in need, those who are sick, the lost, personal needs, etc. Include random places to pray, like the shower, the drive thru line at McDonald’s, in bed, on the bus.
• So now we know that we can pray at any time about anything. But how do we know that God hears us? Matthew 7:7 says, “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” God hears your prayers and answers them. When we humbly pray to God, we can WIN AGAINST SIN!