Please Pray for Shep

Please pray for the son of a friend of our family.

We first met Shep’s mom when our eldest daughter started cheerleading for the local homeschool squad. Juliet was a Senior when our girl was a Freshman, but we fell in love with her open heart and upbeat attitude.

Her life took an unexpected turn when she became a teenage single mom to a premature baby she named Jon Shepherd, but nicknamed Shep.

She’s grown into an amazing woman over the past few years. She’s balanced school, work, and motherhood with grace and the determination to provide a good life for her tiny family. The whole time she has spoken very publicly about the trials of being a young mom, her unwavering faith in Christ, and why she’s staunchly Pro-Life no matter how difficult this road has been.

Then one day, she began dating this guy

He fell in love with her and her boy. We were all delighted one morning to see that announcement that they had quietly slipped off and gotten married.

Today, this family is curled up in chairs at Children’s Hospital in Oklahoma City….waiting and praying. From his Mom’s Facebook page:

“On June 30th, Jon Shephard Johnston had an accident at the pool and, as a result, has been tirelessly fighting for his life since then. Shephard is a feisty and stubborn 4 year old, who will not give up this fight easily. After he was found in the pool, Shephard was nonresponsive. Immediately, his family began CPR and called 911. After the paramedics arrived, chest compressions were administered for 45 another minutes. Finally, a pulse was found. Though he did gain a pulse, Shephard has been unable to breathe without the assistance of a ventilator since the accident. Showing his fighting spirit, Shep has been hanging on for dear life. Battling low oxygen levels, questionable blood pressure, body temperature complications, swelling of the brain, and fluid in the lungs.”

His mom has asked that people join their family in praying the following prayer for Shep’s recovery:

We pray in unity;

Father, we declare that You alone are the giver of life. We stand in unity to declare that Shephard will live and not die. You are the author and finisher of our faith and by the power and blood of Jesus You are covering Shephard as he sleeps. Father, we pray you wake Shephard’s spirit to stand and fight and bring the light into the darkness/fear in his mind and give him the courage to stand.

Lord, we pray You would hold his brain in your hand and keep it from swelling and you would bind it, not allowing it to go beyond the bounds that you gave it at creation and there would be full life in his brain! We pray that You would protect his brain stem and keep it in tact and You would control the beat of his heart and his pulse and blood pressure. Lord, that you would hold his lungs and keep them clear and Father you would remove the liquid that he has swallowed, remove the putrid water from his body. That Your living water would fill him and it would quench every putrid thing. Just as you raised Lazarus from the dead, open Shephard’s mind to hear our call and walk in life as the gift of God you created him to be. His name means protector and You use him to touch life after life with a spark! We pray that you would bring that spark to blaze brilliantly and it would shine forth and his eyes would gleam and glimmer like once there was and would be again, brighter than before. We rebuke the spirit of death and trauma over Shephard, Juliet and Jacob’s lives. Satan you have no authority over them and we claim them to come out of darkness and into the light; out of death and into life, you may not rob them of life. We accept you as his great Physician and we accept you, Father that you will stand and bring him to wholeness and healing and full restoration, by Your stripes Jon Shephard Johnston is made whole. In Jesus name. May he rise up to be a man who acts justly, loves mercy and walks humbly with God, just as David. (Micah 6:8) A man who runs after God’s own heart; a man who says of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” Psalm 91 Amen

“We are speaking this prayer over Shephard. If you are praying for him, please say this prayer. We are uniting and only speaking life into him. We need a miracle and God can give it to us. When I feel lost, defeated, and discouraged, God is my rescue and comfort.” – Juliet Williams, Shep’s mom