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

Anna Moore Bradfield - Author, Facilitator, Speaker, and Prayer Warrior
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Your mom, your grandpa, somebody in your life whom you love and admire said that the Bible holds the answers to every question or problem you’d ever have. Wow. Think of it. After all, you have questions! You’ve been known to have a problem or two. It would be great if you could find the answers you’re looking for. You crack open that Bible a couple of times but just as quickly shut it. You want to love digging into Scripture. Instead, you find it intimidating, judgmental, and maybe even unbelievable. Let’s change that. Hi! I’m Anna Moore Bradfield, an award-winning and bestselling author, Christian speaker, and facilitator of workshops and events. I’ve been where you are. Plenty of times. I’ve questioned if God cared at all about what I was going through. Did he even have a plan for my life? When I got up the guts to tell him to his face, I found that he had very broad shoulders and that he could take anything I dished out. Then he began revealing himself to me. In this podcast, we’ll share: • Stories from the Bible that reveal God’s interactions with His people, confirming His desire for intimate, consistent, and loving relationships. • Stories from everyday life that testify to God’s revelation through the Holy Spirit. • Ways to develop a Bible study and prayer life that help us to become both open and full throttle geeked to boldly approach God’s throne. It’s easy to miss these life-changing moments if we aren’t looking for them. But the more we look, the more we find. As you engage with this podcast, you’ll find yourself looking to the Word with fresh eyes and a renewed desire to discover God’s plan for your life. You’ll find that the same God who led all the great characters of Scripture way back in Bible times is crazy about you, too. In fact, he’s been thinking about you all day. I’m rooting for you! And I can’t wait to connect with you 😊. If you've been blessed by this podcast, help us bless others with your financial giving. It might be the best money you've ever spent. Pre-order Leaven, book four of my biblical fiction series The Lambswool Chronicles Start reading Legacy, book one of my biblical fiction series The Lambswool Chronicles  Start reading Lunacy, book two of my biblical fiction series The Lambswool Chronicles Start reading Loosed, book three of my biblical fiction series The Lambswool Chronicles Use this affiliate code to get great bonuses with Galaxy.ai: GF4MX8R In addition to the podcast, join the community Ask me to speak or facilitate at your event Follow me on Instagram: anna.moore.bradfield Follow me on Facebook: anna.moore.bradfield.author RSSVERIFY

  1. 1h ago

    112 | The Gift His Mother Prayed Into Him: A Conversation with Author Matthew Elliott

    What if the hardest chapters of your own life were actually training you to write the very story someone else needed to read? I'm Anna Moore Bradfield. In this episode of God's Power Stories, I sit down with fellow biblical fiction author Matthew James Elliott, a writer, former ministry leader, and the creator of a world where the Kedoshim live, a fictional universe set in the time of the early church. Matthew grew up largely raised by pastors at the Salvation Army church his father served, while his mother struggled for years with serious mental health battles including depression, anxiety, and what he now understands to be a spiritual gift of discernment that manifested as night terrors and a sensitivity to spiritual warfare. Those same struggles of depression and anxiety would eventually become Matthew's own. Now, they shape the emotional realism at the heart of everything he writes. We talk about his books—Finding Philemon, The Cyprus Journal, The Ephesus Pages, and his most recent release, The Hope of Inheritance —and why he chooses to release his stories episodically, almost like a modern-day Charles Dickens serial. He opens up about the book he's currently writing, A Broken Embrace, which connects a paralytic healed at the pools of Bethsaida to a firsthand account of the crucifixion. It was a scene that started as five hundred words and became an entire chapter because, as Matthew put it, researching the details of the cross brought him to tears. This conversation is about more than craft. It's about what happens when a writer stops trying to build a platform and starts simply obeying what God has given him to say and how the darkest seasons of our lives so often become the very things God uses to reach someone else. Key Takeaways: Our pain is not wasted. Matthew's years of watching his mother's mental health struggles, and later facing his own, didn't disqualify him from ministry through writing. They equipped him for it.A parent's final blessing can shape a lifetime. Matthew's mother's dying prayer over him—passing on her spirit of discernment—became the foundation for his life verse and his calling.Writing can be a form of processing, not just producing. Matthew often writes scenes in real time as God is revealing something to him personally, using his fiction as a form of spiritual journaling.Shifting from platform-building to obedience changes everything. Matthew shared how God redirected his focus from selling books to simply being faithful to the stories he's been given to tell.Biblical fiction gives permission to wonder. Imagining what could have happened in the margins of Scripture can help readers relate their own struggles to the very real, very human people of the early church. Key Themes: Mental health and faith · Writing from lived experience · Generational blessing and legacy · Biblical fiction as ministry · Obedience over platform-building · Grief and healing · Spiritual discernment Who Will Benefit: This GPS episode is for writers who wonder if their pain disqualifies them from being used by God, for anyone processing mental health struggles within their family of origin, for biblical fiction readers and writers looking for a new series to dive into, and for anyone who needs to hear that God can turn even our darkest seasons into the very thing someone else needs to read. I'm honored to be one of the featured authors for Matthew's biblical fiction blog tour: (19) PenWorks of The Word Blog Tour - Part One | Facebook I'm Anna Moore Bradfield. This is God's Power Stories.

