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Prayer and worship activity

OPTION 1

5 minutes

Use Ephesians 1:18-19 to help the church to pray for one another as you begin your gathering. Project or print the Bible verses, along with these words, so that everyone has a copy: “This morning we gather together in thanks for one another and to pray together. We are asking that you, God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - will give us wisdom and revelation so that we might know you better. We pray that the eyes of our hearts may be opened so that we will know the hope, which you have called us to, the riches of kingdom life that you promise us and your power living in each one of us. Amen.”

Allow people to pray for each other if they wish, in the style that your church uses for intercessions.

OPTION 2

5 minutes

Provide everyone with a blank postcard. Ask them to talk together and each write down one thing the Bible says God is and one thing the Bible says they are, with Bible references if they can. (There are lots of easily found resources online if you feel your congregation could do with some pointers.) Ask people to come and pin their card to a board so that you build up a wall of truth.

Story

10 minutes

Begin by reading out Ephesians 6:10-17 in whichever version your congregation is familiar with or would find helpful. Explain that this is part of a letter which Paul (who was a follower of Jesus) wrote to one of the first churches to encourage them. He wanted to remind them that all of Jesus’ followers are in a battle against the devil and he wanted to give them some ideas of how to stand firm. At that time, people would have been familiar with Roman soldiers so he used parts of a soldier’s armour to explain what he meant. We’re not so familiar with armour nowadays, so we’re going to use more familiar things to talk about what it means to be spiritually dressed. Use props to demonstrate each item.

The underwear of truth (have a pair of men’s long johns or, if not too irreverent, an enormous pair of ladies pants)

  • A soldier’s belt held the rest of their armour together.
  • We put underwear on first to give us support and confidence.
  • The truth that we need to build everything on is that God made us, loves us and sent Jesus to die for all the wrong things we’ve done.

The anorak of righteousness

  • A soldier’s breastplate protected all the important internal organs.
  • We use an anorak / waterproof / puffer jacket to protect ourselves against the elements.
  • We need to make sure our hearts are protected. Jesus did this for us when he died on the cross - he makes us right for ever with God, but we still need to make good choices so that we don’t get into situations where our hearts become hard to God’s love and forgiveness.

The shoes of good news (have a couple of different sorts such as: high heels and trainers)

  • A soldier wears sturdy boots to enable him to march and fight, to do his job well.
  • We need to make sure we wear the right shoes for the journey, you can’t wear high heels to go for a run.
  • Wherever we go, we take God’s kingdom with us. We need to love others so that they see Jesus in our lives. When we don’t love people well it’s like trampling all over them in muddy boots.

The bag of faith (have a handbag and a school bag)

  • A soldier’s shield protected him against the attacks of the enemy.
  • We carry all that we need for the day in our bags.
  • The devil loves to attack us by putting lies into our heads about who we are. We need to be ready to fight back by knowing what is true. Just as our bags contain the solutions for everyday life, we need to make sure we know the truth to make sure the lies don’t land on us.

The hair care of salvation (have some hair products: shampoo, conditioner, hair gel)

  • In a battle, you can’t let your head get injured.
  • We make sure we look after the outside of our heads by washing our hair and getting haircuts.
  • We need to make sure we look after what’s inside our heads as well. When we expect the worse we end up with lots of negative thoughts and that can make us more prone to believing the devil’s lies. We need to fill our minds with the greatest news of all: God loves us, Jesus died for us and we’ll live together for ever with God!

The book of the spirit (have a Bible and a mobile phone)

  • In a battle you need a weapon!
  • The Bible tells us that it is the sword of the spirit.
  • When we are in constant communication with Jesus we have everything we need to be well armed. We meet Jesus every time we read the Bible and spend time talking to him.

Reflective response to the story

OPTION 1

10 minutes

Paul finishes up his segment on the armour of God by encouraging his readers to be people of prayer in all kinds of ways. We can use scripture to pray for one another. The rest of Ephesians has some great prayers in it. Point people towards Ephesians 3:16-19 and ask them to find a partner and pray it for the other person. You might like to use a simple version like the CEV so that children can join in and easily understand what they are praying.

OPTION 2

10 minutes

Ask people to consider which part of the armour, or the modern day equivalents, stood out to them most. Provide card, pencils, scissors and scraps of fabric, interesting paper, or tin foil for them to create a mini version of the garment they are thinking about. As they do this, encourage them to chat reflectively to the people around them about what struck them.

Discussion questions

Split into mixed-age groups and discuss these questions:

  • Was today’s idea of wearing spiritual armour new to you?
  • Which piece of the armour do you think that you are good at putting on?
  • Which piece of the armour do you forget that you need?
  • What kind of lies or thoughts does the enemy like to put into your head?
  • What truths from the Bible would stand against these lies?
  • How will you try and put on the armour of God every day this week?
  • What would you like other people to be praying for you this week?