Each meeting covers one lesson. The passage, questions and notes are all on the lesson page, and group members can print their own copy.
Leaders need only this guide: first the flow that is the same every time, then the focus points and tips for each lesson.
A lesson takes about an hour. Meet weekly or every other week — whatever fits your group.
Each Meetingabout 55 min
Snacks and catching up
10 min
Read together
10 min
Discussion
25 min
This week
5 min
Close (prayer optional)
5 min
Opening: Start with last time’s ‘This week’: ‘Did you do it? How did it go?’ For the first lesson, ask everyone to say in one sentence why they want to read about this person. The leader goes first.
Read together: Take turns reading the passage, a few verses each. The leader reads the short notes between sections.
Discussion: You don’t need to discuss every question in ‘Think It Through.’ Pick one or two from each group, add this lesson’s focus points, and that is plenty.
This week: Read it together, and ask each person to decide on the one small thing they will do this week.
Close: You can pray using a verse from the lesson. If some aren’t used to praying aloud, a minute of silence together is fine too.
Focus 1 (vv. 3–5): “he opened the doors of the LORD’s house,” and then: “sanctify yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD.” Ask the group: reading these verses, what do you see Hezekiah doing first?
Focus 2 (questions 7–8): Ask each person to say what comes to mind as they read verses 10 and 11 — the leader does not draw the conclusion for the group, and the group does not need to agree.
Focus 3 (This week): Everyone thinks of a door they have kept shut for a long time and opens it once this week. Next time, anyone who wants to can share.
Leader tip: Don’t make Hezekiah a perfect man, and don’t make him a villain: read “after him was no one like him” (2 Kgs 18:5) as written and take it no further; his later story comes in later lessons and is not previewed here. Read the breaking of the bronze serpent (2 Kgs 18:4) as written; it does not need to be linked to anything else. Read Ahaz only for what the passage says he did (2 Chr 28:24); don’t comment on father and son, and don’t guess Hezekiah’s feelings. Second Chronicles and Second Kings each tell Hezekiah’s story in their own way; read each book as it is written, and don’t fill one in from the other. The ‘wrath’ and ‘captivity’ of vv. 8–9 are read as written; don’t link them to any nation or politics today. There may be people in the group whose parents or families left them a heavy burden, or who were hurt in their faith by their family — don’t press on questions 6 and 10; only those who want to share need to.
Focus 1 (vv. 6–11): The letter keeps speaking of ‘turning’; the couriers went from city to city, and some mocked, while others “humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.” Ask the group: reading these verses, what do you see?
Focus 2 (questions 7–8): Ask each person to say what comes to mind as they read verses 9 and 20 — the leader does not draw the conclusion for the group, and the group does not need to agree.
Focus 3 (This week): Everyone thinks of someone who has left the gatherings or the faith and invites them once this week. Next time, anyone who wants to can share.
Leader tip: Don’t turn this lesson into ‘as long as you are sincere, the rules don’t matter,’ and don’t turn it the other way into ‘the rules matter most’: the priests sanctifying themselves in shame (v. 15), the Levites killing the Passover for the unclean (v. 17), and Hezekiah praying for those not cleansed (vv. 18–19) are all in the passage; read them as written. Read “the remnant of you that have escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria” (v. 6) as written; there is no need to work out the year or what had happened in the north. Ephraim, Manasseh and the others are northern tribes; don’t link them to church divisions or nations today. There may be people in the group who have been mocked by family or friends for their faith, or who feel unworthy to come back to church — don’t press on questions 9 and 10; only those who want to share need to.
Focus 1 (vv. 19–22): In Rabshakeh’s speech, ‘trust’ comes again and again. Ask the group to look: what does he say Hezekiah is trusting in? And what is he himself trusting in?
Focus 2 (questions 7–8): In this chapter the LORD says nothing, yet the enemy speaks in his name. Ask each person to say what comes to mind as they read verses 25 and 35 — the leader does not draw the conclusion for the group, and the group does not need to agree.
Focus 3 (This week): Everyone writes down the three things they trust most and brings them to God this week. Next time, anyone who wants to can share.
Leader tip: Read Hezekiah’s plea and tribute and the gold cut from the temple doors (vv. 14–16) as written; don’t defend him and don’t criticize him. Whether he was right to rebel against the king of Assyria (2 Kgs 18:7) need not be discussed. Rabshakeh’s words in verse 27 are crude; read them as written and move on — don’t repeat them, dwell on them, or make jokes of them. Read “the fourteenth year” and the amounts as written; there is no need to work out the year or what they would be worth. Don’t link Assyria or Egypt to any nation or politics today. Second Chronicles 32 tells these events too, in a different way; this lesson reads Second Kings only, and the two need not be combined. The lesson stops with the people quiet and the officials’ clothes torn; the outcome comes in the next lesson and need not be told early. There may be people in the group facing heavy pressure or threats, or being mocked for their faith — don’t press on questions 9 and 10; only those who want to share need to.
