Her father, Billy Graham, called her “the best preacher in the family.” Anne Graham Lotz has spent decades speaking around the world on the transforming love of Christ found in a personal relationship with Him. The truth she shares, both as a speaker and author, is rooted in years of studying the Bible, in prayer, and in hard-fought wisdom from her own life.
What Is Anne Graham Lotz’s Family Known For?
Anne Graham Lotz is the second daughter of Billy and Ruth Graham.
Billy Graham was the best-known evangelist of the twentieth century. For over 50 years, he preached in over 180 countries to over 200 million people, leading hundreds of thousands to pray to accept Jesus into their hearts and lives as their savior. The Billy Graham Crusades were held around the world for decades. He frequently met with U.S. presidents, world leaders, and celebrities—everyone from Martin Luther King, Jr. to Muhammed Ali and Johnny Cash.
His message was simple: God loves us and forgives us of our sins. Americans named him “One of the Ten Most Admired Men in the World” a record 59 times by Gallup polls—not only for his preaching but for his character and his welcoming, approachable spirit.
Even though he had retired from the ministry by 2005 and passed away in 2018 at age 99, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association still creates radio and television programming. It also maintains the Billy Graham Library in his hometown near Asheville, North Carolina.
Anne Graham Lotz’s brother, Franklin Graham, leads Samaritan’s Purse, an international ministry. Its focus is to share the good news of Jesus and provide disaster relief and aid during international crises.
How Did Anne Graham Lotz Become a Christian?
Due to his busy schedule preaching around the world, Billy Graham was rarely home with his family. Anne and her siblings have mentioned that their mother and grandparents mostly raised them. Despite his absence, Graham desired to share God’s love with his children. Anne became a Christian at age eight after watching The King of Kings on Good Friday. The 1927 movie tells the story of Jesus from birth to public ministry to crucifixion to resurrection.
What Are Anne Graham Lotz’s Main Messages?
Anne started teaching the Bible locally in North Carolina at Bible Study Fellowship as a young woman and mother in her twenties. Eventually, she started accepting invitations to teach the Bible nationwide, and then globally. Like her father, her message has been clear—to speak to people’s hearts. With each opportunity, she invites non-Christians into a life-changing, personal relationship with God through His Scripture. Additionally, she has aimed at resuscitating the hearts of God’s people, like her father who recognized Christians can profess God but have hearts far from Him.
Inspiring Quotes by Anne Graham Lotz
“The items I have not prayed about—the people and problems, the relationships and responsibilities, the activities and attitudes, the schedules and stress, the entertainment and exercise, the pleasures and pastimes, the decisions and dreams, the desires and diets, anything and everything—are those areas of my life where I am not dependent upon Him. If my heart’s cry is for more of His fruitfulness, then one of the goals of my life needs to be more consistency in my dependency.” — My Heart’s Cry
“Our homes are to be places of moral, spiritual, social, emotional, and physical benefit. If you think that what you do within the privacy of your own home is your own business, think again! God has made it His business, and you and I will experience serious consequences if we refuse to follow His directions for our homes.” — God’s Story
“What a blessed relief to be reminded that God knows me—in fact, He knows me so well He understands that apart from Him I can do nothing.
I don’t have to prove myself to God.
I don’t have to worry about disappointing God.
I don’t have to earn His respect.
I don’t have to deserve His blessings
I don’t have to work hard to be accepted.
I don’t have to produce a quota.
I don’t have to be successful.” — Just Give Me Jesus
“One day, following weeks of tension and fighting triggered by these differences, (my husband and I) began to make a study of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We recognized our own particular spiritual gifts, and they were totally opposite from each other. This led us to recognize other differences, acknowledge those differences by name, learn to accept them in each other, and then grow to appreciate them for the balance they give to our marriage relationship. I cannot adequately convey the blessing this has been, the peace that has resulted, and the love that has increased between us simply because after years of doing it “my way,” we finally followed the Creator’s wise directions for diversity in our marriage.” — God’s Story
10 Best Books by Anne Graham Lotz
Anne Graham Lotz has written a dozen books, including the bestseller, Just Give Me Jesus.
In Just Give Me Jesus, Anne reflects on seeking comfort in Scripture, specifically the Gospel of John, during a two-year period in the late 1990s when her son endured cancer, her mother’s health was failing, her husband’s dental business burned down, and a hurricane wiped out their home. After the book's release, Anne offered worldwide arena-sized revivals, also called Just Give Me Jesus, to inspire women toward a deeper relationship with Christ.
In My Heart’s Cry, Anne emphasizes the saturating of one’s life with Christ to:
- A satisfying and loving marriage
- Overcoming fear
- Realizing hope amid grief
- Loving others who are difficult to love
- Be bold in speaking the truth to others
- Experiencing greater fruit in serving God
In God’s Story, Anne journeys with the reader through the first part of Genesis and reflects on the first stories of God’s Creation and God Himself. She highlights the character of God—specifically His beauty, majesty, compassion, and infinite power—which is still at work in the lives of His Creation.
In Why: Trusting God When You Don't Understand, Anne addresses God's teachings on the universal problem of suffering. She reflects on the grief and suffering of Christ to answer questions such as:
- Does God care about our suffering?
- Why doesn’t God prevent suffering?
- Why doesn’t God answer our prayers?
- Why won’t he perform a miracle to overcome our suffering?
Additionally, she has written these books:
4. My Jesus Is . . . Everything!
5. Life is Just Better . . . With Jesus
6. The Magnificent Obsession: Embracing the God-filled Life
7. Expecting to See Jesus: A Wake-Up Call for God’s People
Lastly, Anne has written daily radio messages, Daily Light for Daily Living, carried by more than 700 outlets globally.
What Can We Learn from Anne Graham Lotz’s Life?
Anne Graham Lotz has been single-minded in wanting to continually orient the heart, mind, and soul toward Christ. She wholly believes in a life-transforming, personal relationship with God, rooted in the Bible, for herself, and for others. For example, she encourages her audience to surrender the cares of the heart to God in prayer, creating a greater dependency on Him. She emphasizes that every aspect of our lives, including our homes, is God’s business and should be in line with His will for our lives. Yet amid all the struggles, she encourages us to focus on God’s love and that we don’t have to earn His love. Additionally, she recognizes the work and gifts of the Holy Spirit in our lives and the lives of our loved ones.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Brian Blanco/Stringer
Nate Van Noord is from Detroit, MI, a graduate of Calvin University, and has taught high school history for many years. He loves to bike, run, and play pickleball, has been to about 30 countries, and is a three time winner of NPR's Moth Detroit StorySlam competitions.
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