Former Lakewood associate pastor John Gray hospitalized with pulmonary embolism

John Gray, a former pastor at Houston's Lakewood Church who now leads his own congregation in South Carolina, is in the hospital battling a rare type of blockage in his lungs.

His wife, Aventer, posted about it on Instagram, explaining that Gray went to the emergency room on Thursday night and was immediately admitted to the hospital with a saddle pulmonary embolism in the pulmonary artery and more lung blood clots.

"The clot burden is severe and only God is holding it in place," Aventer said, writing that her husband will need two types of surgery within the next 24 hours due to the pressure on his heart.

"To place this in perspective," she continued. "The doctor said that people have come into the hospital dead with this exact scenario he walked in with. The doctor said God has to keep him through the night and he can not move, not even get up to walk to a bathroom."

A pulmonary embolism is a blockage in one of the pulmonary arteries in the lungs. The Mayo Clinic explains that in most cases, the pulmonary embolism is caused by blood clots that travel to the lungs from deep veins in the legs or veins from other parts of the body.

Gray is the pastor of Relentless Church in Greenville, South Carolina.

Before moving there, he was an associate pastor at Lakewood, here in Houston.

"My family and I stand in need of a miracle," Aventer said.