Talk
to the Bush
God wants to talk with you“Pray?” Megan bunches up her face. “Out loud?
Me?” Five other campers and a counselor sharing the dining hall table
with Megan all sit with their thumbs up. “Last one with thumbs up
has to say grace,” says the kid next to her. “You lose.” BRAIN
DRAIN
Do
you sweat when people ask you to pray? How come—or not? FLASHBACK
This
Bible Chunk isn’t exactly about prayer, though it is about
talking with God. Way back toward the beginning of the Bible, God
had decided to free his people from slavery in Egypt—a plotline you
maybe know from the Bible book of Exodus or the oldie movie The
Ten Commandments. First, though, God needed to chat with a man
named Moses. Sometimes when you pray you might wonder if you’re babbling
words into the air. Moses had it easy. He got to talk to a bush. BIBLE
CHUNK
Read Exodus 3:1-14(1) Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law,
the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the
desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. (2) There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of
fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire
it did not burn up. (3) So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange
sight--why the bush does not burn up." (4) When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called
to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!" And Moses said,
"Here I am." (5) "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take
off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground."
(6) Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God
of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this,
Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. (7) The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my
people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave
drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. (8) So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the
Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious
land, a land flowing with milk and honey--the home of the Canaanites,
Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. (9) And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I
have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. (10) So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people
the Israelites out of Egypt." (11) But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go
to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" (12) And God said, "I will be with you. And this will
be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought
the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."
(13) Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites
and say to them, `The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and
they ask me, `What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?" (14) God said to Moses, “I AM who I AM. This is what you are
to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” STUFF
TO KNOW
What’s
Moses doing at the start of this Bible Chunk? Do you suppose he expected
to run into God (verse 1)? As
Moses is moseying with the sheep, what does he see (verses 2-3)? INSIGHT
Skeptics who dislike miracles think Moses must
have seen glinting off red leaves. But Moses had tended sheep in the
scrubland for forty years and knew a weird sight when he saw one—like
a bush that burned without turning to ash. Okay, so Moses doesn’t exactly talk to a bush.
He talks to God. What does God tell Moses to do (verse 5)? How does
Moses react (verse 6)? SIDELIGHT
God is separate. Different. Pure. He’s what the
Bible calls “holy.” As the Creator and Owner of the universe, he deserves
utter respect. There’s something ultra-special about his presence,
and Moses knew better than to tromp too close. Getting near to God
is the kind of awe-striking experience that causes people to ask,
“Who can stand in the presence of the Lord, this holy God?” (1 Samuel
6:20) God had incredible stuff he wanted to give his
people—like freedom from slavery and a homeland where they could live
close to him. Moses argued that he wasn’t qualified to deal with God
or do his work. One last question: What does God tell Moses to call
him? INSIGHT
Everybody
already knew God’s name. The voice Moses heard was “the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob.” But God’s people were wondering if he had left
them to rot in slavery. “I AM WHO I AM” doesn’t just say that God
is the being who’s been around forever. It means “I am the God who
is with you.” BIG
QUESTIONS
Why do you suppose Moses was scared to be face-to-face
with God? Do you figure it was easy for Moses to talk with
God speaking from “within the bush”? Why or why not? When God says “Jump!” Moses hardly says “How
high?” Does Moses sound like he’s mouthing off? What do you think
of the way he talks to God? DEEP
THOT
Cool
news: God wants to talk to you. But it can be hard knowing what to
say to an all-powerful God you can’t see. The goal of Pray Hard
is for you to learn both how and why you can talk to
God with total confidence. STICKY
STUFF
Put
Exodus 3:14 in your brain to remind yourself how God introduced himself.
There’s a card in the back of Pray Hard to help your memory. PRAY
ABOUT IT
God, help me believe that you want to talk with me. DIG
ON
Read
Psalm 24:1-4 for an Old Testament perspective on daring to enter the
presence of God.
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