Daily Devotional for Saturday August 30, 2014
I Wonder if What We are Doing at Liveprayer Really Matters
(Revelation 12:11)
***ASK BILL: Pastor Bill, someone mentioned a verse in the Bible about pearls and swine. What does it mean and where in the Bible is it mentioned?
ANSWER: Matthew 7:6. These words of Jesus are allegorical and not literal. The "swine" here stand for the unappreciative and worldly; those who belittle the value of what is being offered to them. The swine have no appreciation for either the beauty nor the value of the pearls under their feet. Your life, time, energy, opportunities and abilities are God's "pearls," and we are to be good stewards of His "pearls."
Many days, I drive into the offices of Liveprayer.com and wonder if what we are doing really matters. Going through so many prayer requests each and every day, 7 days a week, every kind of tragic situation you can imagine, wears you down and makes you wonder whether there even is a God out there. Even in these brief moments of weakness, God is faithful to send forth each day, in the midst of the requests...the "word of testimony."
God knows how weak I am, how small my faith is, and has to remind me constantly of his awesome power and might. Today, whatever you are facing, let me assure you, there is a VERY real God. He loves you unconditionally. He understands your hurts and pains. He will help you to overcome, to be victorious in your life, if you simply put your faith and trust in Him!!!!!
I got an email from a mother in Arizona whose son was in a coma. She asked for prayer. After 9 months of being in a coma, the doctors had given up hope. I got an email from that Mom last week saying her son was out of the coma and awake.
Last Monday night on the TV program I prayed for marriages that were in trouble. Tuesday night an email came in from a man who was in court that day to sign his divorce papers. He told me how when he picked up the pen to sign his name, his hand was frozen. Something came over him and he started crying. He asked his attorney for a few minutes and went in the bathroom. While in the bathroom, the conviction of God came over him and he got on his knees, recommitting his life to Christ in that bathroom. He and his wife are in counseling and prepared to make their marriage work.
Over the 15 yrs of Liveprayer,countless marriages have been restored. Scores of people have been delivered from drugs, alcohol, tobacco, gambling, and pornography. Incredible financial miracles have happened to people. Many relationships between family and friends have been reconciled. Not a day goes by when we aren't informed of some great miracle occurring in the life of someone who has come to Liveprayer.com in their hour of need for prayer, and God has answered!
I share these brief words of testimony with you to encourage you today that you to can overcome whatever it is you are facing in your life. My Bible says that God is no respecter of persons. He doesn't discriminate in handing out His blessings. What God has done for someone else, He will do for you!!! Use these words of testimony today to find God's hope to overcome whatever hurdles you face in your life today!
OUR PUSH TO THE END OF THE YEAR AS WE SPARK THE BEGINNING OF A TRUE NATIONAL REVIVAL AND BEGIN TO TURN THIS NATION BACK TO GOD AND HIS TRUTH BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!!!
In November of 2007 I shared in the Daily Devotional we would begin to see the clear and visible judgment of God falling on this nation for our sins and rebellion to our Creator. Only weeks later the housing bubble burst draining trillions from the economy and affecting tens of millions of people. The ripple effects of that housing crash are still being felt over 6 years later and has crippled millions who have been unemployed or underemployed, lost all of their savings that was tied up in their home equity, or have faced other economic challenges.
In November 2008 the nation elected a true enemy of God as our President. In November 2012 God allowed the choice for our nation's leader to be between two of satan's minions so whoever won would further destroy our nation each in their own way. The financial markets are due for a huge crash as they have been propped up by the $75 billion dollars a month the Fed has pumped into the banks, who in turn have not been lending that money, but putting it into the stock market!
Today we are facing the greatest threat to our homeland ever in our brief 238 year history. Since we were woken up to the very legitimate threat of Islam on 9/11 to the security of our nation, we have had numerous thwarted attempts and a few successful ones such as the Ft. Hood massacre and the Boston marathon bombing. As I type these words, there is no doubt Muslims are living amongst us prepared to commit acts of terror on innocent people in this nation, as large Islamic groups around the world like ISIS are planning numerous attacks against us right here on our soil.
We have no more time. We must act now. Whatever actions those in power take regarding our economy and national security are out of our hands. Our lives depend on what they choose to or not to do. However, we don't have to sit back and just do nothing. Our real problems aren't financial or relating to national security, they are spiritual! No politician can or will help us in our hour of need, only turning back to God and HIS Truth can accomplish that.
After 15 yrs online, 10 yrs on TV, Liveprayer has the proven ministry tools online to lead this nation into a true revival and back to God and Biblical Truth. Because of the frugal and streamlined way I have operated the minsitry for 22 yrs, I don't need tens of millions like other major ministries do to accomplish all God has called us to do. We don't own buildings that need to be maintained, or a huge staff that has to be paid each Friday, nor do we own private jets, yachts, a fleet of luxury cars, or multiple mansions.
