God’s Power Stories | Finding God’s Lead, How God Shows Up, Bible and Everyday Life Stories, Approaching God with Boldness

What if every temple ever built—every oracle, every sacred spring, every desperate question hurled toward heaven—was humanity reaching for something it couldn't name until the answer finally arrived? In this GPS episode, we start with breakfast. If you've never stayed in a Turkish hotel, you are missing something. We are talking a full spread every morning. Endless variety. Total abundance. (John...

What if a visit to the place Jesus called where Satan's throne is ended with a rainbow? In this GPS episode, in our In the Margins series, we almost didn't make it to Pergamum at all. You may remember that the reason we pivoted our day was because storms had rolled into Pergamum that morning. By the time we arrived, the storms had passed. And at the end of that day, a rainbow showed over the acrop...

What if the plan you didn't choose—the one you got pushed into by a thunderstorm, a rerouted bus, and a restaurant nobody had heard of—turned out to be exactly the plan God had in mind all along? In this episode of God's Power Stories and our series In the Margins, we were supposed to go straight to Thyatira, then Pergamum, then stop for lunch. But thunderstorms rolled into Pergamum and drenched e...

What would you say if, after 86 years of walking faithfully with God through poverty, suffering, and the constant threat of death, someone finally offered you a way out? But there's a catch: it will cost you was everything.   What would it take for you to say those words — He has never done me wrong — after eight and a half decades of following Jesus through pain and pressure and the kind of quiet...

What if God didn't wait for the sacred sites to start showing up — what if He was already at work somewhere over the Atlantic? We're going on the trip. After everything it took to get here — the broken bones, the months of recovery, the doubt, the pain that wouldn't quit — John and I are finally in the car, heading to Chicago, and wheels are up. And God doesn't wait. In this episode of In the Marg...

What do you do when God clearly calls you to something — and then everything in your path seems determined to keep you from it? Welcome to In the Margins — a brand-new series here on God's Power Stories, and one of the most personal things I've ever shared with you.   My husband John and I have just returned from a trip to Turkey and Greece — a journey following in the footsteps of the Apostle Pau...

What do you pray when everything falls apart in three minutes? Discover the power of three simple prayers—help, thanks, and wow—in this moving interview with Lisa Bosse, who lost her husband John suddenly on Mother's Day 2023. This encouraging Christian podcast episode reveals how God meets us in our deepest grief and transforms waiting into active faith. Based on Anne Lamott's book "Help, Thanks,...

What happens when you obey God…and things get harder instead of easier? When you say yes to something that clearly has His hand on it…and then find yourself in pain, confusion, and a season that doesn’t make sense? In this powerful episode, Rachel Van Pelt shares the story of a decision rooted in faith—to donate bone marrow and help save a life—and the unexpected journey that followed. “We had to...

What if prayer doesn’t have to be complicated? What if connecting with God starts with something as simple as…“God, help me.” In this powerful and deeply relatable episode, Rachel Britton shares how one honest, desperate prayer became the turning point in her relationship with God. Raised in a Christian home, Rachel always believed in God—but she didn’t feel connected to Him. Faith felt like rules...

What do you do when staying feels faithful… but is slowly breaking you? And what happens when God doesn’t tell you to fight—but to be still? In this deeply moving episode, Angela Chambers shares her powerful story of walking away from a 28-year abusive marriage—and discovering that God’s restoration doesn’t begin with answers… but with surrender. “I picked myself up off the floor one too many time...

What if the things you've learned to live with… aren't just affecting you? What if the "giants" you've tolerated—fear, anxiety, bitterness, unforgiveness—are quietly shaping the lives of the people you love most? In this powerful and deeply honest conversation, pastor and author Angi Jeffcoat shares her personal journey of confronting the giants that had taken up residence in her life—and the free...

What if love isn’t measured by what you hold onto… but by what you remain faithful to—even when you have to let it go? In this quietly powerful Faith Through Fiction interview, Paltiel—a man mentioned only briefly in Scripture—reveals one of the most overlooked portraits of love in the Bible: a love that protects, honors, and releases without claiming ownership. “She was never mine to keep,” he sa...

What happens when your life is shaped more by other people's decisions than your own? When you're loved, but not chosen… placed, but not seen… given, taken, and given again? In this deeply moving Faith Through Fiction interview, Michal—daughter of King Saul, first wife of David, a woman whose story has long been told in fragments—finally speaks in her own voice. “I was given and taken and given ag...

