The final element in the ACTS acrostic is supplication, which Nehemiah employs as a conclusion to his prayer (v. 11). Having acknowledged God’s greatness, confessed his own sin and reviewed God’s promises, he now lays his petitions before God, saying: “O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man” (v. 11). “This man” was King Artaxerxes whom Nehemiah introduces in the next verse, the first of chapter 2. He recognizes that the king is the key to the plan he is already developing and that God is the key to changing the king’s heart.
How do you get people to change their minds? Generally you cannot. But God can, even in the case of kings. Proverbs 21:1 puts it in memorable language: “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.”
3. Persistence in prayer (2:1). There is one final thing we need to see about Nehemiah’s prayer life, the first of his great accomplishments as a leader, and that is his persistence. In chapter 1 Nehemiah says that the delegation from Jerusalem came to him in the month of Kislev, which corresponds to a portion of our months of November/December. In chapter 2, where the king hears Nehemiah’s request and grants permission for him to return to Jerusalem and rebuild its walls, it is the month of Nisan, which corresponds to our months of March/April. In other words, four or five months passed between the time Nehemiah began to petition God regarding Jerusalem and the time his requests were answered.
That is perseverance. It is a characteristic of all great leaders. Some leaders are great in persevering with men. Nehemiah was great in that area too. But before he persevered with men he persevered with God, and prevailed.
I close this chapter by reminding you of a New Testament story, one told by Jesus Christ. A man was at home one evening when a friend came to see him. He had nothing to give his friend after his journey, so he went to a neighbor and presented this request: “Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.” The neighbor is already in bed and does not want to be disturbed. “Don’t bother me. I can’t get up and give you anything,” he says. But the friend persists, and in the end the neighbor gives him what he needs. Jesus concludes, “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened” (Luke 11:9-10).
The part of that story that interests me most is the greeting from the friend to his neighbor in which he says, “Friend, a friend has come.” That is a double friendship, you see. He was a friend to the man who had come to see him, the one who was in need. But he was also a friend to the man who had what was needed. Since this is a story about prayer, it shows that we must be on a friendship basis, not only with other people, but with God.
That is what I mean by this first great leadership dynamic, from a biblical perspective. A leader is a people person. A leader sees the needs of others and grieves over them. Nehemiah saw the need and wept. But more important even than his tears was the fact that Nehemiah prayed. More important than his friendship with people was his friendship with God, since it is God alone who is able to change hearts, move kingdoms and provide for our many needs.
