Week 925 · about 45 minutes
Jonah 2
Jonah 2 · Memory verse Jonah 2:1
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Jonah 2), the matching word search and answer key (Jonah 2 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a piece of bread
Hold a piece of bread. Read Jonah 2 in about four minutes, stopping at Jonah 2:1: “Then Jonah prayed to Yahweh, his God, out of the fish’s belly.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Jonah 2?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Jonah 2 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “Then Jonah prayed to Yahweh, his God, out of the fish’s belly.” 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, “I went down to the bottoms of the mountains. The earth barred me in forever: yet have you brought up my life from the pit, Yahweh my God.” Jonah 2 opens with these words: “Then Jonah prayed to Yahweh, his God, out of the fish’s belly.” The line to keep is Jonah 2:1: “Then Jonah prayed to Yahweh, his God, out of the fish’s belly.” Carry the word “jonah” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Jonah 2:1: “Then Jonah prayed to Yahweh, his God, out of the fish’s belly.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Jonah 2? Then try this: Read “Then Jonah prayed to Yahweh, his God, out of the fish’s belly.” 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 Jonah 2. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Jonah 2:1. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Jonah 2 and write Jonah 2:1 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Jonah 2:1
“Then Jonah prayed to Yahweh, his God, out of the fish’s belly.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Jonah 2. Help us remember Jonah 2:1 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.