Hello! If you’re viewing this blog from the United States, I encourage you to pray for and vote in this year’s election. It may seem like one side or the other has the upper hand and your vote is too small to make a difference, but that is not so. In our study of Mark 9:14-29 last year,* we discovered faith and prayer can move God to miracles. It’s one way we can participate in His good works!

Thanks for joining me in this study of the fourth chapter of Ruth. We’ll be using the 5-step do-it-ourselves study process I’ve developed from decades leading youth and women’s Bible studies.

Let’s Study Ruth 4! 

Now that we’ve studied through chapter 1, chapter 2, and chapter 3 of Ruth, let’s work with the Holy Spirit to wrap up this book. This week, I’ll begin by praying and surveying Ruth 4. If you want to work along with me, here’s what I recommend you have ready:

1. A copy of Ruth 4, plus access to the entire book of Ruth.
   I copy the text from https://www.blueletterbible.org, paste it in a word processing program (Google docs or MS Word), change the formatting to suit my preferences, and print it out. If you want to use the ESV translation, here’s a copy I created with lots of room for doodles and notes.
2. A study journal.
   Step 5 of this study requires a review of what we’ve learned, so plan to record at least some highlights from your work in Steps 1-4. I’m old-school and like the pen/pencil-and-paper method for journaling my studies, but it’s okay if that doesn’t work for you. If you don’t have time to physically write or type your notes, consider dictating them into a notes app, or recording audio files, instead.

Or, if you don’t have time to study right now, no problem. You’re welcome to just read the posts I publish here. They’ll help you become more familiar with the process and show you how the Spirit speaks to my situation. I’m praying there will be enough similarities between my life and yours that you’ll find it worth your while to keep checking in with me, even if you can’t dig in yourself this time.

Dig-In Challenges

So here’s how I’ll be studying this week:

1. PRAY: This time, instead of writing a new prayer, I’ll probably take the easy route and just adjust the one I’ve been using. Feel free to do the same, my friend!
2. SURVEY:  And then I’ll read Ruth 4, noting anything that makes me say, “huh?” (as in, “I wonder what that means?”) or “wow!” (as in, “that is so awesome!”). I’ll record these and ask the Spirit to reveal which one He would have me dig more deeply into right now.

I’m looking forward to sharing what I discover in this process with you—I hope you’ll keep checking in with me each week!

*If you missed that Mark 9 study, it was a casualty of the takedown by my previous web hosting company a little over a year ago. I’m hoping to restore it and others here early next year. In the meantime, email me at [email protected] or use my contact page to request your copy of a pdf of those posts and related materials.

GO TO WEEK 2 >