A Lesson Learned from a Lifetime of Prayer

A special guest editorial by Betty Byrd, VP of Prayer, Office and Personnel. Betty recounts a story from her childhood that will stay with you for a long time to come.

Jesus said, “….if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20)

When I was in second grade, my great-aunt Ruby gave me a precious Christmas gift – a silver chain on which hung a glass teardrop with a tiny mustard seed inside. Aunt Ruby told me that Jesus said if I had faith even as small as that mustard seed, I could move mountains. I believed her; I believed Jesus.

The same year, my teacher, Miss Cannon, promised a prize at the end of school to anyone who didn’t miss a spelling word on a test the entire year. I was a good speller. I knew I could win that prize!

A Child’s Prayer

As the year progressed, I racked up those 100’s on every test. The prize would soon be mine. But one day, a terrible thing happened. Miss Cannon called the word “ran.” I slowly began to print the word in my very best, most careful penmanship. As I was rounding the curve at the top of the last letter, Miss Cannon called the next word. I quickly began to print it, not wanting to forget what it was, always intending to go back later to finish that “n” in the previous word. Alas, before I could do so, Miss Cannon was collecting the papers. She said, “Put down your pencils. No more writing. Time is up.”

“Oh, no,” I thought. “But surely she will know that is an “n” and count it right.”

Just in case, however, I went home that night and prayed and prayed and prayed that God would send an angel to finish that “n.” I knew He could. I believed it with all my heart. Surely the faith in my heart was bigger than a mustard seed.

The next day, Miss Cannon returned our papers. There on my paper was a big, fat, red “X” next to the word “ran” with the UNFINISHED “n” – evidence to the fact that God had NOT sent an angel as requested and that my chance for a prize was over.

Wasn’t My Faith Big Enough?

During the tears, still with a child’s faith, I didn’t blame God; but I wondered, yes, I wondered. When I asked God what seemed at the time the biggest request of my whole seven-year life, didn’t I have faith even as small as a mustard seed? That was a question I would ask time and again in the next six decades, not about spelling words, but about issues much more consequential.

Time and maturity have brought a better idea concerning the answer. Even today, I pray and believe with all my heart. Yet, at times, the answer I receive is not the one for which I had hoped or passionately prayed. Do I not have faith even as small as a mustard seed?

With the years has come the understanding that God answers according to His will and in His Sovereignty, and not according to my sometimes selfish, self-centered wishes. I embrace what John said, “….if we ask anything according to HIS WILL, he hears us, and if we know that HE HEARS us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him.” (I John 5:14-15)

About Betty Byrd

Betty’s life is one that has been marked by extraordinary prayer. Today, she helps guide all of Team Expansion in extraordinary prayer for our workers, the nations, and the unreached. You can join us in prayer every morning, sign up here. Would you like to learn more about Betty Byrd’s incredible life of service to Jesus? Read her book, Co-Missioned: The Story of Two People Who Went.