Daily Devotional for Friday April 17, 2026

Sesame Street teaching children Arabic words! and, When you pray and God is silent!

DAILY DEVOTIONAL FRIDAY APRIL 17, 2026

(Luke 18:1-8)

***Personal Message For You From Bill Keller***

I pray someone is in a place to help me today! Thanks to the prayers and help of many friends we are down to the final $5,000 of our February shortfall that we require ASAP.

God always has a ram in the bush and there is someone today He has blessed financially in some way who can step up to help me at this critical time. You can put your gift on a credit card, or if it is convenient wire the funds or direct deposit your gift into our Wells Fargo account. For the info you will need email me at: bkeller@liveprayer.com Thank you and God bless, GOD IS ABLE!

*As people are already starting to receive their tax refunds, many receiving much more than expected due to the Trump tax cuts, please be praying about sending a tithe to God’s work here at Liveprayer to me save souls off of that tax refund! Amen!

***Prayer***

Dear Lord, I cry out to You today. I have no place to turn but to You. My life is Yours. Do with it as You will and I will obediently serve You with my very last breath. IN the name of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ..AMEN!

***The Daily Liveprayer TV Nugget***

Think about this. There is a Sesame Street production geared to children in the Middle East featuring all of the popular Sesame Street characters. Some of that content is used in US productions to teach American children Arabic words. WHY? We have a high percentage of children graduating high school who can’t read or write at a 12th grade level, but they know key Arabic words. UPSIDE DOWN!!!

*Liveprayer TV Program airs “LIVE” every Monday thru Friday from 11pm EDT to Midnight! For details on viewing options for the Liveprayer TV program, “LIVE” or “On Demand,” go to: https://liveprayer.com/liveprayer-show-about.cfm

***April Financial Update***

Thanks to the prayers, a special gift and many others giving as they were able, we ended March down to the final $20,000 of our February shortfall that we require ASAP. That is now down to the final $5,000! AMEN! Once we clear up February we can work on the $55,000 we required for our March ministry operations and the $55,000 we will require during April. That is $5,000 to clear up the balance of February and $110,000 for March and April to end April with all of our finances current. OUR GOD IS ABLE!

The Bible teaches us to “give according to our ability to give.” For some that may be $10 or $20. For others it may be $50 or $100. Still others it may be $200, $500, $1,000, $10,000 or more. God will bless your gift no matter the amount.

Also, don't forget a gift of $1,800 covers one day of ministry at Liveprayer. I received this email recently, “Pastor Bill, My wife and I have just sold our last rental and God told us to tithe $1,800.00 to pay for a day of your ministry. Not looking for accolades, just that you know when you receive the check. Rest assured that we will still be making our regular weekly tithes."

To give a gift to Liveprayer you can use your major credit card at: http://liveprayer.com/donate.cfm or you can mail your gift to: Liveprayer, 6662 46th Ave. North, St. Petersburg, FL 33709. All gifts to Liveprayer are 100% tax deductible!

Stocks! A great way to help Liveprayer is by donating stock. The transfer can be made in a way you get the full credit for your donation without having to pay any of the taxes you normally would on gains your stocks may have enjoyed. Contact me for information about this incredible way to help God's work here at Liveprayer: bkeller@liveprayer.com

*By the way I have been seeking the Lord since the start of this year for God to lead someone He has blessed richly to make a legacy gift of $15,000,000 to Liveprayer. That would insure that when God decides to call me home Liveprayer will continue to impact lives and lead lost souls to faith in Jesus for a minimum of 20 years. Please stand in agreement with me for the Lord to raise up that person!

*Live on after you are in Heaven!!! By remembering God's work here at Liveprayer in your will/estate planning, you can still help me share His Truth with the masses, be here for people in their time of greatest need, and help lead the lost to faith in Jesus even after God has called you home!!! God has led many of our friends in the Liveprayer family to remember His work here in their will. Please pray about this opportunity to continue and partner with me in the Lord's work at Liveprayer, even after you are enjoying your rewards and the eternal peace of Heaven! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me at: bkeller@liveprayer.com

One of the greatest tests of our faith is when we pray about an issue and NOTHING happens. We pray some more and still nothing happens. We pray until we simply can't pray any longer. Let me say up front, there are some schools of thought that praying for something more than once shows a lack of faith. I disagree with that conclusion, since we have passages like today's scripture that shows us persistent prayer is encouraged. There is no RIGHT formula for prayer. It is not magic or some sort of mystical formula.

GOD IS NOT OUR PERSONAL GENIE IN A BOTTLE WHO IS SIMPLY WAITING TO RESPOND TO OUR WISHES!!!

The fact is, prayer is simply a conversation we have with our Heavenly Father. It is like talking to our best friend, which He is. When we have a close relationship with someone, we may ask them to do something for us and it is done. We might only ask once and it gets done. There are some things, especially when it comes to husbands and wives, or children, that we have to ask 5 . . . 10 . . . 20 . . . even 100 times to get it done.

I am sure we have all been there. So it is with our relationship with God. We may share a need with God and almost immediately it is taken care of; however, there may be some issues we pray about over, and over, and over, for a long period of time before it is taken care of.

But there are also some issues that we pray about for long periods of time that are NEVER resolved. It is at these times that we must allow our faith to become real and trust God. While the Bible clearly tells us to ask God for the desires of our heart, and we SHOULD do that, we must always pray with the heart Jesus did. He said, "Yet not my will, but thy will be done."

Jesus understood that His life was totally surrendered to God. It was God's life to use as He saw fit. God's plans may not always be our plans. It is at those times that we MUST set aside our desires for His. As we grow spiritually, we actually come to the place Jesus was when we understand each day that our life belongs totally to God, and our desires must be His desires. Hear this one more time...OUR DESIRES MUST BECOME HIS DESIRES!

I love you and care about you so much. I will be praying for you today, praying that when you have to, you are like the widow and not be afraid to remind God over and over of the great needs that you have in your life. There is nothing wrong with reminding God.

I will also pray that you come to the place in your walk with the Lord where you can say, "Lord, not my will, but Thy will be done," that place where we trust God enough to not worry when He is "silent," but have a peace that what God wants is what we want. After all, God's plans are ALWAYS better than our plans. While our plans don't always work out the way we expect, God's plans ALWAYS work out perfectly.

The fact is, God is NEVER silent or ignoring our prayers. He is simply waiting for His perfect timing to show you the right plan to meet your needs. Exercise your faith and trust the Lord, since His way and His plan will always be better than our way and our plan!!!

In His love and service,

Your friend and brother in Christ,

Bill Keller