Assembly Objective:
- Why is prayer such an important part of many people’s lives? Focusing on the opening of the Lord’s Prayer, pupils will consider who Christians pray to and why they believe God answers prayers.
Film:
- The Eleventh Hour episode from Doctor Who Series 5: Volume 1 (BBC, 2010) certificate PG. Click here to buy the DVD online.
Bible:
- Matthew 6:9 (New International Reader’s Version)
Supporting Values Education:
- The values of Respect and Tolerance presuppose an understanding and appreciation of beliefs held by different people. This assembly helps pupils begin to think about prayer which is important to a wide range of different religious believers.
EXTRA INFORMATION
- In 2012, Newsround (a BBC children’s news programme) conducted a survey of a thousand children aged 6-12 and a thousand adults aged 46-52. Their findings suggest that children today are twice as likely to say that religion is important to them compared with forty years ago. But, they are now half as likely to know the Lord’s Prayer.
- In response to the survey, the Archbishop of Canterbury urged schools to introduce children to the Lord’s Prayer, ‘so that they know that it’s there, they know what it means and know why it matters. Then they may make up their minds about whether they use it.’ This assembly is designed to help schools do just that.
- You can find out more about this study and the Archbishop’s statement at http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/17561869
- You could use the Bible passage which the prayer is adapted from: Matthew 6:9-13. Here is the passage in the New International Reader’s Version:
- ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be honoured. May your kingdom come. May what you want to happen be done on earth as it is done in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, just as we also have forgiven those who sin against us. Keep us from falling into sin when we are tempted. Save us from the evil one.’
OPENING ACTIVITY
I Spy Something God Made (activity)
- Play I Spy, but ask the children to pick things that Christians believe God made. This can include both natural and man-made items, since Christians believe that, as well as creating the world, God made people who were able to create things themselves.
- For smaller groups, split into teams and see which team can list the most items in five minutes. If you are able to go outside, you could include a scavenger hunt.
- Read Romans 1:20: ‘God’s eternal power and character cannot be seen. But from the beginning of creation, God has shown what these are like by all he has made.’
- Then ask the children what the items on their list show them about God’s power and character.
Who Am I? (game)
- Play a version of the game Who Am I? In a whole-school assembly context, you pick a name (of a celebrity, character, historical figure or fellow teacher) and ask the children to guess who you are. You can offer clues either by acting like the person or by answering yes/no questions about them.
- In a circle time context, pick one name for each person in the group. Write each name on a label and stick it to a child’s back. Once everyone has a sticker, the group mingles asking yes/no questions about who they are, until they guess the person correctly.
FILM CLIP
- Play the clip from Doctor Who Series 5: Volume 1 (BBC, 2010) certificate PG. The Eleventh Hour episode.
- Start time: 00:02:01 (chapter 1, after the opening credits, there is a shot of a garden swing, which pans round to the front of a large house)
- End time: 00:03:19 (Amelia says, ‘Thank you Santa,’ after the Doctor’s TARDIS appears in her garden)
- Clip length: 1 minute and 18 seconds
- If you cannot play the clip, then read the description below instead:
- A crack in time has appeared in the bedroom wall of young Amelia Pond. At night she hears voices coming from it. Amelia prays to Santa, asking him to send someone to help.
TALK
Download the Lords Prayer 1 PowerPoint for use with this assembly.
Scripted Talk
- [PowerPoint slide 1]
- Welcome everyone. We are going to learn about something that can change lives today. It’s something that many people have learnt off by heart. It’s a piece of text – but it’s not a law, an equation or even a spell. It is a prayer. Put your hand up if you’ve heard of the Lord’s Prayer. Put your hand up if you know some of it by heart.
- In 2012 Newsround did a study on religion. They spoke to a thousand children aged 6-12 and a thousand adults who’d have been that age forty years ago.
- [PowerPoint slide 2]
- They found that children today are twice as likely to say that religion is important to them compared to kids forty years ago.
- [PowerPoint slide 3]
- But, they are now half as likely to know the Lord’s Prayer.
- We’re going to spend some time over the next few assemblies finding out what all the fuss is about. And we’re going to start at the beginning.
- [PowerPoint slide 4]
- Can anyone tell me why it’s called the Lord’s Prayer? [Take suggestions.] It is the prayer that Jesus taught his followers. It isn’t the only way that Jesus prayed or that his followers were meant to pray. But, it is a model or example of how to pray. Does anyone know the first line of the Lord’s Prayer? [Take suggestions – Our Father in Heaven.]
- Let’s read Jesus’ words together.
- Read Matthew 6:9 [PowerPoint slide 5]:
- ‘This is how you should pray. ‘‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be honoured.’”
- This first line answers a really important question that a lot of people have about prayer: who are we praying to? Lots of people cry out for help when they are in trouble, without really being sure who they are crying out to. Let’s watch a clip of a girl who cries out for help.
- Play the clip from Doctor Who Series 5: Volume 1 (BBC, 2010) certificate PG. The Eleventh Hour episode.
- Start time: 00:02:01 (chapter 1, after the opening credits, there is a shot of a garden swing, which pans round to the front of a large house)
- End time: 00:03:19 (Amelia says, ‘Thank you Santa,’ after the Doctor’s TARDIS appears in her garden)
- Clip length: 1 minute and 18 seconds
- If you cannot play the clip, then read the description below instead:
- A crack in time has appeared in the bedroom wall of young Amelia Pond. At night she hears voices coming from it. Amelia prays to Santa, asking him to send someone to help.
