Jonathan Lotz, grandson of evangelist Billy Graham, is in the hospital ICU battling a severe case of COVID. Lotz’ sister, Rachel-Ruth Lotz Wright, provided an update on the situation, saying he’s “showing signs of improvement.”
“Ya’ll, I cant thank you enough for your prayers for him!!” Wright exclaimed. “He is still in ICU from complications with Covid, but he’s showing signs of improvement!! His attitude has been positive the entire time!! He is witnessing up a storm in the hospital!!”
Wright went on to praise the positive attitude her brother has maintained despite the trying health situation. “My guess is the nurses must be fighting over who gets to care for him, because he is so sweet,” she wrote. “He prayed with a nurse who wanted to rededicate her life to Jesus at 3am!!”
While his positive attitude and signs of improvement were welcome developments, she cautioned about the hurdles ahead. “I just wanted to ask you to please continue your prayers for his oxygen levels to go up!!” she said. “The outpouring of prayers and support has brought our family to tears a bunch! We know we aren’t the only ones going through difficulty – so thank you for your compassion!”
Here’s the full post from Wright:
What Happened?
Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of the late evangelist Billy Graham, asked for prayers over the weekend after her son, Jonathan Lotz, was hospitalized with COVID in critical condition.
“Fifty years ago I could hold my son in my arms. Now I have placed him in the arms of Jesus. He has been hospitalized with COVID and is in critical condition,” she wrote in a Facebook post.
“The verses last night in the Daily Light were perfect: ‘Brethren, pray for us’ 1 Thessalonians 5:25. And James 5.16– ‘Pray for one another that you may be healed.’ I am asking you to please pray for Jonathans swift healing and recovery. For the glory of Gods great name. Thank you.”
Later, the evangelist and founder of AnGeL Ministries in Raleigh, followed up with another post saying Jonathan had been moved to the ICU.
Incredibly, Lotz relayed that her son has been focused on his faith and ministering to others even while in the ICU battling COVID, reading a text he sent her in the morning.
According to Lotz, her son wrote the following from the hospital: “He is being fruitful in the land of his affliction: ‘I am physically exhausted yet Spiritually overflowing! I am continually pouring over the Psalms of Ascent (120-134) in ICU. I have had the privilege of sharing Jesus with the ER & ICU staff! What a Savior! God is so good!'”
Lotz said that hopeful message in the midst of trial reminded her of Genesis 41:52, “The name of the second he called Ephraim, ‘For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.'”
“Please be encouraged that God is hearing and answering your prayers—just please don’t let up,” she wrote. “Pray he will not have to go on a ventilator, that his oxygen levels would increase, that his lungs will be strengthened, healed and that his health will be fully restored—with no long term complications. My heart is filled with gratitude for your prayers.”
Please continue to keep this faithful family in your prayers!