Parent Resources: Elisha Saves 2 Boys: 2 Kings 4:1-7

Elisha Saves 2 Boys: 2 Kings 4:1-7

We believe that spiritual development happens in the home as well as at church.  We hope that these ideas will help you engage as a family.  It’s designed to help you connect with your child about the lesson they had this past week.  Use all the ideas one night, or spread them out throughout the week.    Enjoy!

A widow had a great problem with a debt she owed. She went to Elisha for advice and help. God performed a miracle of provision with the widow and her two sons. The oil in her little flask didn’t run out until all the pots she had gathered were full! The woman sold the oil to pay off her debt and also had enough left over to live on!

The main point of our lesson was to know that God wants to involve us in His plan. Like the widow, God will use whatever we have to offer for His use. The kids were repeatedly asked in the lesson “What do you have in your hand?” Sometimes, the most insignificant thing in our eyes—something we’ve taken for granted, discounted or overlooked—becomes an effective and powerful tool in His hands.

 

• GAME items needed: paper bag, blindfold, timer, small objects

You will need to gather a bunch of small objects from your house. Examples: paper clip, rubber band, marble, coin, sucker, piece of gum, pencil, eraser, CD, stone, small cup, napkin, super ball. Make a list of all the objects.

Put a blindfold on the first player and place the bag in front of him. Name one item that is in the bag and then the blindfolded player will have 10 seconds to find and pull the object named out of the bag.

Discuss what different uses each object could have. Are there any that you think could be used for a greater purpose? Talk about how anything in our hands that is put in God’s hands can be significant!

• ACTIVITY 

God wants to work through your work! He wants us to be an active part of His plan. Sure, God could … POOF … make anything happen or appear. He could provide all we need to exist and we could just sit on the couch, right? Yes, He spoke the world into existence. But He chooses to use us—to activate and involve us in His work.

Consider your daily activities. Are there some things that you let your family do for you that you could start doing yourself? How could you bless your family? Maybe they are praying for God to help them somehow find the time to keep up with things! Are they overwhelmed? Could you be an answer to their prayers?

Consider things like:

1. Preparing clothes for school, church, sports

2. Cleaning, doing laundry or yard work

3. Preparing meals and clean up after

4. Caring for younger brothers and sisters or helping with their homework

5. Caring for pets

6. Working around the house for your allowance

Could you start helping in any of these areas? Are there other areas you could be of assistance? God wants all of us to be active and productive. God can supernaturally answer prayers, but many times He answers prayers by working through and involving us to meet needs!

• CRAFT: items needed:  clay jars or bottles, craft paint, wet wipes, plastic plates

You will need a clay jar, bottle or some kind of plain container for each kid. They don’t all have to be the same, because the jars that the woman and her sons would’ve collected would’ve been all different sizes and shapes. We are also all different sizes and shapes. The kids will be pressing their handprint around the outside of the container, so the containers need to be big enough to hold that print.

Put a different color of craft paint in a very thin layer on each plastic disposable plate. After choosing a jar, each kid will press his open hand onto one paint on a plate. They will then open their hand and press it around the outside of the jar/pot, making sure that each finger is pressed completely against the jar’s surface. Every child should have a wet wipe before beginning the paint process.

This jar will help us remember that we offer what is in our hands to Him. Think about what you offered up to God in our prayer time. God wants each one of us to make ourselves available to carry out His plan, according to the talents and resources He has given us.

As you think of what God has placed in your hands to be part of His plan, you can write it on a piece of paper this week and slip it into your pot/jar.

• KNOW YOUR BIBLE items needed:  Bibles

Look up the following verses and discuss the questions:

Ruth 1-3

1. What was the need?

2. What was Ruth willing to do to help?

3. How did God bless and provide for Ruth and Naomi?

4. How do you think the story might have been different if God would have just miraculously given them food to eat without them being involved?

1 Corinthians 1:26-31

1. What do these verses say about God using what we have?

2. Why do you think God chooses to use foolish, little or insignificant things?

3. Does this get you excited about how God can use you?

 

• Scripture Memory

Psalm 34:8-9 (NLT)

“Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him! Fear the LORD, you his godly people, for those who fear him will have all they need.”

 

• Thought For The Week

WE SHOULD ALWAYS BE WILLING TO USE WHAT  GOD HAS PLACED IN OUR HANDS