What does it mean to be after God's heart... while missing the heart of the person standing right in front of you? In this deeply personal and unexpectedly vulnerable Faith Through Fiction interview, King David—shepherd, warrior, giant-slayer, psalmist—sits down to discuss the relationship he's rarely asked about: his first wife, Michal. "I fought lions. I faced giants. But loving well? That was t...

What's the difference between a king who falls and a king after God's own heart? According to the prophet Samuel—the man who anointed them both—it comes down to a single response: one yielded, one defended. In this steady, authoritative Faith Through Fiction interview, Samuel—judge of Israel, voice of God to a nation, mentor to kings—reveals why obedience isn't complicated, just costly, and why Sa...

What do you do when the crown that should be yours becomes the test of whether you truly trust God? In this moving Faith Through Fiction interview, Prince Jonathan—son of King Saul and best friend to David—reveals the journey from palace privilege to surrendered purpose. This isn't just the story of a prince who gave up his throne; it's about a warrior who discovered that "faith is obedience witho...

Hey, friend! What do you do when the crown that should be yours becomes the test of whether you truly trust God? In this moving Faith Through Fiction interview, Prince Jonathan—son of King Saul and best friend to David—reveals the journey from palace privilege to surrendered purpose. This isn't just the story of a prince who gave up his throne; it's about a warrior who discovered that "faith is ob...

Hi, Friend! What happens when the person everyone expects to lead gets passed over—and the person no one took seriously gets chosen instead? In this raw and transformative Faith Through Fiction interview, Eliab of Bethlehem—Jesse's firstborn, King Saul's scribe, and David's antagonist—confesses the moment that shattered his world: when the prophet Samuel looked him in the eye and said, "The Lord h...

What would you do if saving your marriage meant risking everything—your reputation, your safety, even being misunderstood by the very person you were trying to protect? In this breathtaking Faith Through Fiction interview, Nitzevet of Bethlehem—wife of Jesse and mother of King David—reveals the night she disguised herself as her servant Rhea, the pregnancy that resulted in public shame, and the ye...

What would you do if God chose the child you refused to acknowledge as your own? In this stunning Faith Through Fiction interview, I sit down with Jesse of Bethlehem—father of King David and grandson of Ruth—for a raw conversation about reputation, spiritual warfare, and the devastating moment when the prophet Samuel asked, "Are these all the boys?" Jesse's answer reveals a painful truth: he didn'...

Hey, friend! It’s Anna with God’s Power Stories. Welcome to Heart Check, a supplemental reflection series where we pause, dig deeper, and apply the truths from our latest GPS episode to your own life. If you’ve ever found yourself trying to hold everything together, striving to control outcomes, or wrestling with releasing what you can’t fix, this one’s for you. In Episode 078: “Loosed: Finding Fr...

What if the very thing you’re gripping so tightly is what’s keeping you from peace? In this heartfelt episode of the Faith Through Fiction miniseries, I open up about how writing Loosed—book three in The Lambswool Chronicles—became a mirror for my own struggle with control and surrender. Like Michal, the daughter of King Saul and wife of King David, I discovered that faith isn’t about forcing door...

What if the storm that nearly broke you became the very thing that birthed your ministry? In this deeply moving conversation, I sit down with Amy Joob—author, speaker, coach, and founder of Prayer Force Ministries—to talk about what it means to truly arise from grief. Amy’s story is one of profound loss: the sudden death of her father, heartbreak within her church community, and the unimaginable p...

Hey, friend! It’s Lisa and Anna with God’s Power Stories. Welcome to Heart Check, a supplemental reflection series where we pause, dig deeper, and apply the truths from our latest GPS episode to your own life. In this Heart Check, we’re unpacking Episode 075: “When Redemption Finds You.” Anna explored the power of grace that doesn’t erase the past — it redefines it. Redemption isn’t about pretendi...

What if the thing you keep replaying in your mind—that mistake, that failure, that moment you wish you could undo—is exactly what God wants to redeem? In this emotionally raw episode of the Faith Through Fiction mini-series, I reveal the heart behind Lunacy, book two of The Lambswool Chronicles. This isn't just a story about David and his brother Eliab—it's about the devastating cost of hatred, th...