Nehemiah 2:4-5

After executing the perfect approach to make a request from the powerful king of Persia, Nehemiah must respond quickly to the king’s question. This wasn’t an issue because Nehemiah had already thought through every detail of his possible interaction with the king.

The king said to me, “What is it you want?”

Then I prayed to the God of heaven… Nehemiah 2:4 NIV

Don’t miss this phrase “Then I prayed to the God of heaven…”. Even though he had spent four months in prayer, he knew he needed God’s favor for this request, so he prays a quick prayer before he speaks.

Why? Because he planned to bring a huge request to the king. This is truly a “go big or go home” moment! Consider his request…

and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.” Nehemiah 2:4-5 NIV

What was so big about his request? His request was to leave the king’s court after many years of service and travel for several months down to Jerusalem in the region of Judah to help his fellow Israelites rebuild the wall around the city. When the king asked how long the journey would take, Nehemiah had all the specifics on hand.

Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?” It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time. Nehemiah 2:6 NIV

It was clear that Nehemiah had done his homework and had come fully prepared to present every detail of the plan to the king. Consider all the details of his plan.

I also said to him, “If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah? And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal park, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?” And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests. So I went to the governors of Trans-Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent army officers and cavalry with me. Nehemiah 2:8-9 NIV

Because he came with a detailed plan rather than a general idea, he received all that he asked for and more. Notice that the king even agreed to send “army officers and cavalry” to protect him (which is not something that he even asked for!).

Questions to consider:
Why do you think that the king so readily approved Nehemiah’s plan?

List all the different factors that you can see in this passage.

What can we learn from this approach?