Prayers Answered

Ruth is a short book, and one that’s been often read by the Christian women of the world. In the story of Ruth we see obvious themes of loyalty, redemption and strong family bonds. But I recently went through an in-depth study of this poetic book of wisdom literature and found myself really appreciating the prayers that are recorded, especially alongside the answers to those prayers. 

In the first chapter, we see Naomi broken and bitter, lamenting to the Lord and accusing Him of bringing her back empty. She tries to send her daughters-in-law away and prays a blessing over them: “The Lord grant that you may find rest.” As the story unfolds, we see Ruth pledge herself to Naomi and she becomes a crucial channel of the Lord’s provision to Naomi as time goes on. Ruth has no obvious divine call on her life. She just chooses to obey and to offer covenant love. As an imperfect woman and a sojourner in an enemy land, Ruth built a legacy on doing the next right thing.

Ruth finds herself gathering leftovers from the field of a God-honoring man who not only carries out the letter of the Levitical law to care for sojourners but also, as it turns out, has heard all about Ruth’s integrity and covenant love. He wishes her well and his prayer over her is, “The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!”

Naomi sees that Ruth has found Boaz their kinsman redeemer by divine appointment, and realizes that she is to become an active part of the answer to her own prayer for Ruth. “My daughter,” she says, “should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you?” She instructs Ruth in the way to move forward in courtship with Boaz according to the customs of Israel.
 
Ruth meets Boaz in clothing that signals to him she is no longer a mourning widow but an available single woman. She asks him, “Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.”  The words “spread your wings” have a double meaning, both a proposal of marriage and a direct reference to Boaz’s blessing to Ruth upon meeting her. In turning Boaz’s language back at him, she boldly asks him to be an active part of the answer to his own prayer.
 
Boaz’s response to Ruth’s proposal is honorable and measured - he wants to marry Ruth, but he needs to tie up all the legal loose ends in order to be above reproach. But because Boaz has heard of Naomi’s laments and her emptiness when she returned to Israel, he is sure to demonstrate that he will cover the two women. He sends Ruth with hope and with arms full of grains. “You must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law,” he tells her. 
In this way we see Naomi’s prayer for rest for Ruth answered through her own care and instruction toward Ruth.

We see Boaz’s blessing upon Ruth answered by his own acceptance of her proposal.
We see Naomi’s lament of emptiness answered by the Lord filling her up to overflowing: with physical provisions, with family, with joy beyond measure. “Blessed be the Lord,” say Naomi’s friends, “who has not left you this day without a redeemer.”

These answered prayers paint such a beautiful picture to me of the Lord’s commitment to provide for His people. We can be confident in our requests, our blessings, and even in our lament. The LORD will indeed answer, He will indeed provide, and He has not left us without a Redeemer.