    112 | The Gift His Mother Prayed Into Him: A Conversation with Author Matthew Elliott

  2. Sep 22

    110 | In the Margins: Athens, Part 2, The Alter of The Unknown God

    What are the odds that a church bell rings out across Athens at the exact moment a teacher reads aloud the words "To an unknown God"—while standing on the very hill where Paul first spoke them? In this powerful series finale, Anna and John climb Mars Hill (the Areopagus)—the rocky outcrop where the Athenian council once tried serious cases, and where Paul delivered one of the most strategically brilliant sermons in the New Testament (Acts 17:16-34). They unpack why Paul opened not with condemnation but with genuine observation: "Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious in all respects"—turning misdirected religious passion into a bridge rather than a battleground. Featuring a remarkable live recording of Jonathan Cahn teaching at the exact site, complete with a church bell ringing at the precise moment he read the words "To an unknown God" from the ancient altar inscription—an unplanned, unmistakable God moment captured on tape. This episode explores Paul's profound theological claim that God "is not far from each one of us... in Him we live and move and exist," revealing that Athens, for all its temples and altars, had been reaching toward a God who was already standing in the room. The episode—and the entire twelve-part In the Margins series—closes with worship and anointing in the city where Paul once stood, a tender and vulnerable reflection from John about how this trip changed him, and a final challenge: the God of Athens' unknown altar is not far from any of us. He never was. #InTheMargins #MarsHill #Areopagus #UnknownGod #ApostlePaul #Acts17 #JonathanCahn #ChristianPodcast #RevelationTour #InHimWeLiveAndMove #SeriesFinale #FaithJourney #Athens #BiblicalArchaeology #ChristianTravel #GodMoments #BibleStudyPodcast #NotFarFromEachOne #SevenChurchesOfRevelation #TheUnknownGod If this podcast has been a gift to you, help us reach someone who needs it. Find the giving link along with links to my books and community at beacons.ai/annamoorebradfield

    110 | In the Margins: Athens, Part 2, The Alter of The Unknown God

  3. Sep 15

    109 | In the Margins: Athens, Part 1, The City That Almost Got It Right

    What happens when a city has all the genius, all the devotion, and all the precision in the world—and points it at the wrong thing? In this first of two Athens episodes, Anna and John walk through the Ancient Agora, where Paul reasoned daily with strangers in Acts 17:17, using the Greek word dialegomai—dialogue, not lecture—to meet people exactly where they were. They explore the Acropolis and the Parthenon, marveling at the ancient Greeks' astonishing architectural precision (including entasis, the intentional inward curve of columns designed to appear perfectly straight to the human eye)—all poured into worship of Athena, a goddess who wasn't there. They visit Pnyx Hill, birthplace of Athenian democracy, and reflect on the paradox of a civilization that gave the world profound civic ideals while also condemning Socrates, excluding women, and depending on slavery. This episode doesn't shy away from the very human side of pilgrimage: after days of exhausting travel, Anna and John admit they didn't make the climb to the Parthenon's summit—and found peace in that limitation. They wander through Syntagma Square, the Panathenaic Stadium, and the ancient neighborhood of Plaka... where they end up eating McDonald's in the shadow of the Acropolis. Because sometimes the most honest thing you can do on a holy journey is admit you're hungry. Athens was brilliant. Athens was broken. And Athens was reaching for something it couldn't quite name—setting the stage for what happens next, on Mars Hill. #InTheMargins #Athens #AncientAgora #Acropolis #Parthenon #PnyxHill #ApostlePaul #ActsOfTheApostles #AncientGreece #ChristianPodcast #RevelationTour #Entasis #AthenianDemocracy #BiblicalArchaeology #FaithJourney #GreeceTravel #ChristianTravel #BibleStudyPodcast #Plaka #Socrates If this podcast has been a gift to you, help us reach someone who needs it. Find the giving link along with links to my books and community at beacons.ai/annamoorebradfield

