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 same since the world was first created.”
8-9
8 But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. 9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.
14 And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.
What is Peter telling his readers about the character of God?
How can you get to a place of having the same wants and desires as the Lord that Peter talks about in verse nine?
What is one thing you can do this week to live a peaceful, pure, and blameless life so that others might come to know Christ?
Memorize it!
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.”
Closing thoughts and prayer
When we look at the story of Pharaoh and all the plagues and hardships that came upon him and his people, it’s easy to think that they deserved it and had it coming. After all, they enslaved the Israelites and treated them horribly. Yet, time and time again, the Lord sends Moses and Aaron to remind Pharaoh that he needs to obey the Lord. Repeatedly, Moses and Aaron warn Pharaoh, and continue to pray to the Lord on His behalf.
There may be people in your life who have taken advantage of you, abused you, ridiculed you, or maybe just annoyed you. It’s easy to fall into a mindset of laughing at their pain, or feeling good when their life falls apart. But what if God put them in your life so that you could pray to Him on their behalf? After all, God rescued you from a life of sin and destruction; so why shouldn’t we help do the same for others?
This is not an easy lesson to learn. This takes spiritual maturity, discipline, and the Lord transforming our hearts to be more like His. Spend some time praying that the Lord would soften your own heart towards those that have hurt you. Seek forgiveness from the Lord and ask Him to help you pray for those that you don’t want to pray for.
Then end your time praying for those that need to know the Lord. Pair up and pray by name for the person the Lord has laid on your heart to pray for this week.
Further Study:
Exodus 8:1-4
Why is the Lord giving Pharaoh so many chances to obey?
What are some ways the Lord gives you extra chances to obey His calling?
How does the Lord try to get your attention when you are struggling with habitual sin?
Who are some people in your life that point you back to Jesus when you get off track?
Is there anyone who you meet with on a regular basis that is asking you the tough questions about sin, your relationship with Jesus, your family, and other things in your life?
If not, who can you reach out to this week to ask if they will start meeting with you so you can hold each other accountable?
Exodus 8:5-9
In the plague of the water turning into blood, when the magicians could replicate the plague, Pharaoh decided it wasn’t a big deal. Even though the magicians replicated the frog plague, why did Pharaoh want this one stopped?
What is Pharaoh learning about the Lord through this process?
Previously Pharaoh had said he didn’t know the Lord, so why is he now asking Moses and Aaron to pray to the Lord on his behalf?
What is difficult about extending help and grace to your enemies?
How does Moses’ response to his enemy show how we should respond to those we don’t get along with?
Luke 6:27-28
What are some ways pride stops us from living this out?
What can you do this week to bless someone who is kind of a jerk to you?
What will you do?
Who will check up on you to make sure you did it?
Exodus 8:10-15
What are some ways people make promises to the Lord, but then don’t follow through with them?
Was Moses’ job to change Pharaoh’s heart, or to be a liaison between Pharaoh and the Lord?
What are some ways we think it’s up to us to change people’s hearts?
Why does the Lord want us to leave the heart change up to Him, and gives us the task of praying for people?
What is one way you can remind yourself this week that the Lord changes hearts and not you?
2 Peter 3:3-4, 8-9, 14
Who are some people who mock the truth and follow their own desires?
How can you come to the Lord on their behalf this week?
Is there anyone that you would like to see not repent and be destroyed?
Our immediate response may be “Absolutely not!”, but revisit the question about being glad when something bad happens to certain people.
If there is someone that you rejoice in their hardship, what can you pray for them this week?
What can you pray about your own heart this week?