Who was the book of Romans written to, and what did Paul pray for Israel?

Les teaches that the book of Romans is written to the Gentile believers at Rome. Paul tells those Gentile believers that his heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. Les also points back to chapter 9, where Paul would even give up his own salvation if he could see the nation of Israel saved. Paul goes on to say that Israel has a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. Les says that same problem exists in much of Christendom today: people may have zeal and never miss a church service, yet have no knowledge of Scripture and are totally ignorant. He illustrates this with a couple who came to his class, including a woman who had been a Sunday school teacher for over thirty years and claimed she knew her Bible, but later admitted she never knew she was so ignorant.