Learning Goal: Students will learn how making daily time in God’s Word and prayer a priority prepares them for spiritual battles.
Memory Verse: 2 Timothy 2:1-4 You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. 3 Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer.
Bible Passage: Ephesians 6
Bible Story Title: Prepare for Battle (Ephesians 6)
Target Age Group: Ages 9-11 (3rd-5th Grade U.S.A.)
Target Time Frame: 60 Minutes
Original Teaching Context: Sunday School
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Supply List: Bibles, Name tags, pens/markers,
Learning Activity #1: Create military name tags. Students can make a tag that identifies them as a soldier in the military by choosing titles (examples: Captain, Colonel, Private, Lieutenant, Lance Corporal, etc).
Bible Lesson: Prepare for Battle Ephesians 6
(Introduction: The last 5 weeks we have been learning about the blessings believers have and how a believer should walk (live their lives) As a believer spends time daily with God by reading and studying His Word, listening to good Bible teaching and obeying God they will used by God. A believer who has been rescued from the prince of the air (Satan) is living in enemy territory. Satan is God’s enemy and is at war against everything that represents God. If you are a believer you are in an unseen battle and as we study Ephesians 6 we will discover how we can be strong soldiers in the spiritual battle taking place.
Let’s read Ephesians 6:10-18. To help us picture the battle we must prepare for, let’s pretend we are in a military unit preparing for battle. We are going to use the board to discuss the strategies and information we need to fight in this battle.
Believers prepare for Battle
Why do believers need to prepare for battle? Believers are living in a foreign land that is controlled by the ruler of the kingdom of air. (Ephesians 2:2, 1 Peter 2:11, Hebrews 11:13)
How do believers prepare for battle?
Wearing spiritual armor that God gives.
- (Ephesians 6:10-18)
Walking daily with Jesus and trusting God to fight for us.
- James 4:7-8 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
- 1 John 4:4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the word. (NKJV)
- Romans 8:31 What shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?
The Believer’s Weapons
God’s Word
- Ephesians 6:17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
- Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
God’s Power
- 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NIV)3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
- Isaiah 54:17 “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication is from Me,” declares the Lord.
- 2 Chronicles 20:15 and he said, “Listen, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s.
- 2 Chronicles 32:-7-8“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. With him is only an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said. (NIV)
Prayer
- Ephesians 6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
Know the Enemy
Who is the believer’s enemy?
Luke 10:18 He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
1 Peter 5:8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Revelation 12:9The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
Know the Enemy’s attacks
What are the weapons that the enemy uses against believers?
Accusations/Insults-
- Job 1:6-12: 6 One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from? ”Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.”8 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”9 “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. 10 “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”12 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
- Revelation 12:10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.
Believer’s weapon: God’s Truth
- 1 John 2:1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
- Hebrews 7:24-25 But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. 25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
Lies-
- John 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
- 2 Corinthians 11:13-15: 13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.
Believer’s weapon: God’s Truth
- John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me
- Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?
Doubts-
- Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
Believer’s weapon: God’s Truth
- Matthew 14:31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
- Matthew 21:21 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done.
- James 1:6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
Fears-
Ask the students things that cause students their age to be afraid of.
Believer’s weapon: God’s Truth
- Psalm 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
- Psalm 27:1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?
- 2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
- Genesis 15:1 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
Discouragement-
Numbers 32:7 Why do you discourage the Israelites from going over into the land the Lord has given them? (The 10 spies brought back a bad report.)
Believer’s weapon: God’s Truth
- Deuteronomy 1:21 See, the Lord your God has given you the land. Go up and take possession of it as the Lord, the God of your fathers, told you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
- Ephesians 3:13 I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.
Distractions
- Deuteronomy 30:17 But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them,
- James 1:14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
Believer’s weapon: God’s Truth
- Hebrews 12:1-3Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
- 2 Corinthians 4:18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Temptations-
- Matthew 4:3The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Believer’s weapon: God’s Truth
- 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NKJV) No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
The Enemy’s Destiny
- Revelation 20:10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
- Romans 16:20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
- Hebrews 2:14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he (Jesus) too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—
Closing: Until we are in Jesus’ presence we will be in enemy territory. A good soldier stays in shape and listen’s closely to the orders of his/her captain. A believer can stay in shape for the spiritual battle by daily reading/studying God’s word and praying.
Close in prayer.