Parent Discipleship Guide 10 May 2026

PARENT–CHILD DISCIPLESHIP GUIDE
From Self-Reliance to Jesus-Reliance Week 1:
The Freedom of Needing Jesus

Pastor Ryan Perry
Good Hope Baptist Church
10 May 2026

Big Idea to Repeat Each Day:
Jesus does not want us to try to live without Him. Jesus wants us to trust Him, talk to the Father, listen to the Holy Spirit, and tell others about His love.

DAY 1 — I Need Jesus
Scripture: Matthew 5:3
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Parent Says:
Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” That sounds like a hard phrase, but it means something simple.

Poor in spirit means I know I need God’s help on the inside.

Some people try to act like they do not need help. They try to look strong all the time. They may think, “I have to be perfect so people will love me.” Some people even start to think, “God will only love me if I do everything right.”

But Jesus says we do not have to pretend with God. We can come to Him and say, “Jesus, I need You. I cannot do this by myself.”

That is not bad. That is good. Jesus loves when His children come to Him honestly. We can tell Jesus when we are scared. We can tell Jesus when we are sorry. We can tell Jesus when we do not know what to do. We can tell Jesus when we need help obeying.

Jesus does not push away children who need Him. Jesus welcomes them.
Ask:

•  What is something you need help with?
•  Can you talk to Jesus when you need help?
•  Why is it good to tell Jesus the truth?

Truth: I need Jesus every day.
For Younger Kids: Jesus helps me.

Prayer: Jesus, I need You. Help me trust You today. Thank You that I do not have to pretend with You. Amen.

DAY 2 — Jesus Cares About My Heart
Scripture: Matthew 5:20
 “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Parent Says:
 Some people in Jesus’s day looked good on the outside. They prayed. They knew Bible verses. They followed rules. But Jesus knew that some of them did not have hearts that loved God.

Jesus teaches us that God cares about our hearts.

That means God cares about what is happening inside us, not just what people can see. A child can share a toy but still be angry inside. Someone can say, “I’m sorry,” but not really mean it. Someone can obey a parent but still have a grumpy heart. Someone can smile at church but be mean at home.

Jesus sees the outside, but He also sees the inside. He sees when we are angry, selfish, jealous, scared, or proud. He sees when we want our own way. He sees when we need help.

Jesus does not only want to change what we do. Jesus wants to help our hearts love God and love people. We cannot fix our hearts by ourselves. We need Jesus to forgive us and help us. We need the Holy Spirit to change us from the inside.
Ask:

•  Can God see our hearts?
•  What can we do when our hearts are angry, selfish, or sad?
•  Have you ever obeyed on the outside while having a bad attitude on the inside?

Truth: Jesus helps my heart.
For Younger Kids: Jesus helps me love God.

Prayer: Jesus, please help my heart love You and love others. Help me obey with my actions and with my heart. Amen.

DAY 3 — I Do Not Have to Show Off
Scripture: Matthew 6:1
 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them.”
Parent Says:
Jesus talked about people who did good things only because they wanted others to notice them.

Sometimes we want people to clap for us, praise us, or tell us we are good. It feels nice when people notice good things. But Jesus says we should not do good things just to show off.

Maybe you clean your room and want everyone to know. Maybe you help someone but get upset if nobody says thank you. Maybe you pray loudly so people think you are very spiritual. Maybe you do the right thing only when someone is watching.

Jesus teaches us a better way. We can pray because we love God. We can help others because we care about them. We can obey because Jesus is good, not because we are trying to impress people.

God sees the good things no one else sees. God sees when you share quietly. God sees when you tell the truth. God sees when you are kind and nobody claps. God sees when you forgive someone. God sees when you choose not to say something mean.

You do not have to show off. God sees you, and God loves you.
Ask:

•  Have you ever wanted someone to notice something good you did?
•  Can we do good things even when no one claps?
•  What is one good thing you can do quietly for God?

Truth: I can do good things for God, not to show off.
For Younger Kids: God sees me.

Prayer: Father, help me do what is right because I love You. Help me obey even when no one is watching. Amen.

DAY 4 — God Knows What I Need
Scripture: Matthew 6:32
“Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.”
Parent Says:
Jesus knows that people worry. Kids worry too.

Children may worry about school, friends, family, sickness, storms, bedtime, being left out, or what might happen tomorrow. Some children worry when parents argue. Some worry when a friend is upset. Some worry when they make a mistake. Some worry when things change.

Jesus does not say, “Pretend you are never scared.” Jesus says, “Your heavenly Father knows what you need.”

That means God sees you. God knows you. God cares about you. You do not have to carry your worries all by yourself.

When you feel worried, you can talk to God. You can say, “Father, I am scared. Please help me trust You.” You can also talk to a parent, grandparent, teacher, pastor, or another safe adult. God often helps us through people who love us.

Self-reliance says, “I have to handle this all by myself.” Jesus-reliance says, “My Father knows what I need, and I can trust Him.”
Ask:

•  What is something kids sometimes worry about?
•  What can you say to God when you feel worried?
•  Who is a safe adult you can talk to when you feel afraid?

Truth: God knows what I need.
For Younger Kids: God takes care of me.

