Week 893 · about 45 minutes
Daniel 9
Daniel 9 · Memory verse Daniel 9:4
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Daniel 9), the matching word search and answer key (Daniel 9 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a small lamp
Hold a small lamp. Read Daniel 9 in about four minutes, stopping at Daniel 9:4: “I prayed to Yahweh my God, and made confession, and said, “Oh, Lord, the great and dreadful God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with those who love him and keep his commandments,” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Daniel 9?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Daniel 9 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the offspring of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans,” That is not a motto invented for a poster. It is the first sentence a family hears when this page is opened at night.
Keep going a little further. The chapter also says, “Therefore Yahweh has watched over the evil, and brought it on us; for Yahweh our God is righteous in all his works which he does, and we have not obeyed his voice.” Daniel 9 opens with these words: “In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the offspring of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans,” The line to keep is Daniel 9:4: “I prayed to Yahweh my God, and made confession, and said, “Oh, Lord, the great and dreadful God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with those who love…” Carry the word “prayed” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Daniel 9:4: “I prayed to Yahweh my God, and made confession, and said, “Oh, Lord, the great and dreadful God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with those who love him and keep his commandments,” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Daniel 9? Then try this: Read “I prayed to Yahweh my God, and made confession, and said, “Oh, Lord, the great and dreadful God, who keeps…” once more. What does it show you about God? You do not have to finish every verse. You can close the book after the memory verse and still have read the Bible together.
Group game
Walk the room as if you are moving through Daniel 9. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Daniel 9:4. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Daniel 9 and write Daniel 9:4 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Daniel 9:4
“I prayed to Yahweh my God, and made confession, and said, “Oh, Lord, the great and dreadful God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with those who love him and keep his commandments,”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Daniel 9. Help us remember Daniel 9:4 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.