Nehemiah's Prayer
Pattern for Effective Prayer

About 8 years ago I got interested in studying prayer and wrote three articles about it which I entitled “Pray as David Did” which were based on patterns that I found in many of his prayers. A few years later, I wrote about ‘miraculous healing’ after a friend’s daughter died suddenly after a 3-day sickness. Because of my friend’s connections in the Hebrew Roots world, I knew that there had to be multiple thousands of people praying for his daughter, nevertheless, she died.  That caused me to jump into another study of prayer, from which I discovered other patterns in prayer.

Then in July of this year (2024) I began a study in our congregation of the book of Nehemiah and came across his prayer which I thought was very enlightening, one that might help us learn how to have more effective prayer.  The following is what I learned about prayer that Nehemiah wrote.  But before we look into the prayer, I want to lay a little background. 

The book of Ezra provides the history of the return of the Jews from Babylon to Judea. The decree of Cyrus (538 BCE) began the repatriation, and it was led by  Zerubbabel, who became the first governor of the Persian province of Judea. Zerubbabel’s goal was to rebuild the Temple.

As the Temple neared completion, a second wave of exiles returned with Ezra the priest.  Ezra’s job was to restore the Temple services, which he did, but at that time the walls of Jerusalem were still in ruins.

The book of Nehemiah begins a number of years after Ezra returned to Judah but before the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt.  It was during that time that various trials came upon the Jews in the province.

Nehemiah writes -

^NKJNehemiah 1:1-4 … It came to pass in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the citadel,  ² that Hanani one of my brethren came with men from Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.  ³ And they said to me, "The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire."

Apparently, word had come from Judea to Nehemiah indicating things were not good. Those who had returned to rebuild the temple were facing many obstacles, thus Nehemiah was greatly troubled.  Nehemiah continued -

^NKJNehemiah 1:4 So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

Before we begin to analyze the prayer, let’s take a moment to define prayer.

The Hebrew word for prayer is “tephillah” (תְּפִלָה – Strong's 8605) which is the noun form of the Hebrew root word “palal” (פָּלַל - Strong’s 6419). According to Strong’s, “palal” means “to intervene, interpose, to mediate, and to judge”. These words imply reaching out to another who can take action on your behalf. But the real meaning of a Hebrew word is oftentimes found in the ancient pictographic picture of that word. The Hebrew spelling of “palal” is (from right to left) “pey”, “lamed” “lamed”. The ancient “paleo Hebrew” letter “pey” portrays a mouth and the letter “lamed” portrays a shepherd’s staff. The mouth (obviously) is something that speaks, and the shepherd staff implies authority over his sheep. When you double the letters (the double lamed in “palal”), you have “great authority”, i.e. – a judge.  Who is our judge?  YHVH – the god of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is our judge. In fact the Hebrew word for ‘god’  is 'elohim’(אֶלהִים - 430) which is oftentimes translated 'judge' as in –

^KJVDeuteronomy 16:18 Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment.

Returning to the story … Nehemiah knew he had to do something, but he was still in Babylon.  To be of any help, he would have to go to Judea, but as the King’s cupbearer – would he be allowed to leave?  All he could do is ask, but before he did, he prayed:

^NKJ Nehemiah 1:5-11 And I said: "I pray, LORD God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments,  ⁶ "please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father's house and I have sinned.  ⁷ "We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses.  ⁸ "Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations;  ⁹ 'but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name.'  ¹⁰ "Now these are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong hand.  ¹¹ "O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.".

When looking at this prayer, it seems to be just another prayer of someone wanting something from YHVH.  But when you really analyze it, there are things in it that are similar to the prayers of King David as well as those of the prophet Daniel.  So let’s take a look at it pretty much verse by verse.

^NKJ Nehemiah 1:5-11  And I said: "I pray, LORD God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments …

At the very beginning of the prayer, Nehemiah acknowledged that he is reaching out to the judge of the universe, YHVH Elohim. As we saw earlier, ‘elohim’ oftentimes is translated ‘judge’, so he could have just as well been saying “I pray, LORD – Judge of heaven”.   He then did what - in a court of law - would be described as establishing ‘standing’ –

According to the Legal Information Institute of the Cornell University Law School 1 -

“Standing, or 'locus standi'is the capacity of a party to bring a lawsuit in court. To have standing, a party must demonstrate a sufficient connection to; and harm from the law or action being challenged.”

