To begin the session:
Attach 3–4 foot lengths of plain white shelf paper to the walls of your classroom. You will need one length for each 3–5 class members. Divide the class into groups, giving each group watercolor markers and assigning each group to a length of paper. Ask each group to create a timeline of a person’s life, noting key crossroads events (ex: graduation, marriage, beginning a career, etc.). Allow about five minutes for this exercise.
Reassemble the class and allow groups to explain their timelines. Point to specific crossroads events on the timelines and ask how people prepare for those events. Lead into Bible study by saying, “Our lives are marked by events that change the course of our lives when they occur. Those events deserve careful preparation and forethought. In our text today, we will see Daniel preparing for a predicted crossroads event for his nation. Let us see what we can learn from him.”
To encourage personal application:
Download the “Prayer Patterns” handout here. Make copies for each class member. Note that Daniel had a specific pattern for prayer that we can emulate in our own prayers. In addition, believers over the years have developed similar prayer outlines.
Encourage class members to choose a prayer pattern from the handout, clip it out, and use it to structure their prayers for an obedient faith in the coming weeks.
© 2021 David C Cook. All rights reserved. |