START TALKING

When something goes wrong or breaks, or you find out something isn't working like you expected, what is your natural response: flight or fight? Do you find yourself shut down or look to others for answers (flight) or do you dig in and try to figure it out and make it work somehow, some way (fight)? We all naturally lean to one or the other! Which is yours and why do you think it is?

Give an example of when something went wrong or not the way you expected and how your fight or flight response kicked in. It doesn't have to be spiritual! It might be the car breaking down or something else not working, a bad grade at school or bad review at work, or finding out there was drama of some kind in a relationship.

START THINKING

Read Nehemiah 1:1-2. What does Nehemiah say when he see his family and friends come to visit him in verse 2? What do you think this says about Nehemiah's character? What do you think you can learn and do to follow his example?

Read 1 Peter 4:12 and John 16:33. What do you take from these verses? Are they discouraging or oddly comforting? Why? How do you think this should alter our expectations about life on this side of eternity?

START SHARING

Read Nehemiah 1:5. When you think about how great and awesome God is and about his unfailing love, what do you think about? What are ways that you have experienced how awesome God is? How do you find that you best express this to him?

Read Nehemiah 1:6-7 and 1 John 1:9. Why is it so hard to confess our sins to God? Why do we often skip this step or just avoid it altogether? Read Romans 8:1. How does this verse explain why we might want to avoid confession, but yet how does it show that we have nothing to worry about?

Read Nehemiah 1:8-10. Nehemiah claimed the promises of God to be fuel for his faith. What are some promises that come to mind for you, especially as it may relate to a crisis or emergency that you find yourself facing? Share the promises of God that are most helpful to you and your faith.

START DOING

Read Nehemiah 1:11. Nehemiah asks for very specific things from God, but it is also interesting to notice what it is - and is not - that he asks for. What do you learn from this that you need to do when you ask God to provide for you?

What is an example of when you have made prayer your first response verses fight or flight, and how has that impacted your faith? How can this now be part of your faith story that you can be prepared to share with other people?

START PRAYING

Take a moment to pray for each other in the micro church. Share the situations you are each going through, and rather than just praying for those situations, pray that each of you will make prayer the first response. Pray that God will help each of you to follow the model of first acknowledging His awesomeness, second confessing sin and weakness, third claiming His promises, and fourth asking in faith.