Power Place pt2

What do you do when God doesn't answer the prayer you've been desperately praying? How do you remain in your God-appointed place when disappointment, loss, and unanswered questions threaten to pull you away?

In this episode of Woman in the Word, we continue our series, Power Place, by looking at the life of David and the prayers that marked both his victories and his deepest sorrows. In 2 Samuel, David sought God's direction about where he should live and lead, demonstrating that the place of power is always found in obedience to God's voice. Later, in 2 Samuel 12, David poured out his heart, pleading for God's mercy and grace for his sick child. When God did not grant David's request, David faced a defining choice: remain in grief or rise up and continue walking with God. David chose faith, and God brought restoration, hope, and purpose beyond his pain.

We'll also look to Jesus on the cross in Luke 23, who prayed for those who crucified Him, saying, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Even in unimaginable suffering, Jesus remained in His power place—submission to the Father's will and love for His enemies.

Finally, we'll examine Stephen in Acts 7, who, while being stoned to death, prayed that his attackers would not be charged with their sin. Like Jesus, Stephen demonstrated that true spiritual power is not found in controlling circumstances but in surrendering fully to God.

Join us as we discover that the power place is not only where God answers our prayers, but also where we trust Him when He doesn't. It's the place where forgiveness triumphs over bitterness, obedience over despair, and restoration over loss. When we remain faithful in the place God has called us, He is always at work accomplishing purposes greater than we can see.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Woman in the Word, the podcast where we dive into scripture, ask real questions, and walk through the Bible together, one honest conversation at a time. I'm Felicia Parker, I'm your host, and I'm so glad you're here. So whether you're new to the Word or you've been studying for years, there's a seat at the table for all of us. So grab your coffee, open your journal, or put on your walking shoes, and let's get into it. One of the shows I'm most enjoying these days is The House of David. I will binge watch that thing over and over and over again, even though I've seen season one and season two multiple times. But I love the story of David. I love how God used his life from a shepherd to a warrior to a king. And y'all, he's one of the people in scripture that constantly prayed. He would constantly plug into the power place because he knew that's where his strength came from. That's where his wisdom came from. That's where his leadership came from. That's where everything he was came from, was from the place of power, from the place of prayer. And y'all, there's there's one place in scripture that we see at 2 Samuel chapter 2. This is after he has now been anointed king of Judah. And it says chapter 2, verse 1, after this, after being anointed king of Judah, David asked the Lord, Should I move back to one of the towns of Judah? The Lord replied, Yes. Then David asked, Which town should I go to? To Hebron, the Lord announced. This is what I find so interesting. David prayed about everything. Should we go to battle and he would seek the Lord? Should I move to this place and he would seek the Lord? Even when he did wrong and he had an affair with Bathsheba and she became pregnant, he sent out someone to kill her husband to cover it up. I mean, it was a hot mess, y'all. And he even sought the Lord to save the life of the baby. He fasted and prayed. Even for that, even in his wrong, he was like, Okay, I know where to go. I need to go to God. Even though God did not spare the life of the child, even though David fasted and prayed, David still got up from that place, from the place of power and still got up, ready to continue leading the way God called him to lead, to be the king God called him to be, to go and and renew his connection or his commitment back to the Lord. And y'all, I need you to hear me. Prayer is the place where not only do we get instruction, but we get correction. And with the correction and the conviction, we can also find strength, renewed strength in that place. Hey, I just wanted to take a quick pause in our conversation and introduce you to the lover of your soul if you have yet to meet him. I would love to lead you in the prayer of salvation. So if you'd repeat after me, that'd be awesome. Dear God, I know that I am a sinner and I'm in need of a savior. I confess that Jesus is Lord and I want him to be the Lord of my life. I believe that you raised him from the dead to rule and reign for all of eternity. Forgive me of my sins and cleanse me with the precious blood of Jesus. I thank you, Lord, for dying on the cross just for me. In Jesus' name. Amen. Hey, if you just prayed that prayer, I want to welcome you to the family of God and just say congratulations. We see David. This is where Nathan comes and talks to David, and Nathan is a prophet. He comes to talk to David and you know basically let him know, hey, what you've done. The Lord is not going to kill you for it, but he's not pleased with it. Chapter 12, verse 13. Then David confessed to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. Nathan replied, Yes, but the Lord has forgiven you, and you won't die for this sin. Verse 14. Nevertheless, because you have shown utter contempt for the Lord by doing this thing, your child will die. Verse 19, when David saw them whispering, them are the men in his house that have now received the new that news that the child has died. When David saw them whispering, he re he realized what had happened. Is the child dead? He asked. Yes, they replied, he is dead. Verse 20. Then David got up from the ground, washed himself, put on lotions, and changed his clothes. He went to the tabernacle and worshiped the Lord. After that he returned to the palace and was served food and ate. His advisors, verse 21, were amazed. We don't understand you, they told him. While the child was still living, you wept and refused to eat. But now the child is dead and you have stopped your mourning and you are eating again. David replied, I fasted and wept while the child was alive. For I said, Perhaps the Lord will be gracious to me and let the child live. But why should I fast when he is dead? