Anne Graham Lotz confirms she has breast cancer

Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of the late evangelist Billy Graham and an evangelist in her own right, has announced she has been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Lotz, 70, discovered that she had cancer during the afternoon of Aug. 17, three years to the day, and during the same time of day, when she discovered that her now late husband was unresponsive in their pool. He died two days later.

"The Refiner has just added fuel to the fire in my life," she wrote on her website explaining her perspective Monday on receiving this news in a post titled "My Cancer: My Fuel for the Fire."

"When I realized the strange 'coincidence' of the timing, I came to the chilling conclusion that it was an assignment from the enemy. But just as that thought was forming, I heard the soft, gentle whisper of the Spirit, reminding me that it was on a Friday, during that very same time ... between 3:00 and 3:30 in the afternoon ... that God's Passover Lamb was sacrificed."

She added: "So I am left to worship and totally trust our God who is ultimately in control. Of everything."

Lotz asked for prayers for God to heal her in "whichever way He deems would bring Him the most glory," whether with or without surgery, "or through the greater miracle of the resurrection."

"Please pray for me ... and my family ... as we follow the Good Shepherd through this Valley of the Shadow. The bottom-line of our prayer is that our faith would be purified, God would be glorified, and Jesus would be magnified through every step we take on this new journey, until the Refiner sees His own reflection mirrored in my life."

She posted on her Facebook page Wednesday that she was receiving care at the University of North Carolina Cancer Hospital. Surgery is scheduled for Sept. 18.

Lotz is Graham's second-oldest child and has been called "the best preacher in the family."

She is the founder and president of AnGeL Ministries, which is based in Raleigh. Lotz also serves as a board member for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Her father Billy Graham died earlier this year on Feb. 21 at the age 99.

Many were moved by Lotz's words at his memorial service, urging the church to wake up.

"My father also is a great liberator. He brought millions of people out of bondage to sin and it gets us to the edge of Heaven, edge of the Promised Land, and then God has called him home. And could it be that God is going to bring Joshua to lead us into the Promised Land to lead us to heaven?" Lotz said during her remarks.

"And do you know what the New Testament name is for Joshua? It's Jesus. And I believe this is a shot across the bow from Heaven. And I believe God is saying, 'Wake up Church! Wake up world! Wake up Anne! Jesus is coming. Jesus is coming,'" she added, promising to preach the Word of God for the rest of her life.

This article originally appeared in The Christian Post and is re-published here with permission