Category Archives: Teaching Topics

Scripture encourages us to be devoted to prayer (Col. 4:2) so teaching about prayer should be part of a Bible teacher’s agenda. Perhaps we’ll teach an entire lesson about praying or simply incorporate truths about prayer into other lessons. We’ll also teach by example as we turn to the Lord throughout the lesson, not just to begin or end a session.

Do Get Beyond the Mechanics of Praying When Teaching About Prayer

Using tools like the ACTS acrostic, the finger prayer, etc. can be helpful but teachers need to take students beyond the 1-2-3 steps of praying to the real essence of prayer — communing with God, our relationship with Him. It grows out of abiding in our Lord (Jn. 15:4-7). The objective in praying should be about connecting with God. That’s how praying will become more of a delight than a duty.

As with human relationships, to connect we need to communicate. When communicating with people, we don’t follow a set pattern each and every time we talk with them. Why would we put our relationship with God in a neat little box? We need to help students understand that praying is a matter of their hearts connecting with His. Our posture, words, and order of our prayers may vary in keeping with the need of the moment. The Bible doesn’t command a set formula for praying but rather that we “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests” (Eph. 6:18).

Notice how Psalm 62:8 encourages us to pour our hearts out to God. It doesn’t say think first about what to say and the order to say it in and then craft your thoughts out in a prayer to God.

The heart can be messy at times but that’s okay with God who wants us to be real with Him.

Don’t Get Hung Up on the Right Words to Say in Prayer

Perhaps you’ll want to use the “Lord’s Prayer” (Matt. 6:9-13) as a pattern for students on how to pray. Jesus intended for it to be just that — a pattern. Right before giving that prayer, Jesus said, “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. … And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. …” (Matt. 6:5-8)

The danger of rote or even crafted prayer is that it can easily turn ritualistic. We soon fail to think about what we’re even saying. We need to help students enjoy authentic/genuine, heartfelt communication with God. We can do that by stressing how prayer is simply about pouring our hearts out to the God worthy of our trust (Ps. 62:8), love (Matt. 22:37), and adoration (Isa. 29:13).

Also, if students feel they need to be eloquent in the wording of their prayers, they will tend to have greater reticence in praying aloud in front of other people. They may become more conscientious about what people hear than what God hears.

For Bible Lessons on Praying, Go To: Teaching about Prayer

Jesus instructed His disciples to be His witnesses even to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). He commissioned them to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:18-20). He calls us “Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us” (2 Cor. 5:20). We’re to be the “salt of the earth” and “light of the world” so others “may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:13-16). Bible teachers can help students understand and engage in this awesome responsibility and privilege. Here’s what to do and not do when teaching outreach.

Do provide resources and support, not just instruction when teaching outreach.

When teaching outreach, stress that Jesus commands us to reach out with the Good News of the Gospel but get beyond verbal instruction. Students will be more likely to share the Gospel if given tools to help them do so. They will tend to learn better when they can come back and share about it, if not with the group, at least with the teacher. So, train and equip but also debrief.

Check out: Tools for Teachers to Share the Gospel (These same tools can be passed on to students for their outreach.)

Don’t skim over the need for heart preparation in reaching out.

Students themselves need to reach out for the right reasons (i.e., love for God and people – Matt. 22:37-40) and with the right attitudes (with gentleness and respect not with insensitivity and arrogance – 1 Pet. 3:15-16). That takes heart preparation. 1 Peter 3:15 begins, “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer …” People will be more likely to hear our words about Christ when they sense the difference He’s made in our own lives.

And, the hearts of the people with whom students are sharing need to be prepared (see the parable of the soils – Matt. 13:1-23). Stress the need for them to pray for those whom they are reaching as well as for themselves. Perhaps you can incorporate times of prayer in class time for those they’d like to reach.

As disciplemaking teachers, we need to take Jesus’ command to teach people “everything” He commanded to include all areas of life, even what we do with our money and resources. That means we disciple students in a stewardship of giving that reflects the heart attitudes Jesus taught and modeled.

Do lay the foundation for giving.

