Nehemiah had recorded the content of his prayer in Nehemiah 4:4, namely, asking God to act according to his promise in Genesis 12:3. Given that the hostility triggering the first prayer has only increased, it would be fair to assume that the present prayer would be in the same vein as the former. The fact that Nehemiah prayed again underscores his conviction that the people’s defence lay not in stones or in community cohesion or even in their weapons; it lay instead in the Lord their God, as Nehemiah had previously tasted and shared with the people (Nehemiah 1:4; Nehemiah 2:4, Nehemiah 2:18, Nehemiah 2:20).
9 And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.