Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service.
This is a strange kind of prayer. Nehemiah isn't asking for anything he lacks, and he isn't confessing anything he's done wrong. He's asking to be remembered — for the quiet, unglamorous, mostly unnoticed work he's already done not to be forgotten or erased.
That's a very human ache, whether or not you believe anyone's listening. Most of the good things people do never get applause. Nobody writes an article about the meeting you didn't blow up in, the promise you kept when it would've been easier not to, the years spent rebuilding something nobody else saw fall apart. Nehemiah says it out loud: don't let this be for nothing, God — remember it, even if no one else does.
You don't have to already believe in prayer to recognize the wish underneath this verse. It's the wish that faithfulness, even invisible faithfulness, actually counts for something to someone who's paying attention.
Is there quiet, unnoticed faithfulness in your own life you'd want someone to remember?
A short video on this is coming soon — for now, read on.