Former New York Yankee shares his prayer to God on his last bat

Derek Jeter reveals his inspiring prayer before he hung up his cleats.

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When Derek Jeter looks back on his successful career that spanned an impressive 20 years with the New York Yankees, he credits his Catholic faith for playing a role in his success.

As Essentially Sports pointed out, in Jeter’s autobiography, the shortstop talked of the last time he picked up his bat to hit:

I kneeled and prayed the way I always have. But this time my prayer was a little different. I said, ‘God, if I have one more big moment in me, now is the time.’”

Although not overly vocal about his faith, the five-time World Series champion has shared in the past how his Catholic faith had been instrumental in his career. In fact in an interview with Lisa Jandovitz and Msgr. Jim Lisante in 2009, the former Bronx Bomber gave a little insight into his Catholic faith, and how his grandmother used to take him to church.

However, it was interesting to hear Jeter’s response to this question asked by the clergyman: “You have a great life in many, many ways. Do you ever find days where you say to the man upstairs, ‘Why me? Why’s Derek Jeter given this opportunity?'”

The dad-of-three had an interesting reply:

“Um, no, I try not to ’cause I don’t want Him to change His mind. I don’t know, I mean yeah, I’ve been pretty blessed in terms of – this is what I’ve wanted to do. But I appreciate everything that’s happened. I don’t wanna take anything for granted and I live life to the fullest every day.”

And perhaps that’s a reminder to us all when life seems to be going well; to make sure we use our time well and to appreciate every moment and blessing we have.