To effectively disciple students, it’s important to help them understand why they should be faithful givers and to encourage them to give for the right reasons. So, lay the foundation by teaching that giving is …

1) a command

Teach how in the Old Testament we find a command to tithe (Mal. 3:10) and in the New Testament we’re told to give as the Lord has prospered us (1 Cor. 16:2) which could possibly take us beyond a tithe. But, don’t stop there. Though God has every right to demand obedience to His commands, He delights when we obey for higher reasons such as the points that follow (Jn. 14:23).

2) a stewardship

Stress that all we have is from God (1 Cor. 4:7) and we will one day give an account for what we do with what He’s given us (Matt. 25:14-30; Heb. 4:13). When we honor God with our wealth, He takes care of us (Prov. 3:9; Lk. 6:38).

3) a means of expressing love, worship, and gratitude to God

When we emphasize God as the Source of all we have, students will be more prone to give back to Him as an act of gratitude rather than duty. Show them how giving, even sacrificing, is a reasonable response to all He’s done for us (Rom. 12:1; Heb. 13:16). It’s a way of letting Him know we love Him with all of who we are (Matt. 22:37-40) as we use what we have for His glory and to help others.

Don’t guilt people into giving when teaching the stewardship of giving.

Giving should be seen as more of a privilege than a duty (2 Cor. 8:3-5). Teaching that pressures students into giving tends to take away the joy of giving as they feel that they’re under compulsion to give rather than doing so from a grateful heart (2 Cor. 9:7).

Guilting people into giving can also push students into giving to show off, something Jesus warned against in Matthew 6:2-4. We must be careful, in any strategies we might use to get people to give, that it doesn’t lead to comparing and competing. We must always make giving about the heart and not the amount given (Mk. 12:41-44; 2 Cor. 9:6-8).

Check out this teacher training resource: Discipling Students in the Stewardship of Giving Worksheet

We would all probably say we want to help our students develop good, Christ-like character. Here’s one thing we should do and one thing we shouldn’t when teaching character development.

Do emphasize character development over external conformity.

God established the commands we find in Scripture for our good based on His holy character that is filled with all that is right and good. Obedience does matter but God wants more than external conformity. He seeks those who worship and obey Him from the heart.

Jesus didn’t come to abolish the law but to fulfill it, according to Matthew 5:17-20. He emphasized the need to go beyond external conformity in obeying the law to the core of our being. The law says we should not murder. Jesus said it needs to go deeper. We must also watch our attitudes and anger toward people (Matt. 5:21-26). The law says we should not engage in adultery. Jesus took it further saying that we must also guard against lust (Matt. 5:27-30). What’s inside matters so “above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Prov. 4:23).

Reflect on Jesus’ words to the teachers of the law and Pharisees who put external conformity over internal character development. This is how He described them:

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. (Matt. 23:25

You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. (Matt. 23:27)

In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. (Matt. 23:28)

This is His solution:

First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. (Matt. 23:26)

Jesus basically said that when we are who we should be, we will do what we should do. Consequently, as Bible teachers we must get beyond the commands in Scripture to the heart qualities that would cause students to obey that command. They need to sow good into their lives to reap good for “every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit” (Matt. 7:17).

Discipleship Tool: Sowing Good into Our Lives

Don’t give the impression good character is something we self-generate.

While as Bible teachers we do need to emphasize character development over external conformity, we also must stress the need to rely on God so it’s more than a self-improvement program. Christ-like character is a fruit of the Spirit, the result of His divine power and grace at work in our lives.

The fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control) comes as a result of walking in the Spirit. (Gal. 5:16-23)

The traits of godliness (faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, love) increase within us as we rely on His divine power based on who He is and the promises He keeps. (2 Pet. 1:3-8)

The character needed to live like those who have been redeemed by grace (self-control, uprightness, godliness) is possible because of that same grace. (Titus 2:11-14)

Jesus came to transform lives, to make us new (2 Cor. 5:17), from the inside out. The more our students learn to abide in Him, pulling on Him for the strength and sustenance they need each day, the more Christ-like they will become. Christ-like character cannot be self-generated. Pay close attention to the last phrase in the following verse and teach like you believe it to be true for both you and your students.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (Jn. 15:5)

Teacher Training Resources:

• The Teacher’s Role in Discipling Students Toward Christ-like Character & Conduct
• Tips for Teaching About Character Traits