FaithAgent DevoDecks — Study Guide
No Reserve. No Retreat. No Regrets.
The William Borden Story — A Study Guide & Worksheet
Based on the DevoDeck at faithagentai.com | For personal study, small groups, and
discipleship
📋 Study Guide Overview
Subject: William Whiting Borden (1887–1913)
Theme: Radical surrender, sacrifice, and
trust
Audience: Men's groups, couples, young
professionals
Sessions: 8 sections (1 session or
multi-week)
William Whiting Borden was the heir to the Borden dairy fortune — a $1 million inheritance
in 1904 (≈ $33 million today). He graduated from Yale, attended Princeton Seminary, and could have led a
financial empire. Instead, he gave away his entire fortune, sailed for the mission field, and died of
meningitis in Cairo at age 25 — never reaching his destination. In his Bible, three phrases were found:
"No Reserve. No Retreat. No Regrets."
Born in 1887 to the wealthy Borden family. Inherited over $1 million at age 16. Graduated from Yale in
1909. Could have run the family empire — chose to reach the unreached Kansu Muslims in Northwest China
instead.
Key Scripture — Jim Elliot
"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."
🪞 Reflect
What has God given you — wealth, education, talent, connections — that you might be tempted to see as
"yours" rather than "His"?
🪞 Reflect
If someone described your life's trajectory, would they say you're building an empire for yourself —
or for God's kingdom?
Borden gave away his entire fortune — to missions, Bible distribution, and the poor — before leaving for
the mission field. He didn't "fail" into missions; he walked away from the top. He didn't keep a trust
fund. He didn't keep a safety net.
Matthew 6:19–21
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where
thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven… For where your treasure
is, there your heart will be also."
🙏 Pray
"Father, am I holding onto money because I trust it more than I trust You?"
🪞 Reflect
If you gave away everything you have, would you still believe God is good? What does that answer say
about the foundation of your faith?
⚡ Act
Calculate what you spent last month on comfort — dining, entertainment, upgrades. Ask God honestly:
should any of it be redirected?
After giving away his inheritance, Borden wrote two words in his Bible: "No Reserve." Not a slogan — a
covenant. Nothing held back. No portion reserved for comfort. No secret stash "just in case." This
doesn't mean everyone must give away everything. But it means no one is allowed to hold anything in a
fist.
Luke 14:33
"Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple."
Matthew 6:19–21
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth… For where your treasure is, there your heart
will be also."
🪞 Reflect
What are you holding "in reserve" from God? What money, comfort, reputation, or safety are you
keeping in a clenched fist?
🪞 Reflect
Is your 401(k), emergency fund, or portfolio your actual security — or is God? How would you know the
difference?
🙏 Pray
"Lord, show me what I'm holding in reserve. Open my fist. I want to live with open hands — totally
available to You."
"No Reserve" doesn't mean recklessness. It means availability. Open hands. Total willingness
to say: "If You want it, it's Yours."
At Yale, Borden started a prayer meeting that grew from one student to over 1,000 — nearly 77% of the
student body. He also founded the Yale Hope Mission serving homeless and addicted men. Real faith
disrupts your environment. It doesn't stay quiet. It overflows.
Acts 2:42
"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and
to prayer."
🙏 Pray
"Lord, am I hiding my faith to protect my career, my reputation, or my comfort? Give me boldness to
live it out where I am."
🪞 Reflect
What would it look like if you started a prayer movement in your workplace, industry, or social
circle? Who would you invite first?
⚡ Act
Invite one colleague, friend, or neighbor to pray with you this week. It doesn't need to be 1,000
people. Borden started with one.
After seminary, Borden felt a specific burden for the Kansu Muslims in Northwest China. Not a glamorous
field. Not a place where a Yale degree would impress anyone. He left America with no return ticket and
watched the New York skyline — where his family's fortune was built — disappear behind him.
Isaiah 6:8
"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I
said, 'Here am I. Send me!'"
🪞 Reflect
Has God ever given you a specific calling or burden that seemed impractical, unglamorous, or costly?
What did you do with it?
🪞 Reflect
What "skyline" are you afraid to watch disappear? What part of your current life feels too valuable
to leave behind?
Borden's father offered him a guaranteed VP position at the Borden Company — the ultimate safety net.
Borden's response: he opened his Bible and wrote "No Retreat." He would not keep an exit strategy. He
burned the ships. The only way was forward.
Luke 9:62
"No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."
Philippians 3:13–14
"Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win
the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
🪞 Reflect
What "Plan B" or exit strategy are you keeping open that prevents you from fully committing to God's
call on your life?
🪞 Reflect
Who in your life is offering you a "reasonable" alternative to obedience? Is it a spouse, a parent, a
boss, or your own fear?
⚡ Act
Name your "retreat" — the one thing you're keeping as a backup. Write it down. Then ask God: do I
burn this ship?
"No Retreat" doesn't mean foolishness. It means faith. It means trusting God's plan more
than your backup plan.
In Cairo, while studying Arabic, Borden contracted cerebral meningitis and died on April 9, 1913 — at
age 25. He never reached China. He never preached to the Kansu Muslims. By the world's scoreboard, it
looks like a waste. But in his Bible, the last words he wrote were: "No Regrets." No bitterness. No
"what ifs." Just peace.
John 12:24
"Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears
much fruit."
Matthew 16:25–26
"Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for my sake will find
it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?"
Philippians 3:7–8
"Whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider
everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord."
🪞 Reflect
If you died tomorrow, would you be at peace with how you spent your life — or haunted by what you
never risked?
🪞 Reflect
Borden never saw "results." Can you be obedient even if you never see the fruit? Is obedience enough
— or do you need to see the payoff?
🙏 Pray
"Lord, I don't want to reach the end with regrets. Help me to live so that the last thing written in
my story is peace — not 'what if.'"
Borden's life doesn't mean every person must sell everything and move overseas. It means every person
must live with open hands, a surrendered heart, and the honest willingness to say: "Lord, if You want
it, it's Yours."
💰 Your "No Reserve"
What would it look like to hold your money, career, and comfort with open hands? What specific thing
is God asking you to release?
⚓ Your "No Retreat"
What exit strategy or backup plan is keeping you from fully committing to God's call? Name it. Are
you willing to burn the ship?
🕊️ Your "No Regrets"
What would you attempt today if you knew you couldn't fail — or if failure didn't matter because
obedience is the point?
Mark 8:36
"What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?"
2 Timothy 4:7–8
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in
store for me the crown of righteousness."
My Personal Commitment
After studying the life of William Borden, I commit to living with:
No Reserve — I will hold my
resources, career, and comfort with open hands before God.
No Retreat — I will not keep
a backup plan that competes with God's call.
No Regrets — I will pursue obedience over outcomes, trusting
that God's plan is enough.
Specifically, the one thing I will do this week in
response to Borden's story:
Father, I confess that I have been holding things in reserve — money, comfort, reputation, safety nets —
because I trust them more than I trust You. Forgive me.
I confess that I have kept retreats open — backup plans, exit strategies, "just in case" options —
because I am afraid of what full surrender looks like. Forgive me.
Like William Borden, I want to reach the end with no regrets. Not because my life was easy, but because
I was obedient. Strip away every safety net I've built with my own hands. Show me what You want me to
release. Give me the courage to let go.
I don't want to gain the whole world and lose my soul. I want to lose everything the world values — and
find You.
No Reserve. No Retreat. No Regrets. In Jesus' name, Amen.
📝 Additional Notes & Reflections