2 | INTER-AMERICAN DIVISION MESSENGER
WEEK OF PRAYER READINGS
FOR THE CHILDREN
General Suggestions to Leaders
The basic theme running through
most of these lessons has to do with
the problem of sin and how to meet it.
Surely no problem deserves greater em-
phasis, or should be of greater concern
just now to both young and old. Closely
associated with this theme is its paral-
lel-—the righteousness of Jesus. What
a high privilege for any teacher or lead-
er to bring to the spiritual comprehen-
sion of the children themes so vital,
and yet so simple.
Since these lessons are to be given
to children in all grades, it is necessary
that they be adapted accordingly. In
- some Instances the phraseology may be
too difficult for the six-year old, or
too simple for the twelve-year old.
These lessons are not designed to be
read to the children. It is hoped that
the teacher will find in them helpful
suggestions, but most of all is it hoped
that he will earnestly seek from God
the spiritual illumination the children
of his group particularly need
The following general suggestions may
prove helpful:
1. Make the Week of Prayer truly
a season of prayer with the children.
At these prayer seasons lead the chil-
dren to pray earnestly for victory over
every sin.
2. Let every leader acquaint himself
with the heart needs of the children.
Do not neglect the personal interview.
3. Select your songs carefully after
having prepared your study for the day.
4. Tt is only as the hearer givés ex-
pression to religious instruction that it
becomes a part of him. As a means of
self expression, give the children an
opportunity to speak a little word of
testimony—or to participate in sentence’
prayers, or just to stand, or to raise
hands, or to bow heads in silent prayer.
It matters not how simple the expres-
sion may be, it is very important in
giving the children an opportunity to
respond to the pleadings of the Holy
Spirit.
5. In the first meeting be sure to tell
the children about the annual offering
which will be taken up at the last meet-
ing. Lead the children to determine
on a definite amount to work for, sug-
gesting ways and means of earning this
amount. It would be well to remind
the children at each meeting about this
offering and make efforts to earn their
specified amounts, a part of your pray-
ers from meeting to meeting.
Lesson I — For Sabbath, December 9
CHRIST OUR HELPER
Suppose, boys and girls, you were
traveling "along a path that lay very
close to a deep wide pit, and suppose
you were in danger any moment of
slipping off into this pit. How thank-
ful you would be if someone would
offer you a strong hand to hold you up
and keep you from slipping. The path-
way of life which we are traveling is
just such a path. Satan’s cruel temp-
tations make it unsafe, and we are in
danger every day of slipping into the
pit of sin.’ Jesus sees the danger we
are in. In pity He reaches out His
strong hand to help us. Listen to His
loving offer of help in Isaiah 41:10:
“I will uphold thee.” This is Jesus’
way of saying, “I will hold you up,
and keep you from slipping into the pit
of sin.”
With His Strong Right Hand
Can it be that Jesus’ hand is able
to ‘hold us up and keep us from fall-
ing? Yes, it can be, for Jesus’ uphold-
ing hand is strong. He calls it “the
right hand” of His “righteousness.” He
never did one sinful thing during His
"whole life on this earth. Day by day
He met temptations, even greater ones
than you and I meet, but without fall-
ing. Jesus is really saying to us: “Be-
cause I was upheld against temptation
while in the world you may know that:
I am strong to uphold you.”
Jesus Will Strengthen Us
Perhaps you would like to know what
it means to be upheld by the right hand
of Jesus’ righteousness, . This question
is answered for us in this same text.
Says Jesus: “I will strengthen thee.”
This is His way of saying, “I will up-
hold you by making you strong with
My strength.” The strength of Jesus
—think what this means—His strength
upholds great worlds in space, and this
is the strength He offers to vou and
to me to uphold us in the pathway of
life. Yes, His strength becomes ours
if we are willing to receive it. We are
all saying in our hearts today, “Dear
Jesus, uphold me by making n me strong
with Thy strength.”
Jesus Will Lift Us When We Fall
But suppose some day we forget and
do not take the strong hand Jesus of-
fers us, what then? Jesus looks down
upon us in sadness, but He is still our
Helper. David said in Psalm 40:2:
The Lord “brought me up also out of
an horrible pit.” Yes, the same hand
that could have kept us from falling,
is reaching out also to lift us up and
bring us out of the pit into which we
have fallen. How does Jesus do this
for us? By forgiveness of sin. It is
forgiveness that lifts us up out of the
pit of sin. I John 1:9 says: “If we
confess our sins, He is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins.” And this is not
all. We could not fall into a pit and
stay clean, could we? Neither can we
sin and be clean. Sin makes us very
unclean in the sight of God. But Je-
sus says: “I will wash you and ye shall
be clean.” The last part of I John 1:9
says: “And to cleanse us from all un-
righteousness.” He lifts us up out of
the pit, and then washes off all of the
stains of sin. -
Jesus Is Our Helper In Every Time
of Need
What a wonderful Helper is Jesus.
No matter what our trouble may be,
Jesus can always do the thing that will
help us most. He loves to have us
keep our hand in His all the time, and
then when trouble comes, when sorrow
comes, when sickness comes, when dan-
ger of any kind comes, He can draw
us very near and give us the help we
need. Boys and girls, we are living
now in a time that is full of trouble,
a time, too, that will grow worse and
worse, for the end Is very, very near.
But with our hand in the hand of Jesus
we have nothing to fear, for as the dan-