    109 | In the Margins: Athens, Part 1, The City That Almost Got It Right

  4. Sep 8

    108 | In the Margins: Cenchrea, From These Same Shores

    What does it feel like to watch two former Muslims commissioned as missionaries on the exact shore where Paul once fulfilled a vow before setting sail toward Jerusalem? In this shorter but deeply resonant episode of In the Margins, Anna and John travel to Cenchreae, the humble eastern port of ancient Corinth where Acts 18:18 tells us Paul cut his hair to fulfill a Nazirite vow before departing for Syria. Unlike the grand tourist sites of Ephesus or Corinth, Cenchreae is quiet, worn, and honest—a place where something real happened two thousand years ago and, remarkably, still happens today. Their group gathered on this rocky shore to pray and worship at the water's edge, small against the vastness of the sea—much as Paul and the original disciples once were. Then came the moment that stopped everyone: two men who had come out of Islam to faith in Jesus, now serving as missionaries, joined the group and were commissioned right there on the shore, echoing Acts 13's sending of Barnabas and Saul from Antioch. This episode explores the profound meaning of being "sent"—not self-appointed, but interrupted, redirected, and commissioned by something larger than personal ambition—and reflects on how every stop of this entire journey, from Smyrna's martyrdom to Ephesus's lost first love to Corinth's dysfunction and redemption, prepared the ground for this singular moment of watching the mission continue, unbroken, from the same shores where it began. #InTheMargins #Cenchreae #ApostlePaul #ActsOfTheApostles #NazariteVow #Missionaries #Sent #ChristianPodcast #RevelationTour #FaithJourney #GreeceTravel #ChristianTravel #Acts13 #BiblicalArchaeology #ExMuslimBelievers #CalledAndSent #BibleStudyPodcast #CorinthPort #FromTheseShores #TheMissionContinues If this podcast has been a gift to you, help us reach someone who needs it. Find the giving link along with links to my books and community at beacons.ai/annamoorebradfield

    108 | In the Margins: Cenchrea, From These Same Shores

  5. Sep 1

    107 | In the Margins: Corinth, Where the Letters Make Sense Now

    What does it feel like to stand on the actual stone platform where Paul was put on trial—and to accidentally discover a plant growing in the ruins whose name means "Esther"? In this rich episode of In the Margins, Anna and John explore Corinth—the wealthy, morally notorious crossroads city where Paul lived and worked for eighteen months, longer than almost anywhere else on his missionary journeys. Discover the staggering engineering of the Corinth Canal, cut nearly 300 feet through solid limestone, and learn about the ancient diolkos, a paved trackway where Greeks once dragged entire ships overland rather than risk 200 miles of treacherous open sea. Walk through the Archaeological Museum where a fragment reading "Synagogue of the Hebrews" may be the very doorway Paul passed through, then stand at the Bema—the actual judgment seat where the Roman proconsul Gallio dismissed the case against Paul in Acts 18, an act of divine protection disguised as bureaucratic indifference. Hear the unexpectedly funny (and unexpectedly profound) story of a Greek woman shooing Anna and John away from a shade tree—only for Anna to discover afterward that the plant she'd been protecting was myrtle, the very plant referenced in Isaiah, Zechariah, and tied to the Hebrew name Hadassah... better known to us as Esther. This episode reveals why 1 Corinthians 13's famous "Love is patient, love is kind" wasn't written as a wedding reading, but as pointed correction to a divided, quarrelsome, litigious church—and why taking communion in the very city where Paul first recorded the Lord's Supper instructions felt less like ritual and more like reaching across two thousand years and finding the table still set. #InTheMargins #Corinth #ApostlePaul #FirstCorinthians #CorinthCanal #TheBema #Myrtle #BiblicalArchaeology #ChristianPodcast #RevelationTour #GallioCorinth #LoveChapter #Communion #FaithJourney #GreeceTravel #ChristianTravel #BibleStudyPodcast #AncientGreece #HadassahEsther #TableIsStillSet If this podcast has been a gift to you, help us reach someone who needs it. Find the giving link along with links to my books and community at beacons.ai/annamoorebradfield