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him one day, but I but he cannot return to me. Verse 24. Then David comforted Bathsheba, his wife, and slept with her again. And she became pregnant and gave birth to a son and the name and they named him Solomon. When we pray, when we plug into the power place, we can get up from the most devastating situations and continue to live and continue to thrive and continue to flourish. We can get up from the most hurtful, painful, gut-wrenching situations that we faced in our life. We can go like David into the tabernacle and worship the Lord and pray and seek his face and get back up and get back to the call of God on our life. I'm so grateful that David, even in his mistake, even in his mess up, even in his poor decision making, he knew where to go. He knew the power place to plug into so that he can get back to being about the father's business and being on assignment. Because if he would have laid down and died in that place, y'all, we would never have gotten Solomon. We would never have been able to experience the life of Solomon through Scripture if David would have died when that child died. And I want you to understand the power places where we find our strength. Not only did David seek the Lord for places on where to live and where to go and the battles to fight and the ones not to, but he also sought the Lord after the worst decision and the worst outcome he probably could have experienced in that season. And I love that David shows us through scripture that going to the power place is our comeback place, is our restoring place, is our redeeming place. If you are not plugged into the place of power and you face a situation that brings you to your knees, knocks you off your feet, if you don't plug into the power place, you can find yourself in that place stuck, not able to move, not able to think, not able to function. But like David told his men, they said, We don't understand you. You were weeping and you were crying, but then after you got news, you got up. And what did he say? I was praying, seeking the Lord, hoping that he would be gracious toward me. But he decided not to bring the life back into my child. So I've got to keep living. I can't die in that moment where that situation died. Maybe you've had a marriage that has died, and God did not bring that thing back to reconciliation. Maybe you've lost a child, maybe you've lost a career, maybe you've lost your reputation due to questionable integrity. Whatever it is, don't die in that place. Allow God to continue to do a work in your life like he did with David so that you can experience the gift after that place of loss. Because trust me, there is always a God-sized moment, encounter, gift on the other side. If you will get up and keep moving forward, do like David did. He repented to Nathan. He said, I've sinned against the Lord. He went and he told on himself. He petitioned the Lord to be gracious toward him. God wasn't, he turned his heart to God so that God can begin to restore him. It said he sat down and he ate and he got back into doing the business of the king, of seeking after the Lord and still leading the people, still serving the people well, still loving on his wife Bathsheba and comforting her in her moments. If we lay down and we die in the place where the thing has died, we can't be the comfort to other people. We can't be the leader God called us to. We can't stand up and be restored in what God is needing us to be restored in so we can be who He's called us to be, go where He's called us to go and do the things that He's called us to do. And so I need you to hear me in the power place is where restoration takes place. In the power place is where you will get direction and guidance, but you'll also get restored. So anything that has broken you, I pray that you would connect yourself to the power place so God can give you the strength. Isaiah chapter 40, verse 31, it says, But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles, they will run and not get weary, they will walk and not faint. Y'all, that's what comes from plugging into the power place. We get new strength. We may go through a devastating situation. We may go through a situation that knocks us off our feet, but y'all, we get new strength when we plug into the power place. And let's circle back. He sought the Lord for where to go, what to do, the instruction, the place, the insight, the wisdom. When we plug into the power place, God will be so specific in our lives as He was to David. He told David where to live, where to go, what battles to fight, what battles not to fight? He sent a prophet and told him specifically how he had messed up. That's what happens when we stay connected to the power place. And y'all, I'm asking you today, have you have you not plugged in in a while to the power place? Have you not gone into the place of prayer and sat with your father and sought him for direction and sought him for wisdom and sought him for forgiveness? Have you connected with the power place lately? Or are you walking in a place of defeat because you have yet to connect to the power place and meet with your father that