Prayer: Father, thank You for knowing what I need. Help me when I feel worried. Remind me that I am not alone. Amen.

DAY 5 — The Holy Spirit Helps Me Obey
Scripture: Galatians 5:16
“Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”
Parent Says:
God does not tell His children, “Follow Jesus all by yourself.” God gives His people the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit helps us listen to Jesus. The Holy Spirit helps us say no to wrong things and yes to God.

Sometimes we want to do wrong things. We may want to yell, lie, be selfish, disobey, hit, talk back, or refuse to forgive. We may want to grab a toy, slam a door, blame someone else, or say something mean. When that happens, we can ask the Holy Spirit to help us.

We can pray, “Holy Spirit, please help me obey Jesus right now.”

If you want to yell at a brother or sister, the Holy Spirit can help you use gentle words. If you want to lie because you are afraid of getting in trouble, the Holy Spirit can help you tell the truth. If you want to be selfish, the Holy Spirit can help you share. If you feel angry, the Holy Spirit can help you stop, pray, and choose what is right.

The Bible says the Holy Spirit grows good fruit in God’s people. That means He helps us become more loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled.

We do not grow this fruit by pretending. We grow as we stay close to Jesus and ask the Holy Spirit to help us.
Ask:

•  What is one thing you need help obeying?
•  Can you ask the Holy Spirit to help you?
•  What can you do when you feel angry or selfish?

Truth: The Holy Spirit helps me obey Jesus.
For Younger Kids: God helps me do what is right.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, help me obey Jesus today. Help me use kind words, tell the truth, share, forgive, and do what is right. Amen.

DAY 6 — Jesus Is My Strong Rock
Scripture: Matthew 7:24
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
Parent Says:
Jesus told a story about two houses.
One house was built on rock. One house was built on sand. Then a big storm came. The house on the rock stayed strong. The house on the sand fell down.

Jesus was teaching us that our lives need a strong place to stand. Trying to do everything by ourselves is like building on sand. Trying to impress people is like building on sand.

Trying to be perfect so people will love us is like building on sand. Doing whatever we want instead of listening to Jesus is like building on sand.

Jesus is the strong rock.
When we listen to Jesus and obey Him, we are building our lives on the rock. We obey Jesus because He loves us and knows what is best.

When you tell the truth, you are building on the rock. When you forgive, you are building on the rock. When you pray instead of worrying alone, you are building on the rock. When you obey your parents, you are building on the rock. When you are kind to someone who is left out, you are building on the rock. When you ask Jesus for help, you are building on the rock.

Jesus is strong enough to hold us when life feels hard.
Ask:

•  Which is stronger, rock or sand?
•  How do we build our lives on Jesus?
•  What is one choice you can make today that builds on Jesus?

Truth: Jesus is my strong rock.
For Younger Kids: Jesus is strong.

Prayer:  Jesus, help me listen to You and obey You. Thank You for being my strong rock. Amen.

DAY 7 — I Can Tell Others About Jesus
Scripture: Mark 5:19
“Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”
Parent Says:
 In Mark 5, Jesus helped a man whose life was very broken. The man could not fix himself. Other people could not fix him either. But Jesus helped him and showed him mercy.
Mercy means God is kind to us when we need help.

After Jesus helped the man, Jesus told him to go home and tell his friends what the Lord had done for him.

That teaches us something important. We do not have to be perfect before we tell people about Jesus. We can tell people Jesus loves them. We can tell people Jesus forgives sin. We can tell people Jesus helps us when we are afraid. We can invite people to church. We can pray for a friend. We can say, “Jesus helped me, and He can help you too.”

Children can tell others about Jesus in simple ways. You can be kind to someone who is lonely. You can tell a friend, “Jesus loves you.” You can say, “I prayed about that.” You can invite someone to Sunday school. You can tell your family something you learned from the Bible.

Our message is not, “Look how good I am.”
Our message is, “Look how good Jesus is.”
Ask:

•  What has Jesus done for you?
•  Who can you tell about Jesus?
•  What is one simple way you can show or share Jesus’s love this week?

Truth: I can tell others about Jesus.
For Younger Kids: Jesus loves me, and I can tell others.

Prayer: Jesus, thank You for loving me and helping me. Help me tell others about You. Help my life show Your love. Amen.

FAMILY REVIEW
This week we learned that we need Jesus every day. We do not have to pretend to be perfect. We do not have to show off. We do not have to carry our worries alone. The Father knows what we need. The Holy Spirit helps us obey. Jesus is our strong rock. We can tell others about His love and mercy.

Family Truth to Remember:
 I need Jesus, and Jesus helps me.

Family Talk:

•  What was your favorite thing we learned this week?
•  What is one place where you need Jesus’s help?
•  Who can our family pray for this week?

Family Prayer: Father, thank You for sending Jesus. Help our family trust Jesus, listen to the Holy Spirit, and tell others about Your love. Amen.




© 2026 Dr. G. Ryan Perry, PhD. Published in partnership with Good Hope Baptist Church (GHBC) and Cross+Walk Ministries. All rights reserved. Permission granted for personal use, family discipleship, classroom teaching, and local church ministry use. Not for resale, unauthorized commercial reproduction, republication, editing for redistribution, or reposting as original content without written permission.