    107 | In the Margins: Corinth, Where the Letters Make Sense Now

  6. Aug 25

    106 | In the Margins: Santorini, When Beauty is the Message

    What happens when an entire group of tourists goes silent at the exact same moment—not from awkwardness, but because words simply fail? In this uniquely reflective episode of In the Margins, Anna and John step away from ancient letters, archaeological ruins, and biblical history to explore something entirely different: an island so breathtaking it seems to communicate on its own terms. After a full day touring Crete's Cathedral of Saint Titus and the Palace of Knossos, they sail to Santorini—the crescent-shaped remnant of one of the largest volcanic eruptions in recorded history, circa 1600 BCE. Discover the fascinating geological connection between this island and the Minoan civilization they'd walked through just hours earlier in Crete, and why some scholars link the Santorini eruption to Plato's legend of Atlantis. Explore the remarkable architecture of Oia, where entire homes are carved directly into volcanic cliffside rock, turning catastrophic destruction into breathtaking canvas. And sit with the deeper question this episode raises: after days of processing letters, sermons, and teaching, what do you do with an experience that offers no words at all—just overwhelming, wordless beauty? Drawing on Psalm 19 ("The heavens declare the glory of God... they have no speech, no words... yet their voice goes out into all the earth"), this episode considers whether beauty itself might be a form of divine communication, and how encountering something too vast for your own perception might be the closest most of us ever come to understanding what the Apostle John saw when he tried to describe the throne room of heaven. #InTheMargins #Santorini #Oia #GreekIslands #Caldera #Atlantis #MinoanCivilization #Psalm19 #ChristianPodcast #RevelationTour #BeautyOfCreation #FaithJourney #ChristianTravel #GreeceTravel #DivineBeauty #GlorOfGod #BibleStudyPodcast #TravelPodcast #WonderOfCreation #GetOffTheShip If this podcast has been a gift to you, help us reach someone who needs it. Find the giving link along with links to my books and community at beacons.ai/annamoorebradfield

    106 | In the Margins: Santorini, When Beauty is the Message

  7. Aug 18

    105 | In the Margins: Crete, Where the Feast was Included

    What happens when you walk into a Greek Orthodox service uninvited, bow before a two-thousand-year-old relic, and later realize you'd been eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches while a feast sat waiting the entire time? In this rich final touring episode of their Turkey and Greece journey, Anna and John arrive in Crete on a Sunday morning that happened to align with a national day of prayer back in the US—except they were seven hours ahead, already standing in ancient sacred ground while most of America was still asleep. They wander into the Cathedral of Saint Titus in Heraklion mid-service, discovering only afterward that the reliquary being venerated held the actual skull of Titus—Paul's own disciple, the man personally commissioned to organize the church in Crete (Titus 1:5). They explore Paul's surprisingly blunt (and honest) assessment of the Cretan people, and how God still chose this "difficult" mission field for lasting kingdom impact. From there, the episode moves to the Palace of Knossos—ruins dating back four thousand years to the Minoan civilization, believed by many scholars to be the origin of the Labyrinth myth and the legend of the Minotaur. Walking through history so ancient it predates Abraham, Anna and John reflect on the layers of time this trip has taken them through. The episode closes with an unforgettable illustration: a man who saved his entire life for a cruise, then spent the whole voyage secretly eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in his cabin because he thought he couldn't afford the meals—never realizing the feast was already included in his ticket. A powerful, convicting picture of how many believers live: saved, secured, yet unaware of the "every spiritual blessing" (Ephesians 1:3) already theirs in Christ. #InTheMargins #Crete #SaintTitus #PalaceOfKnossos #Heraklion #MinoanCivilization #GreekOrthodox #ChristianPodcast #RevelationTour #ApostlePaul #EpistleToTitus #Labyrinth #SpiritualBlessings #FaithJourney #BiblicalArchaeology #ChristianTravel #Ephesians #BibleStudyPodcast #NationalDayOfPrayer #EveryBlessing If this podcast has been a gift to you, help us reach someone who needs it. Find the giving link along with links to my books and community at beacons.ai/annamoorebradfield