loves you so much? Hey, I just wanted to take a quick break in our episode and share with you some really exciting news. This year we are hosting our first ever outreach experience. This is an expansion of the gathering, and it is hosting 12 to 20-year-old young men and women. I'm really excited about it. The location will be UNLB Student Union Ballroom. It's gonna be a great time of word, worship, connection, free merch, free food, a great concert, and you don't want to miss it. And it is totally free. So all you have to do is jump on our website, purpose-promise.com, click on the gathering, drop down, register, and we look forward to hosting you. All right, let's jump back into the episode. Our greatest example is our high priest, our King of Kings, our Lord of Lords, our Savior, our God, Jesus. In Scripture, we see him hanging on the cross. In Luke chapter 23, he's hanging on the cross, prepared to die for you and I. He took on our sins, even though he was sinless. He was the Lamb that was slain for the world. And y'all, the people are mocking him. They are acting inappropriate, even though our great God, our Lord, is hanging on the cross. And he says in verse 34, Jesus said, Father, forgive them for they don't know what they're doing. And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice. Isn't that so crazy? In the midst of them playing a game, treating his death like it is just a mockery, literally, he prays and he says, Father, forgive them for they don't know what they're doing. Jesus prayed for his enemies, y'all. Even in his suffering, he demonstrated that prayer has the power to transform our perspective. It enables us to extend grace where resentment would otherwise take root and to love where hurt would naturally prevail. He could have said, forget these people. I'm coming down off this cross and I'm gonna show you who I really am. But instead of that, instead of being moved by the hurt that could have been seen, by the frustration that could have been viewed through their behavior, it just caused him to pray for them and ask God to forgive them. They don't know what they're doing, Lord. They're out here acting a straight fool. They don't even know what they're doing. God forgive them. They don't know what they're doing, they don't understand what they're doing. But Jesus demonstrated for us that when we pray, it allows our perspective to see the situation the way God sees it. Because in our natural mind, we're like, oh man, these people are out of line. They are treating Jesus wrong, they are doing all these things. But Jesus praying for his enemies allowed us to see how God saw it. They don't know what they're doing. They don't know that they are making a mockery of the sinless lamb, of the savior, of the king, of the messiah. They don't even know what they're doing. They're walking in darkness, they don't know what they're doing because if they did, they wouldn't be doing what they're doing. I ask you, have you plugged into the power place in recent times, in the last couple days, hopefully last few moments, and ask God to forgive your enemies because they don't know what they're doing. They might be talking about you, they might be gossiping behind your back, they might have done something to betray you, you might get some ugly comments in your DMs, whatever it is. Have you asked God to forgive them because they don't know what they're doing? Because they're blinded by whatever lie the enemy has sold them and they don't believe the truth in regards to you and your life. Have you prayed, Lord, help me to forgive them? And God, I pray that you forgive them. Can I be honest? Sometimes that's a hard prayer to pray. To pray for our enemies and say, Lord, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. There's times where I'm like, Lord, don't forget them. They know exactly what they're doing. And scripture says, Vengeance is the Lord. You know what I'm saying? That's the prayer I want to pray sometime. But Jesus lets us know right here, this is the prayer we need to often pray. Forgive them. They don't even know what they're doing. And it's so interesting. Jesus prayed that prayer. And then if we flip over to the book of Acts, we see Stephen praying an identical prayer. In Acts chapter 7, verse 59, as they stoned him, Stephen prayed, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. He fell to his knees, shouting to the Lord, Don't charge them with this sin. And with that, he died. Y'all, he's getting okay. I don't know about you. He's getting stones thrown at him by these people because they are angry of the truth that he is preaching, y'all. And he says, Lord, don't charge this sin to them. I don't know about you. I guess I need to plug into the power place some more because I'd have been like, Jesus, you better remember each and every one of these people throwing stones at me and take them out, Lord, because you are the God of heaven's army. I want you to go to war for me. I want you to, you know what I mean? But no, Stephen didn't do that. He did what Jesus did. He prayed what Jesus modeled for us on the cross. When Jesus said, forgive them, they don't know what they're doing. Stephen did the same thing. Lord, don't charge this sin to them. And then he died after that. Those were his last words. He said, Lord, receive my spirit. And then the last thing he said is, and by the way, don't charge them with this sin. What? That lets you know that takes a lot of plugging into the power place to be able to say that. That takes spending time in the prayer closet to be able to say that. You can't say that and not be plugged into the power place because this is what I know. In the place where we pray and we seek the Lord, our flesh dies and our spirit becomes alive even more in him. But when we don't plug into the power place, I'm