This lesson teaches children that God can use us to help other people, even when it feels scary to speak up. It works well for ages 5 to 11 and takes about 20 to 30 minutes, including the story, the discussion, and one activity.
Big Idea
God can use brave people to help others, even when being brave is hard. Esther was scared, but she trusted God and did the right thing.
Memory Verse
Esther 4:14
For if you remain silent now, then relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Who knows if you haven’t come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
(WEB)
Ask the children to hold both hands out in front of them like they are holding a gift, then slowly lift them up toward the sky. Say the verse together while the hands move up, and repeat it three times.
The Story: Esther 4 for Kids
Mordecai heard some very sad news. A cruel man named Haman had made a plan to hurt all the Jewish people in the kingdom. When Mordecai heard about it, he was so upset that he tore his clothes and put on rough sackcloth covered in ashes. He walked out into the middle of the city and cried loudly.
Queen Esther was living in the king’s palace, and she heard that Mordecai was crying. She was worried about him, so she sent him nice clothes to wear. But Mordecai would not take them. He wanted Esther to understand how serious the danger was, so he sent a message back to her.
Mordecai told Esther that she had to go to the king and ask him to save her people. Esther felt afraid. In that kingdom, nobody could go to the king without being called first, or the king might have them punished. Esther sent word back to Mordecai, saying she had not been called to see the king for thirty days.
Then Mordecai gave Esther a very important reminder. He told her that she was in the palace for a reason, and that maybe God had put her there for a time like this. Esther decided to be brave. She asked all the Jewish people to pray and fast with her for three days, and she said, “If I perish, I perish.”
Read It Together
Esther 4:1-3
1 Now when Mordecai found out all that was done, Mordecai tore his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the middle of the city, and wailed loudly and bitterly. 2 He came even before the king’s gate, for no one is allowed inside the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth. 3 In every province, wherever the king’s commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
(WEB)
Point out how Mordecai and the other Jewish people showed how sad they were. Ask the children how they feel when someone they love is hurting, and remind them that it is okay to feel sad and to show it.
Esther 4:13
Then Mordecai asked them to return this answer to Esther: “Don’t think to yourself that you will escape in the king’s house any more than all the Jews.
(WEB)
Help the children notice that Mordecai asked Esther to think about the bigger picture and not only herself. Explain that God often asks us to care about other people, even when it costs us something.
Esther 4:16
“Go, gather together all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day. I and my maidens will also fast the same way. Then I will go in to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.”
(WEB)
Show the children that Esther did not act alone. She asked her friends and helpers to pray and fast with her. Talk about how praying with others gives us strength when we feel afraid.
Talk About It
- Why do you think Mordecai was so upset when he heard the bad news?
- What do you think Esther felt when she had to decide whether to go to the king?
- Can you tell about a time you felt scared to do something good?
- Who can we ask to pray with us when we need courage?
- How can God help us be brave when we are afraid?
Activity Ideas
Brave Queen Crown Craft
You will need construction paper, crayons or markers, tape, and safety scissors. Cut a strip of paper long enough to fit around each child’s head and tape it into a loop. Let the children decorate their crowns with stars, hearts, or whatever shapes they like. As they work, talk about one brave thing they could do this week to help someone.
Fast and Pray Freeze Game
Gather the children in an open space and tell them they are the Jewish people gathering to pray. Play a simple freeze game: when you call out “pray,” they freeze with their hands folded, and when you call “fast,” they sit down quietly. Explain that Esther asked her people to pray together, and end by praying one short sentence as a group.
Brave Words Card for Home
You will need index cards, a pen, and a pencil. Write the words “God can use me to help others” on one side of the card and let each child draw a small picture of someone they could help on the other side. Encourage them to place the card where they will see it each morning. Ask them to share at the next class who they chose.
Teacher Notes
For adults, Esther 4 shows that God is at work even when His name is not spoken in the story, and that He may place us in certain times and places for the good of others. Esther’s courage came from a willingness to act, not from a feeling of having no fear at all. Mordecai’s challenge reminds us that our choices can matter for people around us.
Avoid suggesting to children that God always rewards bravery with an easy outcome or that being brave guarantees a happy ending. Esther’s story is about trusting God in a hard moment, and children should understand that courage means doing the right thing even when the result is uncertain.
A Prayer to Close
Dear God, thank You that You can use us to help others. Help us to be brave when we feel scared, and help us to ask our friends to pray with us. Remind us that You are always with us. Amen.