All I require each month is our basic operating costs for Liveprayer.com and the Liveprayer TV program of $65,000. That is less than $800,000 annually, or the budget of a local church with 1,000 members or less who meet once a week and maybe have a pot luck dinner once a month. For well under $1 million dollars, we have all of the proven minsitry tools in place to marry what we do online and on TV to impact millions of lives each day, pray for tens of thousands daily in their time of need, lead lost souls daily to faith in Jesus, and...LEAD THIS NATION BACK TO GOD AND HIS TRUTH!
***AUGUST FINANCIAL UPDATE: With only 2 days left in August, we still require $33,000 for our basic August internet operations and the $25,000 we require for our August TV budget. $10,000 of that August internet budget was due the first days of the month for the bandwidth we require simply to operate. --->I have been in prayer all weekend for 1 or 2 friends to help with special gifts to get the $10,000 we desperately need from the first week of August that is over 2 weeks past due!!!
CHICAGO TV UPDATE/VICTORY REPORT! PRAISE GOD!!! One of our new friends from Chicago made a huge sacrifce last week of $15,000 to insure the program would not be cancelled. That gift leaves us needing one more payment of $22,000 by the end of the month to clear-up the amount we have been in arrears for several months now. This will insure the Liveprayer TV program can continue "live" every Monday-Friday from 11pm-1am in the great Chicagoland market of 10 million people. During the 6 months we have been on, tens of thousands of lives have been impacted and over 4,000 souls we know of come to faith in Jesus! Please pray for someone to help me insure we can keep this INCREDIBLE door open to reach that great metropolitan area!
I need your help today desperately! June, July, and August are always the most difficult months each year, and as we head into the final few days of August I still need $80,000 to end this month with all of our basic operating expenses for the internet and TV currently. That is not an unrealistic amount of money if everyone will pray, everyone who is able will "give as they are able to give," and a dozen or our friends who God has blessed will step up and make a sacrifce of $5,000 or more.
I realize that a small group of our friends have been critical to helping us each month with their sacrifce to insure we continue to move forward. I hate that I am forced to rely on a handful of key people each month to help us in a significant way to insure we have the funds necessary to simply operate. With the TV program moving forward and bringing new friends to the minsitry each month, with the national and international publicity we have been getting in the past few weeks from our bold stand against Islam, we are seeing new people every week becoming part of Liveprayer, and no dobut a percentage of those new people will help support God's work here.
With Monday being a holiday, and Sunday really the end of the month, it is critical that we bring in a significant portion of the $80,000 we require over the next few days. As everyone who is able is encouraged to "give according to your ability to give" whether that is $10, $20, $50, or $100, I am praying that a dozen of our friends God has blessed financially will help me with a special one-time gift of $5,000 or more today.
There are a few ways to insure that gift gets to us in the next few days. We bank at Wells Fargo, so if you have a branch near you I can give you our account number and you can simply deposit the funds directly into our account. You can always overnight a check to our office. If you have a credit card, maybe an emergency card you haven't used for a while, you can go to our donation link on the website at: http://www.liveprayer.com/donation.cfm and use our encrypted secure server to send us a gift that way. Lastly, if you use PayPal you can send us a gift via PayPal using the link that is also located on our donation page.
If the Lord has blessed you with a job, or allowed you to accumulate some financial resources over the years, or you have credit available that you would be able to pay off over the next few months, please pray about what God is calling you to do to help me at this time with a significant gift to help insure we end our 15 year anniversary month with all of our basic internet and TV operations current!
TO GIVE A GIFT TO LIVEPRAYER, you can use your major credit card on our secure server at: www.liveprayer.com under the "Donation" link, you can give using your PayPal account using my email address: bkeller@liveprayer.com,or you can mail your gift to: Liveprayer, 6660 46th Ave. North, St.Petersburg, FL 33709. All gifts to Liveprayer are 100% tax deductible
I love you and care about you so much, and pray for you and your family each day. Together we have accomplished so much, impacted tens of millions of lives around the world, responded to over 100 million emails for prayer from people worldwide in their time of need, and seen over 800,000 souls we know of come to faith in Jesus Christ! IT HAS BEEN YOUR LOVE, YOUR PRAYERS, AND YOUR GENEROUS SACRIFICES THAT HAVE MADE IT ALL POSSIBLE!!!
Our work here is not quite over. Our final and greatest work for the Lord is still before us as we lead our nation into revival, true repentance, and back to God and Biblical Truth. Now more than ever I need your prayers and for you to stand with me. I have never been able to do any of this alone, and certainly can't finish the work God has called Liveprayer to accomplish without you. Please, pray about what the Lord is asking you to do to help me today and send the most generous gift you can.
The fact is, nobody else in the nation is willing to answer this call, just like it was only an obscure shepherd boy who would answer the call to take on satan's demon Goliath. Just like David did not hesitate to allow the Lord to use him on that day, Liveprayer has once again faithfully answered the Lord's call and we will be victorious because the same God who has led us to victory in the past is the same God who will lead us to victory today!!!
In His love and service, Your friend and brother in Christ,' Bill Keller
In His love and service, Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller