I read the account of a young believer who had a sitting chance in a public bus one day. After that came an old lady who had to stand because there were no more vacant seats. This believer started praying under his breath that God would touch someone to get up for the old lady. After a while, the Spirit of the Lord asked him to shut up, that he was sitting right on the answer to his prayer. He obeyed by standing up and giving his seat to the woman. The Bible abundantly makes it clear that God answers prayers; what we don’t know is how He may choose to answer at any given time. However, those who pray to God must learn how to keep an open heart, in case He will choose to use them in the process to answer their prayers.

We have in our text the prayer of Boaz. He made this prayer on sighting Ruth, the Moabitish young woman who followed her mother-in-law back to Bethlehem. Ruth had no reason to do that. It was like mortgaging an entire future for one old widow. She opted for a life of sacrifice to nurse Naomi. That decision impressed Boaz; leading to his prayer for Ruth. While he was making this prayer, it did not cross his mind that he would be involved in God’s reward for Ruth. Two chapters later, we read of how Boaz married Ruth. When you are praying for something or someone, keep in mind that God may need you to answer part or all of the prayer. After every prayer, you need to pause and ask yourself a question: “Is there anything I can do practically to move closer to the thing I prayed for?” When prayer is approached this way it will no longer be seen as a spiritual escape from responsibility.