Opening questions and prayer
Who is someone who prayed for you before you became a follower of Jesus?
What were some ways those prayers were answered?
Who is someone you prayed for before they came to know Jesus?
How were those prayers answered?
Ask the Lord to guide your discussion. Pray that He would show you one or two people that you need to be lifting up in prayer on a regular basis.
Read Exodus 8:1-4
Exodus 8:1-4 (All verses are in the NLT unless otherwise noted)
1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go back to Pharaoh and announce to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so they can worship me. 2 If you refuse to let them go, I will send a plague of frogs across your entire land. 3 The Nile River will swarm with frogs. They will come up out of the river and into your palace, even into your bedroom and onto your bed! They will enter the houses of your officials and your people. They will even jump into your ovens and your kneading bowls. 4 Frogs will jump on you, your people, and all your officials.’”
What is Moses’ request to Pharaoh?
What is the Pharaoh’s consequence if he chooses not to listen to the Lord?
How is Moses acting as a liaison between God and Pharaoh?
How has God called His followers to act as a liaison between Him and those who don’t yet know Him?
Who is one person you can pray for this week?
Read Exodus 8:5-8
Exodus 8:5-9
5 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Raise the staff in your hand over all the rivers, canals, and ponds of Egypt, and bring up frogs over all the land.’” 6 So Aaron raised his hand over the waters of Egypt, and frogs came up and covered the whole land! 7 But the magicians were able to do the same thing with their magic. They, too, caused frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.
8 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and begged, “Plead with the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people. I will let your people go, so they can offer sacrifices to the Lord.”
9 “You set the time!” Moses replied. “Tell me when you want me to pray for you, your officials, and your people. Then you and your houses will be rid of the frogs. They will remain only in the Nile River.”
What was Pharaoh’s response to the plague of frogs?
What was it about this plague that made Pharaoh say he would let the Israelites go?
Even though the Pharaoh was an enemy of the Israelites, how did Moses respond to Pharaoh?
Without naming names, who are some people in your life that you feel good when things don’t go well in their life? (Co-worker that seems to do no wrong and gets all the praise, but gets caught stealing from the company; person who cuts you off in traffic, but then gets pulled over; friend with the perfect family is having marital problems)
How might God be asking you to pray specifically for them this week?
Read Luke 6:27-28
Luke 6:27-28
27 “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. 28 Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.”
Why would Jesus say these things?
How did Moses live these verses out with Pharaoh?
When people hurt us, hate us, and curse us what do we usually want to happen to them?
When we hurt, hated, and cursed Jesus, how did He respond to us?
How can we show that same love to those we may not like?
Read Exodus 8:10-15
Exodus 8:10-15
10 “Do it tomorrow,” Pharaoh said.
“All right,” Moses replied, “it will be as you have said. Then you will know that there is no one like the Lord our God. 11 The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials, and your people. They will remain only in the Nile River.”
12 So Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh’s palace, and Moses cried out to the Lord about the frogs he had inflicted on Pharaoh. 13 And the Lord did just what Moses had predicted. The frogs in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields all died. 14 The Egyptians piled them into great heaps, and a terrible stench filled the land. 15 But when Pharaoh saw that relief had come, he became stubborn. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had predicted.
How does Moses act as a liaison between God and Pharaoh?
Why did Pharaoh change his mind about letting the Israelites go?
What should you do when someone you are praying for continues to make unwise decisions?
Is there anyone you have stopped praying for because you didn’t see any heart-change in their life?
This week, how could you be a liaison between them and the Lord?
Read 2 Peter 3:3-4, 8-9, 14
2 Peter 3:3-4
3 Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. 4 They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the s