This lesson is targeted for older preschool children, age 4 and age 5 years old. It would serve well as a preschool Sunday School lesson. You could also adapted this lesson plan for other ministry settings. We also have a series of Bible lessons about God targeted for older children.
Bible Passage: Isaiah 40:27-31
Bible Lesson Title: God’s Strength is Everlasting
Target Age Group: 4-5 years old (U.S. preschool & Kindergarten)
Target Time Frame: 30 minutes
Original Teaching Context: Preschool Sunday School
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Knowing God through Isaiah 40: Lesson Six (32 minutes)
Scripture: Isaiah 40:27-31
Exegetical Idea: The Israelites suffering is not hidden from the Everlasting God; Isaiah reminds the Israelites that God does not grow weary or tired; therefore, they can place their full trust in His strength
Pedagogical Idea: God will provide us with His everlasting strength as we trust in Him.
Cognitive Aim: Preschoolers will know God never grows tired, but we do. He will provide us with His strength when we trust in Him.
Affective Aim: Preschoolers will trust in God’s strength.
Behavioral Aim: Praise God through song; Memorize Isaiah 40:31.
Memory Verse: Isaiah 40:31, “Those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary (NASB).” (You may want to shorten this verse for your preschoolers, depending on their abilities to memorize.)
Lesson Overview
- Kindle Curiosity (5 minutes) Description: Run to demonstrate how our bodies are human and grow tired; learn a special sentence. Supplies: watch or clock
- God Revealed (10 minutes) Description: Hear Isaiah 40:28-31, recall the special sentence Supplies: Bible, soft blanket
- Personal Pursuit (10 minutes) Description: Share a personal story that demonstrates God’s everlasting strength. Supplies: Pictures that illustrate your personal story; Computer, CD player, or IPOD; song Who is Like You? by Tim Neufield
- Daily Knowing (7 minutes) Description: Review past verses (if there is time) and memorize Isaiah 40:31. Supplies: notecards
1. Kindle Curiosity (5 minutes)
- Today the lesson will begin through a kinesthetic experience. It can be outdoor or indoor, but there needs to be plenty of space for running!
- State: Today we are going to come to know God in another new way! To get us started, we are going to run as fast as we can for two minutes! (Line everyone up and have them run back and forth for two minutes as fast as they can). Now everyone stop right where you are and put your hand over your chest! (Demonstrate this for them.) What do you feel? (my heart beat, my chest moving) What do you hear? (My breath coming out fast, my heartbeat) These feelings are signs that our bodies are responding to running. When you run for just two minutes, you may not feel tired; but, the signs of breathing hard and a fast heartbeat shows us that we cannot run without getting tired because we are human. God designed our bodies to need exercise, but what happens if we were to run for hours? (We get tired!) Even people who can run long distances always get tired because we are human. God is different! Today we are going to come to know Him as our God who never grows tired! Here is a special sentence I want you to remember: God’s strength is everlasting! Can we say that together? “God’s strength is everlasting!” Great job! Put this in a special place in your brain to remember for later.
2. God Revealed (5 minutes)
- Gather the children around you inside on a soft blanket. Open up your Bible and state: This is the Bible. It is God’s Word. He wrote it, so we know everything in it is true (say until they can repeat it). Today we are reading from Isaiah 40:28-31 (show them the numbers, let them see exactly where you will be reading). The people Isaiah was writing to did not think God saw the bad things that were happening to them. Isaiah is going to tell them about how God never grows tired, and how this can help them trust Him. Let’s turn on our listening ears and turn off our mouths (demonstrate) so we can discover something new about God and get to know Him more!
- Read Isaiah 40:27-31
- State: In these verses, Isaiah told the people of Israel, God’s people, that if they wait or trust in God, He will give them new strength. This new strength comes from God. It is His strength that He gives to His people when they trust in Him. And what do we know about God’s strength? (if they don’t remember the special sentence, remind them) God’s strength is everlasting!
3. Personal Pursuit (15 minutes)
- State: Because God’s strength is everlasting, we can go to Him and ask for His strength when we feel weak. When we trust in His strength and not our own, we will “mount up on wings like eagles, run and not grow tired, walk and not grow weary.”
- Share a personal story about a time in your life when you trusted in God’s strength, He provided it for you, and helped you get through. If you have pictures or visuals that you can use as part of the story, this will have an even greater impact on the children’s understanding. (For example, if the story is from when you were a lot younger, have a picture of yourself at that point in time.)
- State: God will provide His strength to each of us when we ask Him and trust in Him as our Everlasting God. Let’s pray together, asking Him for strength and praising Him for being our Everlasting God! (Allow to pray creatively, and voice your praise of God openly for His strength)
- Ask: Do you remember the song we learned last time? We are going to praise God together through song for who He is. The first words of this song are “The Lord is my strength.” This is what we learned today! Do you remember the answer to the question “Who is like you (God)?” (No one!) If you would like to dance while we sing, you can. God enjoys us when we dance and sing to Him with all of our hearts! (Begin the song).
Who is Like You? Tim Neufield (you can find it on YouTube or buy the song on CD or through ITunes)
The Lord is my strength & my song
He has become my salvation
He is my God and I will praise Him
I will lift Him up
Who is like You, majestic in holiness
Awesome in glory, working wonders
Who is like You, majestic in holiness
Awesome in glory, working wonders
In Your unfailing love
You will lead the people that You redeem
And in Your strength, You will guide them
To Your holy place
Who among the gods is like You
Who among the heavens
4. Daily Knowing (7 minutes)
- Review the verses you have time for from the past lessons (Isaiah 40:8, Psalm 23:1, Isaiah 40:10a, Romans 11:33a, Psalm 86:6) using hand motion prompts.
- Remember, it is important for us to learn God’s word because that is how we come to know Him more. Today we have learned that God’s strength is everlasting and that He will give us His strength when we trust in Him. Today our verse to help us remember this is Isaiah 40:31, the very last verse in Isaiah. “Those who wait (trust) for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not grow tired, they will walk and not grow weary.” I think it will be easy for us to come up with motions for this verse, what do you think? (Explain the concept of “wings like eagles” and/or the word “weary” if they do not understand.)
- Make sure you review with them the next week or when you have encounters during the week one-on-one. Encourage them to share this verse with their parents when they pick them up so their parents will be able to help them practice at home. Provide each parent with a notecard that has Isaiah 40:31 written on it*.
*If some children do not have parents who are believers, make a special effort to encourage them in every time you see them in their scripture memorization and pursuit of God.