1st of 5 sermons, Growing together in Initiative, series 2, coordinating with our Kids Company (252 Basics curriculum) topic for the month, and the Big Idea: "When there's a job to be done, first you have to see it." Nehemiah begins with a prayer, in which we see a process of prayer that is relevant and applies to today. Nehemiah's prayer shows his concern (vs.1-4), his convictions about God's character (5-6a), his confession of his own & Israel's sin (6b-7), his confidence in God's promises (8-9) that reveal God's vision, and his commitment to get involved in what God is doing! Initiative is not everyone doing what they want any more than prayer gets man's will somehow enforced in heaven! Initiative is "born" out of a prayer (like Nehemiah's) that reveals God's will to be done on earth! We need more of this kind of prayer--that leads us from concern all the way to commitment.