Nehemiah, in that brief moment of prayer to the King of kings, gathered courage to tell Artaxerxes of his desire to be released for a time from his duties at the court, and he asked for authority to build up the waste places of Jerusalem 633 and to make it once more a strong and defensed city. Momentous results to the Jewish nation hung upon this request. "And," Nehemiah declares, "the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me."

I de få sekunder, Nehemias bad til kongernes Konge, lykkedes det ham at tage så meget mod til sig, at han vovede at fortælle Artaxerxes, at han gerne ville fritages for sine pligter ved hoffet i nogen tid. Han bad kongen bemyndige ham til at genopbygge de dele af Jerusalem, som var ødelagt, og befæste byen. Det jødiske folks fremtid afhang for en stor del af kongens svar. Nehemias siger selv: "Det gav kongen mig, eftersom min Guds gode hånd var over mig."