The Third Prayer

I briefly referenced this in a post on my old website but I’ve never fully explained how I came up with the website name The Third Prayer.  A year ago, one of my clients, the former mayor of the City of St. Peters, took me out to lunch as we wrapped up a leasing and zoning deal.  On our way back to his office he started talking about his faith and I let him know that I was Catholic as well.  He then opened his visor and there were about 20 prayer cards stashed away.  He handed me the Infant Jesus of Prague prayer card and told me that the prayer has gotten him through a lot of hard times in his life. 

I took the prayer card and really didn’t think anything of it at first.  It sat in my car for about a week and then finally one day on my way to work I picked it up and said the prayer.  At the end of the prayer there are three separate petitions.  My first petition was for Frank to find a job that he loved.  At that time, Frank had already been out of work for two months.  His unemployment was really starting to affect our marriage.  It seemed like we were arguing everyday and neither one of us could see the situation through the other’s eyes.  Receiving the prayer card was perfect timing because it helped me to pray for Frank’s job search day.  I was finally asking God for help.

The second petition was for our marriage.  I knew we would get through this hard time but it was getting really hard.  We were so focused on his job search that we had stopped focusing on our marriage.  So everyday I was praying for our marriage.  I was asking God to make us strong through this experience and to bless our marriage in unimaginable ways.

The third petition was for a baby.  Since we got married Frank and I wanted to start a family.  We had actually discussed trying to start a family a couple months after we were married.  But things just didn’t fall into place (which was a hidden blessing because Frank was so stressed with work.)  When Frank quit his job we knew we would have to postpone starting a family.  It broke my heart because I had such a desire to be a mother.  That alone probably was the added stress on our marriage.  So my third petition was for God to open our hearts to having a baby when the time was right.  I prayed that God would let us know when it was the right time and that he would provide.

I started the Infant Jesus prayer in mid to late September (funny how a year later I would give birth to Mary Rene.)  Every morning at the stop light in front of my office I would say the prayer.  On Dec. 4th, Frank was hired at SLU Hospital.  So my first prayer was answered.

The next day when I got to the stop light I praised God during the first petition for Frank’s new job.  The second prayer stayed the same because no matter where our lives lead us, our marriage can always use prayers!  And the third prayer, having a baby, stayed the same but now it had more meaning.  That day I felt God telling me to move ahead.  Twenty four days later, Mary Rene was conceived.  The Third Prayer was answered!

I think my friend Joanne was the only one who picked up on what my third prayer was when I originally posted the Infant Jesus message.  After she mentioned it I started referencing my desire to have a child as the third prayer.  When I decided to move websites I wanted a new name that reflected who I was.  The Third Prayer seemed obvious to me.  So here I am (as I type this my third prayer is lying in my lap) living out the third prayer.  What a true blessing.  I can’t wait until Mary Rene is old enough so I can explain how she came to be in my prayers every morning, months before she was born.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 10th, 2008 at 10:44 am and is filed under Faith. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.