telling you, your flesh is gonna speak. And Stephen was not showing us an example of a man speaking from his flesh, but he was speaking from his spirit, man. And he said, Don't charge this sin to them. Don't let it fall on them, Lord, what they're doing. Don't hold it against them. Basically, forgive them for what they're doing. Don't charge them for it. It's almost like you go to the store and you run your card, and the store says, By the way, we're not gonna charge you for this. Yes, we know you ran your card for it, but there will be no charges that show up on your card. That's what Stephen is basically saying. God, don't put this on their heavenly account. Don't charge this sin to them at all. Basically, don't let this sin show up on the timeline of their life at all. That can only be uttered out of the mouth of one that has been plugged into the power place regularly. Jesus can hang on a cross, knowing he's taking his last few breaths and say, Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. This is after he's been beaten, after he's been bruised. But this was after all that Jesus had walked through, the pain, the anguish, the torture, and he hangs there and he says, Lord, forgive them. Father, forgive them. Father, they don't know what they're doing. Y'all, you can only utter words like that when you're connected to the place of power. You've got to plug into the power place to be able to pray for your enemies and truly mean it. You've got to be able to uh connect to the place of power to be able to speak a kind word about your enemy like Stephen did and say, Lord, don't charge this to them. This is hurting me right now. I'm about to lose my life. I'm asking you to take my spirit, but don't even charge them with my death. Y'all, that takes one being plugged into the place of power to be able to speak those words. And I'm asking you today, are you able to speak of your enemy, Lord? Don't charge it to them. Lord, forgive them, they don't know what they're doing. Or are you in a place of your flesh is speaking real loud, saying, Lord, hurt them, Lord take them out, Lord get the victory for me, however that looks. Vengeance is yours, Lord, go to war for me. What's coming out of your mouth today? Because what's ever coming out of your mouth today, or the thoughts that you're thinking about your enemy today, let you know how how much you've been plugged into the place of power or how how little you have been. And if it's not to the point where you can say, Lord, forgive them, they don't know what they're doing. Lord, don't charge this sin to them. I would say plug into the power place until you can. On September 19th, 2026, women will gather at the UNLV Student Union Ballroom for a powerful day of connection, encouragement, and renewal. The gathering 2026. There's a seat waiting just for you. Prayer is the power place because it's where heaven meets earth. It's where fear becomes faith, weakness becomes strength, and burdens become lighter. Prayer doesn't merely change the circumstances, prayer changes us. It positions our heart to hear God's voice, to trust his promises, and to participate in his purposes. When we pray, y'all, we acknowledge that our greatest resource is not our own ability, our influence, or our effort. It is God Himself. Every great move of God in Scripture was preceded, accompanied, or sustained by prayer. The people of God has have always found their strength on their knees before they ever found the victory on their feet. Prayer is the power place, not because of the words we speak, but because of the God who hears them. Hear me. When we pray to God and we plug into the power place, God leans down to listen. He says, Give me my back my word, scripture says. God is desiring, he is leaning in to hear his word spoken to him so he can move. Y'all, I need you to understand the power place is where you will get the power for everything that is needed in this life. I've never seen a praying, defeated man is what Lester Sumral said, and I want that to be said of us. We have no longer been considered that defeated individual because we pray. Prayer is where we will be equipped for everything we will face, whether that's our enemies coming against them and we pray for them. Whether that's an overwhelming situation that we're facing, we can go to God and seek Him for favor. If that's a situation that we've created in our own lives or something that has happened in our life that has brought us to our knees, we can pray to God and seek restoration and healing. If we need guidance, prayer will allow God to speak to us specifically and give that to us. If we need courage to go before a king, to go before an impossible situation, God will give that to us. If we need, like Elisha's servant in 2 Kings chapter 6, for our eyes to be opened, to see that more is with us than are against us, we can pray and ask God to open our eyes so that we no longer see the enemy, but we see the heavenly host surrounding us. Whatever we need, we find it in the place of power. We find it in our place of prayer. You've got to plug into the power place, y'all, or you will be defeated in the areas that you don't take to God in prayer. So my prayer today is that we would all plug more regularly, more consistently, and more intentionally into the place of power. And y'all, we get to watch what God does through our life. When we lean in, we plug into the place of power, we get to see God move like never before. Thanks for hanging out with me in the Word. I hope it encouraged your heart and gave you something to carry into the rest of the week. If it spoke to you, share this with someone who might need it too. And hey, don't forget to follow or to subscribe so you don't miss out on what's next. Until then, keep showing up, keep listening, and let his word lead the way.