LivePrayer - Bill Keller

(ST. PETERSBURG, FL.) --- Bill Keller and Liveprayer.com must be doing something right. Since Keller, a Florida Businessman and minister, launched his interactive website in 1999 he and his army of 700 retired ministers have personally responded to over 60 million requests for prayer. And if that weren’t enough of a success statistic, in that same time the ministry has received an amazing 1.8 million “praise reports” of prayers answered.

Much of Keller’s program is focused on healing during his daily television show “Liveprayer With Bill Keller,” which is broadcast in select markets throughout Florida, as well as via streaming video at www.liveprayer.com from 1-2 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. (For a complete “Liveprayer” broadcast listing or to view online, visit www.liveprayer.com/livevideo1.html.)

“Many of the prayer requests we get on a daily basis are for healing,” said Keller, whose online prayer resource personally responds to around 40,000 daily requests for prayer. “That’s why we are taking this special time to show people what God’s word says about healing, and to actually pray for those with specific health issues.”

Keller emphasizes that whether an individual is struggling with health problems, relationship problems, financial concerns, or spiritual issues, the answer lies at the same starting point. “At Liveprayer we believe that the only answer to the problems we face in life is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ,” he said. “And while that does not make any of us immune to those problems, it does provide a solid foundation for dealing with everything else life may throw at us.”

And what about healing specifically? Keller refers to a scripture in the Old Testament, Isaiah 53:5, which foretells the suffering that Jesus Christ would go through on behalf of the world. “That one verse is packed with an explosive amount of truth that has set millions of people free,” he said. “It says that Christ was ‘wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.’”

While that passage may mean very little to the thousands of un-churched individuals who access the Liveprayer.com website or who view the “Liveprayer” television program, Keller says it is the reality of that verse that has set many of them free from the plagues of physical, emotional, and spiritual pain and turmoil. “The Bible proclaims that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever,” explained Keller. “The power of that truth is that the same Jesus who healed in the Bible is the same Jesus that heals today.”

Keller noted that since its inception Liveprayer.com has been about healing and restoration. “Our goal at Liveprayer is to change the Internet from a cold, faceless void into a tool to reach millions of hurting souls worldwide. We are not here to preach to the choir.”

Similarly, the “Liveprayer” television program is geared for those viewers who are unlikely to seek spiritual guidance in a traditional church setting. “We’re on from one to two in the morning, when most people are in bed,” he said. “But there is a core of viewers who are awake, getting in from the bars, on a night shift, or just channel surfing looking for answers. We’re there for them.”

The format of the “Liveprayer” program features phone calls from viewers on whatever they’re struggling with, with Keller offering biblically based advice – and prayer.

For countless thousands of hurting people across the nation, Liveprayer has meant the difference between life and death. Keller estimates that Liveprayer.com and the television program may have intervened in as many as 1,300 suicide calls. “We’re providing the open door to freedom and healing for a whole segment of the culture,” said Keller, “and thousands per month are walking through that door.”

Media experts have taken note of Keller’s approach to faith-based outreach. Phil Leigh, a senior analyst for Digital Media in nearby Tampa, Florida, told Eric Snider of the Tampa Weekly Planet that Keller has recognized that “the Internet is going to be the dominant form of electronic media. And he’s identified at an early stage how to make it work, using interactive communications with his audience.”

Said Susan Zahn, an expert in Christian media and president of the public relations firm WDC Media, “We think Liveprayer may just be the next ‘Big Thing’ in mass media faith-based outreach. Bill Keller is reaching the millions of hurting people who would never darken the door of a church. I really believe this outreach has only touched the ‘tip of the spiritual iceberg’ that exists in America and around the world.”