William Tyndale

William Tyndale was an English Bible translator imprisoned in Villevoorde, Belgium, for making Scripture understandable to ordinary people. He hoped to complete the Old Testament after translating the New, but church authorities condemned his work as heresy. While awaiting execution, Tyndale prayed for rescue without assuming God must preserve his life. He remembered that Jesus submitted to the Father's will in Gethsemane. Tyndale died at the stake, and his final prayer seemed unanswered. Seventy-five years later, however, King James I ordered an English Bible for all his subjects, drawing significantly upon Tyndale's translation. His work outlived the authorities who tried to silence it. Tyndale's story shows an answer to prayer unfolding beyond one lifetime and through suffering its petitioner did not escape.