In other words, ‘standing’ is what gives you the right to be in the court in the first place. In order to bring a case before a court of law, you must be affected by the case.  In other words, if you are alleging that harm has been, or is being done, that harm must affect you in some way.  In the case of Nehemiah, he was hearing stories about the harm that was being done to his Jewish brothers who had been sent to Judea to rebuild Jerusalem. 

Nehemiah also reminded God of His covenant relationship with Israel.  Both he and the Jewish people in Judea were in a covenant relationship with the God of Israel, and both have made commitments to each other.  In fact, there are two covenants that bind them to each other: 1) the covenant God made with Abraham2, and 2) the covenant God made with the people of Israel on Mount Sinai3.

Though the Mount Sinai covenant is conditional, the one made with Abraham is not. In the Abraham covenant, God set no conditions for Jacobs4 descendants to become God’s ‘people’.  But in the Mount Sinai covenant, God set conditions that would allow Israel to remain in the land, but also stated that if Israel failed to meet those conditions, they would be driven off the land, but if they repented, they would be allowed to return.  In his prayer, Nehemiah appealed to that condition based on the fact that many had repented and desired to return, and because the prophesied seventy years of exile had passed.

When it comes to establishing ‘standing’ before YHVH in prayer, the prayers of both Hezekiah and Daniel are good examples. 

^NKJ 2 Kings 20:1-3  In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, "Thus says the LORD: 'Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live.' "  ² Then he turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the LORD, saying,  ³ "Remember now, O LORD, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight.".

Hezekiah had standing because he was not only bound to YHVH by the covenant, but also by his obedience to that covenant.  Daniel opened his prayer pretty much the same way -

^NKJ Daniel 9:4  "O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments,

For those of us who do strive to follow God’s instruction, reminding Him of such is a good way for us to establish our standing when we appear before Him..

Continuing on with the prayer, Nehemiah asked God to –

^NKJ Nehemiah 1:6  "… please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night

Nehemiah was asking YHVH to stop what He was doing and listen to him.  He wanted the Judge’s full attention.  I remember as a child that if I wanted to ask my father for something, I tried to choose a time when he was not distracted by other things.  We should approach God the same way, keeping in mind that if we’re asking YHVH for His full attention, we should likewise dedicate our full attention to Him.  That means to put aside all distractions, including your cell phone.  Remember, we are kneeling before the Judge of the universe who is sitting on His throne.  If we  Him to give His full attention to our petitions, we must devote our full attention to making the case.

After Nehemiah had established his standing and had asked for YHVH’s full attention, he began to make his case -

^NKJ Nehemiah 1:6b … for the children of Israel Your servants,

The Jewish people who had returned to Judea were doing the job YHVH had given them to do. They were fulfilling the prophecy5 that the Temple would be rebuilt.  Though according to Chaggai’s words, the people quickly grew tired of the work and began pursuing their own interests. Nevertheless, they had left the comforts of Babylon behind and had returned to Judea with a mission from God. Thus, they were His servants, and as it is with any servant, they were entitled to His protection while performing their service.

As Nehemiah continued to make his case, he admitted that he, those currently in Judea, and all the Jewish people were suffering because of their own sins as well as the sins of their ancestors who had refused to honor YHVH.

^NKJNehemiah 1:6b - 7 …and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father's house and I have sinned.  ⁷ "We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant, Moses.  

Because Israel (specifically Judah in this case) had turned from God, they should expect to be in the situation they were in.  Why should they expect it?  Because God had said it would happen. But just as God showed the Hebrew people what would happen when they rebelled against Him, He also told them what would happen if they repented and turned back to Him.  This should be an awakening call to those of us who live in the USA – the nation that has received more than our share of blessings from the God of Israel.

^NKJ Nehemiah 1:8-9 "Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations;  ⁹ 'but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name.'

