A Prayer for Protection While Traveling

Father, the bags are by the door and my stomach is already tight, picturing the long stretch of road ahead, the unfamiliar exits, the headlights coming the other way in the dark. I am asking You to go before me on this journey.

I confess that travel undoes me. I rehearse the crashes, the wrong turns, the delays, as if my worry could steer the car. All it really does is rob the trip of any joy before the wheels even move.

So I hand You the route, the weather, the strangers I will pass, and the tired hours behind the wheel. Keep my eyes clear and my reflexes sharp. Hold the others on the road as carefully as You hold me.

You promised to watch over my coming and my going, both now and forevermore, and I take You at Your word. Be the lane I cannot see and the calm beneath my hands.

Bring me to where I am going and back again, not because I deserve it, but because You are good. Let me arrive grateful, and remember that I never traveled alone. Amen.