One More Night with the Frogs

 

One More Night with the Frogs

Today's Scripture:

Moses said to Pharaoh, ‘I leave to you the honor of setting the time for me to pray for you and your officials and your people that you and your houses may be rid of the frogs, except for those that remain in the Nile.’ ‘Tomorrow,’ Pharaoh said.
Exodus 8:9-10, NIV.

Today's Word:

When the people of Israel were in slavery to Pharaoh, God sent different plagues to try to convince him to let them go. One of the plagues was a plague of frogs! The people were so miserable that Pharaoh finally said, “Moses, we’ve learned our lesson. The Israelites may go. Please ask your God to take away these frogs.” Moses said, “I’ll do it, Pharaoh. When do you want it to happen?” You would think Pharaoh would say, “Right now!” But no, Pharaoh said, “Take them away tomorrow.” He was saying, “We can put up with these frogs just one more night.”

How many times do we do the same thing? “Joel, I’m going to forgive, but I’m going to do it tomorrow. I’m going to have a better attitude. I’m going to quit worrying…tomorrow.” We’re saying like Pharaoh, “I can put up with this addiction, this mediocrity one more day.” No, our attitude should be, “I’m not going to spend one more night with the frogs, putting up with things that are not God’s best.”

Why don’t you start today? Today, make the change. Today, choose to forgive. Today, stop worrying. Today, get in shape. Today, take a step of faith. Shake off passivity and procrastination and get rid of anything that would hold you back!

Prayer for Today:

Father in heaven, today I choose to release everything that has tried to hold me back. I release the past; I release bitterness; I release failures and missed opportunities. Instead, I embrace Your grace and power to boldly move forward into the blessing You have for me in Jesus’ Name! Amen.

***

The Power in Group Prayer

14 hours ago

by Rick Warren

“You are helping us by praying for us. Then many people will give thanks because God has graciously answered so many prayers for our safety.” (2 Corinthians 1:11 NLT)

 

To get through what you’re going through, you need to recruit other people to pray for you.
This is very easy when you’re in a small group. When you’re going through a tough time and you’re not in a small group, you are unprotected. You don’t have the strength that people in a small group do because you don’t have people praying for you.
The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 1:11, “You are helping us by praying for us. Then many people will give thanks because God has graciously answered so many prayers for our safety” (NLT).
I’ll be honest with you: I don’t know how this works. But there is additional power in group prayer that is not there when you just pray for yourself. There is more power in group prayer than in the single power of you praying for yourself.
The Bible says, “If any two agree as touching anything it shall be done” and “Where two or more are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
You need that power to get through what you’re going through. That’s why you need to be in a small group. That’s why you need to ask them to pray for you.
The Bible says in Galatians 6:2, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (NIV). What is the law of Christ? “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  When you pray for other people, you are loving your neighbor as yourself. When they pray for you, they are loving you as themselves.

Talk It Over

• Who are the people in your life you can go to with your prayer requests and trust that they will pray for you?
   
• How have you seen God provide for you through the prayers of a group of people?