Nehemiah was referring to God’s promise to Israel that if they rebelled, he would scatter them –

^NKJ Deuteronomy 28:64  "Then the LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have known -- wood and stone."

But if they returned to Him, He would gather them -

^NKJ Deuteronomy 30:1-4  "Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God drives you,  ² "and you return to the LORD your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul,  ³ "that the LORD your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the LORD your God has scattered you.  ⁴ "If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you.

So Nehemiah repeated God’s words back to Him and basically stated that 1) we have sinned and now our people are scattered throughout the world, but 2) we (Judah) have repented and are now walking in Your ways, so 3) you said that if we did so, you would gather us back to your place – Jerusalem6.

It’s hard for a judge to rule against you when you repeat his own words back to him, so that’s what Nehemiah did – it was part of the case he was making.

Continuing on, he said –

^NKJ Nehemiah 1:10  Now these are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong hand.

Here Nehemiah reminded YHVH that these people – a small contingent of Israel – are part of those whom you had redeemed out of Egypt.  Going back to the Exodus story, we know that YHVH redeemed Israel because of His covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob7 – the “fathers”. You can look all through scripture and you will find that YHVH redeemed no other people than Israel.  For that reason, YHVH called Israel ‘special’.8 

But being ‘special’ came with responsibilities. The Hebrew people were also supposed to be a light to the nations of the greatness of YHVH and His law9. Nehemiah made the case that by rebuilding the Temple, those people who had returned to Judah were a living example of that.

At this point, Nehemiah had made his case, but before he closed, he again asked YHVH to be attentive to his prayer –

^NKJ Nehemiah 1:11  "O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name;”

The Hebrew word that is translated ‘attentive is ‘qashshab’ (קַשָׁב – 7183).  Though it literally means ‘attentive’, it comes from the root word ‘qashab’ (קָשַׁב – 7181) which means to ‘hearken’.  To ‘hearken’ is to do more than just hear; it’s about acting upon what you have heard.  Now that Nehemiah had made what he believed to be a sound case for Yah’s intervention, he encouraged YHVH to act on it and give him what he has asked for.  Why?  Because the people he was praying for ‘desire to fear YHVH’s name’.  The word used for ‘fear’ is ‘yare’ (Strong’s 3372), and though it is most often translated ‘fear’, it also means ‘revere’ which means ‘to show devoted deferential honor to’10.  With that understanding, Nehemiah told YHVH that those people who went to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple ‘want to honor You in what they were doing’.

Verse 11 ends with –

^NKJ Nehemiah 1:11b  "… and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man."

In closing his case, Nehemiah asked YHVH to quickly judge in his favor.  The word ‘prosper’ comes from the Hebrew word ‘tsalach’ (צָלֶח – 6743) which means 'to bring a quick and successful conclusion to my case'.  Because he was the king’s cupbearer, he may be called to serve him at any time; and when he is called, he is hoping to bring up the plight of the Jews who were sent to Judea.  Obviously, he didn’t know what kind of reception he would get from the king when that happened, so he also asked for mercy in the event the king did not look favorably toward his request.

Now that we have studied this prayer, what can we draw it?  I believe it provides us with an outline that we might want to follow when we are praying to ask God for something specific.  The outline would be to consider that you are kneeling before the Judge in the heavenly court room and then:

• Establish your standing
• Ask for the judge’s full attention
• Confess the sins of your people, then confess your personal shortcomings, especially what you may have done to get into your predicament.
• Make your case
• Be specific – What are your needs?  Why do you need them?  When do you need them?
• Substantiate your case by repeating God’s relevant promises
• Ask that your petition be granted quickly

If you continue to read on in Nehemiah, you will see that four months went by before YHVH answered the prayer.  On that day, YHVH moved the king to not only allow Nehemiah to return to Judea, he also sent’ him there with a military escort.  What’s more, he sent him with letters instructing the nations around Judea to supply the needs of the building, and finally, he established Nehemiah as the governor of the province of Judea.

Based on the outcome, one might say that Nehemiah’s prayer is the classic example of a perfect prayer.

Shalom