- [PowerPoint slide 6]
- Amelia prays to Santa because she believes that he has given her things in the past: dolls, pencils and fish for Christmas. She thinks that Santa probably sleeps through Easter, but that he might wake up for an emergency like hers.
- [PowerPoint slide 7]
- Who do Christians pray to? [Take suggestions – God.] What do you think God is like? [Take suggestions.]
- [PowerPoint slide 8]
- But, how can we know what God is like, or that he will answer our prayers? Where do Christians get their ideas about God from? Christians believe that God has shown himself to the world through [click] the things that he has created, [click] through the Bible, [click] through Jesus [click] and through answering their prayers.
- So, people can look at the world and say that, if God created that, he must be powerful, he must care about us and he must have an amazing imagination. People can read in the Bible that ‘His love for those who have respect for him is as high as the heavens are above the earth’ (Psalm 103:11). People can learn (from the Bible) that Jesus is just like God, and that he is good, brave, kind, heroic and caring, so God must be too.
- [PowerPoint slide 9]
- The Lord’s Prayer is written to God because Jesus and his followers believe that God hears and answers prayers. So it starts by calling out to ‘Our Father in heaven,’ and by asking that he be honoured or respected.
- We’re going to finish our assembly with a real life story of a prayer answered.
- [PowerPoint slide 10]
- Has anyone heard of Fabrice Muamba? He is a footballer. On 17th March 2012, he was playing for Bolton Wanderers in an FA cup quarter final. During the match he collapsed with a heart attack. It was serious. Whilst he was in hospital, footballers, fans and Fabrice’s family asked the world to pray for him. In the end thousands of people all over the world were praying for Fabrice. Let’s find out what happened by listening to Fabrice’s own words.
- [click] ‘I am walking proof of the power of prayer. For 78 minutes I was dead and even if I lived was expected to have suffered brain damage.’
- [PowerPoint slide 11]
- ‘But I’m very much alive and sitting here talking now. Someone up there was watching over me. On the morning of the game I prayed with my father and asked God to protect me – and he didn’t let me down.’ (Fabrice Muamba)
- That’s what Fabrice thought. As we continue to look at the Lord’s Prayer, you can work out what you think too.
Headings and Bullets
- Introduction [PowerPoint slide 1]
- Welcome.
- Introduce the Lord’s Prayer.
- [PowerPoint slide 2-3] Newsround survey
- Who? [PowerPoint slide 4]
- Can anyone tell me why it’s called the Lord’s Prayer?
- It is the prayer – or model of a prayer – that Jesus taught his followers.
- Does anyone know the first line of the Lord’s Prayer?
- Read Matthew 6:9 [PowerPoint slide 5]
- This first line answers an important question about prayer: Who are we praying to?
- Introduce the film clip from The Eleventh Hour episode.
- Start time: 00:02:01 (chapter 1, after the opening credits, there is a shot of a garden swing, which pans round to the front of a large house)
- End time: 00:03:19 (Amelia says, ‘Thank you Santa,’ after the Doctor’s TARDIS appears in her garden)
- Clip length: 1 minute and 18 seconds
- Prayer to Santa [PowerPoint slide 6]
- Amelia prays to Santa because she believes that he has given her things in the past.
- She thinks that Santa might wake up for an emergency like hers.
- Prayer to God [PowerPoint slide 7]
- Who do Christians pray to?
- What do you think God is like?
- How can we know? [PowerPoint slide 8]
- How can we know what God is like, or that he will answer our prayers?
- Where do Christians get their ideas about God from?
- Christians believe that God has shown himself to the world through [click] the things that he has created, [click] through the Bible, [click] through Jesus [click] and through answering their prayers.
- Examples of these.
- [PowerPoint slide 9]
- The Lord’s Prayer is written to God because Jesus and his followers believe that God hears and answers prayers.
- Real life story of a prayer answered:
- [PowerPoint slide 10]
- Introduce footballer Fabrice Muamba.
- On 17th March 2012, he collapsed whilst playing for Bolton Wanderers in an FA cup quarter final.
- [click] ‘I am walking proof of the power of prayer. For 78 minutes I was dead and even if I lived was expected to have suffered brain damage.’
- [PowerPoint slide 11]
- ‘But I’m very much alive and sitting here talking now. Someone up there was watching over me. On the morning of the game I prayed with my father and asked God to protect me – and he didn’t let me down.’ (Fabrice Muamba)
- That’s what Fabrice thought; what do you think?
RESPOND
Prayer
- Pray the Lord’s Prayer with the children, reminding them to think about who they are praying to.
- You could use the Bible passage which the prayer is adapted from: Matthew 6:9-13. Here is the passage in the New International Reader’s Version:
- ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be honoured. May your kingdom come. May what you want to happen be done on earth as it is done in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, just as we also have forgiven those who sin against us. Keep us from falling into sin when we are tempted. Save us from the evil one.’
YOU WILL NEED:
- Doctor Who Series 5: Volume 1 (BBC, 2010) certificate PG. Click here to buy the DVD online.
- Lords Prayer 1 PowerPoint.
- Labels and a pen for the Who Am I? opening activity.
- Paper and pens for the I Spy Something God Made opening activity.
Ethos Education 