Children's Activities for Mark 9:14-29

This healing example where Jesus drove out the unclean spirit is so important that it shows up more than once in the gospels. Mark gave the most details about the situation, though, so open up your Bible to Mark chapter 9, verse 14 to start reading the account to your little one. Keep reading through verse 29. A basic overview of the story shows that Jesus’ disciples couldn’t cast out a boy’s unclean spirit, so the boy’s father brought him to Jesus. Jesus told the boy’s father that he had to believe for his son to be healed. The father shouted his belief and then Jesus drove the spirit out of the boy. Say to your child, “How cool is that? When we ask and believe, God will hear and answer our prayers!” Depending on your tot's age and personality, it might be best to gloss over any focus on unclean spirits and demons. Instead, you could just say that the boy was sick and Jesus healed him.

Brainstorm some times with your child when we should ask for God’s help. As you begin to think of situations, start jotting them down. You’re going to turn these ideas into a prayer book. Possible ideas include a threatening storm, a sick relative, help to find a lost item and energy to do something specific. Use a sheet of white paper for each situation and write it across the top of the paper. Encourage your little one to draw a picture to illustrate each situation. When finished, staple the sheets of paper together to create a “Calling on God” book.

Talk about how the father’s faith in Jesus and the fact that he asked for healing were the two important points that made a difference for the boy in the Bible. Ask your little one if he knows anyone who needs healing (could be anything, major or minor). Suggest that you make a prayer list of people you know that need healing. Write each person’s name on an index card. After you place the name on the card, your child could either draw a picture of the person or you could affix a small picture of the person to the card. This way, every time your child sees the card, he’ll remember who needs prayers. Encourage your youngster to use his prayer list every day to remember people who need the power of God’s healing.

Singing praises to God can be effective for helping kids fix their minds on things above. Choose songs that focus on God’s power to help kids internalize how amazing God is and how He is waiting to help whenever needed -- songs like “Our God is So Big,” “I’m in the Lord’s Army,” “Jesus is the Rock” and “King of Kings.” The more you sing these songs together with your youngster, the faster she'll learn the words.