What Are You Seeking? At Once I Prayed to the God of Heaven

[Bible Speaks]

4 "The king then said to me: “What is it that you are seeking?” At once I prayed to the God of the heavens."
(Nehemiah 2:4)

Nehemiah, governor of the Jews in the fifth century B.C.E., did his best to please God. He spearheaded the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls despite enemy opposition. 

He enforced God’s Law, cared for the oppressed, and sought to build up the faith of his fellow Israelites. 

Did God notice the good that this faithful man had done? Did Nehemiah have Jehovah’s approval? We can discern the answers in the closing words of the book that bears his name.
Nehemiah prays: “Do remember me, O my God, for good.”

Is Nehemiah afraid that his good deeds have gone unnoticed by God or that God will forget about him? No. Nehemiah is no doubt aware of what earlier Bible writers have said about Jehovah’s keen interest in his faithful worshippers and their good deeds. (Exodus 32:32, 33; Psalm 56:8) 

What, then, is he asking God to do? One reference work notes that the Hebrew term translated “remember” implies “the affection of the mind and the action which accompanies recollection.” With full faith in the power of prayer, Nehemiah is asking God to remember him with affection and to bless him.—Nehemiah 2:4.

Will Jehovah answer Nehemiah’s prayer for remembrance? In one respect, he already has. The very fact that Jehovah saw fit to have a permanent record made of Nehemiah’s prayer, making it part of the inspired Scriptures, assures us that he remembers Nehemiah with affection. But the “Hearer of prayer” will do more to answer Nehemiah’s heartfelt request.—Psalm 65:2.