A Liturgy for Business Travel

Introduction

In the event of business travel, as distinct from family travel, there is one plain and simple principle: You must have a plan to avoid sin. This requires a liturgical remedy. Traveling for work is when you are at your weakest. A sudden detachment from family life heightens the temptation to sin. In the nurturing biosphere of home you are surrounded by people who know you, care about you, and notice you. But when you step out the front door and join the procession of work travelers, you find a society of frightfully indignant people pretending they are free to deny or doubt every conceivable reason to act like a Christian.

Amid the impersonal routine of business travel, everything seems trivial and transient, including your usually vast reservoir of scruples. Moving among the teeming swarm means the strangers won’t notice when you sin. Neither will the people back at home. You are surrounded by a multitude of people who don’t notice you. When you are at home, you are relating to people you know, people you love, and people you will see again. This accountability helps you discern boundaries, morality, proportion, and meaning. At home, you can sense personal responsibility and live within familial duties. But when you travel, you are tempted to live by a half-witted notion of decency. The monstrous impersonality of business travel sets off a series of movements that promote moral evasion.

Business Travel Liturgy

Since all men are only what their liturgy makes them, you should have a liturgy for your business travel. Consider the following liturgical pattern when you travel for work.

Before you leave home

Tell your kids you love them. Hug them and look into their eyes. Don’t assume goodbye and “love you” is superfluous. Give each child a charge and tell them you’re going to ask them about it when you return. Encourage your wife and reassure her of the love you share.  

When the plane prepares for takeoff, pray for your family while you are away.

“God our Father, while I travel, give my family unity, love, and mutual service. Give each member a spirit of understanding toward each other. Help love cover a multitude of sins. Help them to run from quarrels and bitterness. Instill in them forgiveness for the failures of others.  Inspire a spirit of patience so they can bear with one another’s faults, even when they are tired, grumpy, or irritated. Help the children not disregard their mother and help my wife not disregard the children. Give them this day, hope, laughter, and respect. Amen.”

When the plane lands, thank the Lord for his protection and ask him to give you grace for faithful living.

“Father, thank you for your protection on this flight. While I am away from home and unencumbered by family, give me wisdom and self-control to avoid lustful gratification. Keep my mind active with virtuous tasks. Eliminate the desires of the old order and give me the desires of the new order. I may be tempted by a devil, but I’m not driven by his destiny. Help me to pursue life rather than death; light rather than darkness; resurrection rather than decay. Amen”

When you get in the rental car, pray for your oldest child.

“Most gracious God, please bless her with a godly husband. A man who lives with integrity. A man who sees that responsibility and love are inseparable. A man who will lead her to Christ. Help me to model for her what kind of man she should marry. Help me to live with righteousness when at home and away, when people are watching and when no one is watching. Protect her from the temptation to gossip, whine, and quarrel. Help her to be secure in your approving love. Amen.”

When you eat a meal alone, pray for God’s companionship.

“Loving Father, join me at this table, for I was not created to eat alone. Comfort me with your Spirit. Help this momentary loneliness be a reminder of your good gifts of family and friendship that ordinarily surround me. Give me eyes to see the loneliness of others and to show them hospitality. Amen.”

When you arrive at the hotel, pray for your second oldest child.

“Alpha and Omega, grant my son a mind to know you and a heart to seek you. Give him maturity beyond his years. Give him a desire to please you. Make him ardently desire light over darkness. Give his life purpose. Help me to lead him to the righteous path, away from the dismal and degrading slavery of pornography. Give him self-control with his words and his eyes. Renew a steadfast spirit within him. Amen.”

When you are tempted to sin.

“Dear Father, I need you. Here I am again in weakness, desiring that which is only bad for me. My soul and my body want the wrong thing. Dear Jesus, cut off the destructive desire. My sin will make me miserable. Your commands will make me happy. Dear Spirit, deliver me from the lie of inevitability that says, ‘Sin cannot be helped because I cannot help it.’ It’s a damnable lie. Remind me of your promises, that your designs are for my good and Satan’s designs are for my ruin. Give me victory over sin just as Christ had victory over death. Amen.”

When you go to bed, thank God for his grace throughout the day.

“Most High God, thank you for the blessings of this day, for bringing me to my destination, and for your provision of food and shelter. Forgive me for when I have sinned in thought, intention, speech, and action. Forgive me for when I have chosen darkness over the light. Make me new in the grace of Christ. Guard me from being blind and blundering. As I sleep, comfort my soul and fortify me for the challenges tomorrow. Amen.”

When you wake up, pray for new morning mercies.

“O Lord, this day help me to hope all things in love. Help me to cultivate thankfulness for your many blessings. Help me to serve with joy and cover the failings of others with love. Because of my fear, lust, and selfishness, I do not have the strength to be faithful. Work your enabling grace in my heart that the will of the Father, the faithfulness of Christ, and the breath of the Spirit would animate my life. Amen.”

When you arrive at your place of business, pray for your day of work.

“Heavenly Father, thank you for my current employment and the way you provide all that is needed. Help me to work productively, creatively, and kindly. Give me eyes to see the needs of others and bless them. Give me patience, joy, and compassion to work as a legate of your kingdom. Amen.”

When you leave for the airport, pray for your wife.

“Abba, Father, please fill my wife with a transcendent sense of your love. During the menial moments of the day—cleaning the mess, doing the laundry, changing a diaper—help her to find purpose in the unseen and repeated acts of love. Give her eyes to see that she is building the Kingdom, nurturing souls, and creating a culture that receives and distributes divine grace. With each task, help her to find the fixed energy of service. Reminder her that just as the small child is dependent on their mother, so are we dependent upon Christ. Amen.”

When the plane prepares for takeoff, pray for your third oldest child.

“O God, may her heart be drawn to you. When she is feeble and jealous; when she is selfish and petty; when she is insecure and spiteful, arrest her with your grace and cause her to turn to you in simple prayer. Give her the strength to love her siblings, respect her mother, and walk in peace. Amen.”

When the plane lands, pray for your fourth oldest child.

“Christ taught us to receive the Kingdom like this infant. It is because this baby is helpless and dependent that they are a model of faithfulness. Help everyone in the house to pause and look at the helpless babe and intuit the lesson that this baby is a type of those who enter the Kingdom. Make this child a little evangelist of what it means to receive the gift of God. Help this child to grow up with dignity and worth, to be one who can comfort the dying and love the downcast. Help him to emulate your mercies in every detail of his life. Amen.”

When you get in the car to drive home, pray for your reunion with your family.

“Heavenly Father, though I am tired, fill me with joy as I reunite with my family. Give us hugs, love, and laughter. Help me to attentively listen to the chats of my children and hug my wife with tenderness. Your grace is stronger than my weariness. You don’t expect me to be the coolest dad, the most refined, or the most charming. You expect me, above all, to love. Help me to love my family and see their needs. Amen.”

Memorization

When you travel, set yourself a memorization task. Before you leave on the trip, announce to your family what you intend to memorize. When you return, give a scripture recitation to the family. During the trip, whenever your mind starts to wander, cut off the temptation by going straight into the memorization assignment. Begin by memorizing 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8.

“Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. ² For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. ³ For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; ⁴ that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, ⁵ not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; ⁶ that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. ⁷ For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. ⁸ Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.”

Conclusion

This liturgy can be modified to fit your travel schedule. Edit the liturgy and make it work for you. Personalize the prayers and customize the outline. Discuss with your wife and friends how to make every moment holy. The one thing you cannot do is go on business travel without a plan for fidelity to the Lord.