Lesson Three • Redemption of the Family
Devotion #6: Selfless Prayers
Pastor Keaton Washburn
What role would you say prayer plays in your life? For some people, prayer is a rescue line that they throw out when they are in need. For others, prayer is somewhat of a habit. For others, prayer is a daily habit, something they cannot go without. According to Pew Research Center in 2021, 45% of Americans said they prayed daily. One of the key themes in the book of Ruth is answered prayer. More specifically, it is a story of selfless prayers that the characters in Ruth pray for others and God answers.
Throughout the book, we see the example of Naomi praying for her daughters-in-law in (Ruth 1:8-9), Boaz praying for Ruth (3:10), Naomi praying for Boaz (2:19-20), the witnesses at the Bethlehem gate praying for Ruth and Boaz (4:11-12), and multiple other instances. If you take the time to read each of these verses, you will see that the theme of each of these prayers is their selflessness. These were not self-focused prayers, but others-focused. In each of these instances, those that are praying are asking God’s blessing for those that they are praying. In chapter 4, we see all of these prayers answered!
A couple of years ago, I had a conversation with a good friend about prayer. At the time, living on a guy’s dorm floor, there were certain people in my life that I really did not like. I did not want to be around them, spend time with them, or honestly, even rub shoulders with them. The reality was that I had to be around them. God made me aware of my feelings towards them and, through prayer, I sensed God calling me to love these certain guys. I did not want to! The last thing I wanted to do was love them! I brought this up to a friend who challenged me to begin praying for these guys by name. So, I began to pray for each of them by name every day. These were not grand prayers, but they were honest. As I continued to pray for them, God began to change my feelings toward them. Slowly, that disdain I felt for them, began to diminish. As more time went on, I even began to love them. My love for them was not over the top, but like my prayers, it was genuine. I do not believe that was an accident. As I prayed, God changed my feelings. As we look at the example of those in Ruth, God answered the selfless, genuine prayers that were prayed.
Who is God calling you to love that you have been resisting? One of my favorite prayers in all of Scripture is Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians. I challenge you to pray this over someone today!
Ephesians 3:14–21 says, “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith – that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”