Focus 1 (vv. 14–19): Hezekiah “spread it before the LORD.” Look at his prayer together: what does he say first, what does he ask for next, and what is it all for in the end?
Focus 2 (questions 7–8): Ask each person to say what comes to mind as they read verses 15 and 20 — the leader does not draw the conclusion for the group, and the group does not need to agree.
Focus 3 (This week): Everyone brings one thing that frightens them before God and asks someone to pray for them. Next time, anyone who wants to can share.
Leader tip: Read “one hundred eighty-five thousand” (v. 35) as written; there is no need to calculate it or discuss how it happened. Read the death of Sennacherib (v. 37) as written, with no comment. Read “for my servant David’s sake” (v. 34) as written and take it no further. Verses 20–31 are Isaiah’s long prophecy and are not read in this lesson; Isaiah is another figure in the series and is not expanded here. Don’t turn this lesson into ‘a nation only needs to pray to be saved,’ and don’t link it to nations or wars today; don’t say ‘spread your trouble before God and it will go away.’ There may be people in the group holding a frightening diagnosis, or facing a lawsuit or threats — don’t press on questions 9 and 10; only those who want to share need to. If someone wants the group to pray for them, you can pray together at the end.
Lesson 5 · He Turned His Face to the Wall2 Kgs 20:1-11
Focus 1 (vv. 1–5): From “you will die, and not live” to “I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears” — what happened in between? Go through it verse by verse with the group.
Focus 2 (questions 7–8): Ask each person to say what comes to mind as they read verse 5, and as they read verses 1 and 6 side by side — the leader does not draw the conclusion for the group, and the group does not need to agree.
Focus 3 (This week): Everyone thinks of someone who is ill or caring for someone ill and reaches out to them this week. Next time, anyone who wants to can share.
Leader tip: Don’t turn this lesson into ‘just pray and you will be healed’: the ‘fifteen years’ were the LORD’s word to Hezekiah, not a promise to every sick person. There may be people in the group who are seriously ill, or whose loved ones were prayed for and did not get better, or have died — don’t press, and never suggest it was because their faith was not enough. Read the “cake of figs” (v. 7) as written; there is no need to discuss whether medicine or faith is right. Read the shadow going back (vv. 9–11) as written; there is no need to explain it with astronomy. Hezekiah says he walked “with a perfect heart” (v. 3); read it as written, with no comment. This lesson does not mention his son who came after him, and does not ask ‘what if he had not asked for more years.’ Don’t press on questions 9 and 10; only those who want to share need to. If someone weeps, there is no need to hurry to comfort them or to explain anything; just stay with them.
Focus 1 (vv. 13–15): The passage says twice that there was nothing he did not show them; Isaiah asks, “What have they seen in your house?” Ask the group: reading these verses, what do you see?
Focus 2 (questions 7–8): Ask each person to say what comes to mind as they read 2 Chr 32:31, and as they read the last lesson and this one together — the leader does not draw the conclusion for the group, and the group does not need to agree.
Focus 3 (This week): Everyone writes down one thing God has done and tells it to someone younger. Next time, anyone who wants to can share.
Leader tip: Don’t make Hezekiah a perfect man, and don’t make him a villain: Second Chronicles records that “his heart was lifted up” (2 Chr 32:25), and also that he “humbled himself for the pride of his heart” (2 Chr 32:26) and that all Judah “honored him at his death” (2 Chr 32:33); read them as written. Verse 19 — “Isn’t it so, if peace and truth will be in my days?” (v. 19) — the passage does not say what he was thinking; don’t explain it for him, and don’t use it to criticize him. Second Kings and Second Chronicles tell this event differently; read each book as it is written. Read “Manasseh his son reigned in his place” (v. 21) as written; this lesson does not go into Manasseh’s later story, and does not ask ‘what if Hezekiah had not asked for more years.’ There is no need to work out when the prophecy of vv. 17–18 was fulfilled; there is no need to bring in archaeology for the pool and conduit of verse 20. Don’t press on questions 9 and 10; only those who want to share need to. Question 11 is for looking back.
Principles
The leader is not a teacher, but someone walking alongside everyone else.
Give everyone a chance to speak. If some talk a lot, you can gently say, ‘Let’s hear from those who haven’t spoken yet.’
Don’t rush to give answers. If there is silence, wait a few more seconds.
If you can’t answer a question, it’s fine to say, ‘I don’t know — let’s look into it together,’ and come back to it next time.
What is said in the group stays in the group.
At the start, the leader can share their own answer first. Keep it simple and honest.
In the lessons, words in double quotes with a reference are scripture. What the passage does not say, we can only guess; guessing is fine, as long as we say we are guessing.
Don’t press on painful things. If someone becomes upset, stay with them after the meeting; if needed, involve a pastor from their church or a professional counselor.