    105 | In the Margins: Crete, Where the Feast was Included

  8. Aug 11

    104 | In the Margins: Patmos, Part 2, Where Heaven Broke Open

    What does it feel like to stand in the actual cave where the Apostle John received the entire book of Revelation—complete with a rock crack tradition says was caused by the very voice of God? In Part 2 of this journey to Patmos, Anna and John climb to the Monastery of St. John the Theologian, a fortress-like structure built in 1088 that still houses some of the oldest Christian manuscripts in existence, including a 900-year-old imperial decree still preserved in the very building it was written for. From there, they descend into the Cave of the Revelation—the Sacred Grotto where tradition holds John rested his head to pray (an indentation still visible in the rock) and where a three-part crack in the ceiling is said to symbolize the Trinity, caused by the very voice of God speaking to John. This episode reframes Revelation itself—not as a book of fear or doomsday speculation, but, as their guide put it, "a book to bring us hope... the second appearance of God." And then comes the heart of the episode: an unplanned rainstorm during their outdoor service on the island, and a deeply moving reflection from their friend Marsha about what that rain meant. Was it an interruption to the sacred moment, or was it the sacred moment itself—God's Spirit being poured out, refreshing and cleansing a group who chose to stand in it rather than seek shelter? This is a tender, unhurried conversation about finding heaven in unlikely places—a barren island, a stone cave, a rainy hillside—and trusting that God does some of His most significant work in circumstances designed to silence or discourage us. #InTheMargins #Patmos #CaveOfTheRevelation #MonasteryOfStJohn #BookOfRevelation #ApostleJohn #SacredGrotto #ChristianPodcast #RevelationTour #JonathanCahn #GreekOrthodox #PilgrimageJourney #FaithJourney #BiblicalArchaeology #ChristianTravel #HolySpirit #BibleStudyPodcast #GodMoments #SecondChances #TrinityRock If this podcast has been a gift to you, help us reach someone who needs it. Find the giving link along with links to my books and community at beacons.ai/annamoorebradfield

    104 | In the Margins: Patmos, Part 2, Where Heaven Broke Open
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About

Your mom, your grandpa, somebody in your life whom you love and admire said that the Bible holds the answers to every question or problem you’d ever have. Wow. Think of it. After all, you have questions! You’ve been known to have a problem or two. It would be great if you could find the answers you’re looking for. You crack open that Bible a couple of times but just as quickly shut it. You want to love digging into Scripture. Instead, you find it intimidating, judgmental, and maybe even unbelievable. Let’s change that. Hi! I’m Anna Moore Bradfield, an award-winning and bestselling author, Christian speaker, and facilitator of workshops and events. I’ve been where you are. Plenty of times. I’ve questioned if God cared at all about what I was going through. Did he even have a plan for my life? When I got up the guts to tell him to his face, I found that he had very broad shoulders and that he could take anything I dished out. Then he began revealing himself to me. In this podcast, we’ll share: • Stories from the Bible that reveal God’s interactions with His people, confirming His desire for intimate, consistent, and loving relationships. • Stories from everyday life that testify to God’s revelation through the Holy Spirit. • Ways to develop a Bible study and prayer life that help us to become both open and full throttle geeked to boldly approach God’s throne. It’s easy to miss these life-changing moments if we aren’t looking for them. But the more we look, the more we find. As you engage with this podcast, you’ll find yourself looking to the Word with fresh eyes and a renewed desire to discover God’s plan for your life. You’ll find that the same God who led all the great characters of Scripture way back in Bible times is crazy about you, too. In fact, he’s been thinking about you all day. I’m rooting for you! And I can’t wait to connect with you 😊. If you've been blessed by this podcast, help us bless others with your financial giving. It might be the best money you've ever spent. Pre-order Leaven, book four of my biblical fiction series The Lambswool Chronicles Start reading Legacy, book one of my biblical fiction series The Lambswool Chronicles  Start reading Lunacy, book two of my biblical fiction series The Lambswool Chronicles Start reading Loosed, book three of my biblical fiction series The Lambswool Chronicles Use this affiliate code to get great bonuses with Galaxy.ai: GF4MX8R In addition to the podcast, join the community Ask me to speak or facilitate at your event Follow me on Instagram: anna.moore.bradfield Follow me on Facebook: anna.moore.bradfield.author RSSVERIFY

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