Nehemiah’s Prayer

Nov 11, 2025

A simple prayer of humility & vision

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“Please, Lord, listen attentively to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who take pleasure in showing respect to your name. Grant your servant success today and show compassion to me in the presence of this man.” Now I was cupbearer for the king.

Nehemiah 1:11 (NET)

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There are a few good prayers from God’s people in the Bible.

This one is my default.

I go to it whenever I find myself in a season, or a situation, where I really just need to get down on my knees and cry out to God.

Nehemiah shows us an example of prayer and preparation.

We know that he was a trustworthy and successful servant, because that’s the only way you make it to the position of cup-bearer to the king.

Also, his job was high-stakes.

I mean, you cannot get much more life & death than being the guy who tastes the king’s food in order to make sure it’s not poisoned. The amount of trust the king must have in his cup-bearer is enormous.

Yet we see that, for all his success, he still needed God’s help to fulfill this big mission.

It’s a big ask, going away from this trusted role to rebuild a city.

Not only does the king lose (and must replace) a trusted advisor, but he does it to help a vassal city begin a reconstruction project.

Risky business.

I’m sure Nehemiah was nervous.

He knows this is a big ask with a high likelihood of failure. But he also knows that God placed this mission on his heart and he must see it through.

And so he prayers a simple prayer: please listen to me, a servant who honors your name, give me success and show compassion.

Humility & vision all in on prayer.

— Ricky Ketchum

Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from the ESV®Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright© 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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