Looking back over a long life filled with decades of ministry, I think of the potholes I hit and the chasms I plunged into and wish I had been better fortified for those times.

I wish I had been prepared for the unexpected, those events and situations and people and temptations that lay in wait for me, just around the corner. Poor, unsuspecting me, I rushed headlong into the day without a clue that a bear trap was waiting just ahead.

We’ve all seen it. An accident on the highway brings traffic in the opposite lanes to a standstill. Emergency workers tend to accident victims, law enforcement officers are everywhere protecting the scene, no motorists are going anywhere. Driving past, you see the traffic is backed up for miles. Further along the highway, you come upon drivers who are headed toward that accident scene at 70 and 80 miles per hour. They have no clue what’s just ahead, and you have no way of alerting them. You hope they stop in time and do not create new problems.

Life is a lot like that. An accident lies in wait for you, just ahead. Some church member or an outright enemy is loaded for bear and you are about to stumble upon them. Temptation with your name written all over it lurks in the path you have taken this morning. The company you work for has decided to hand you a pink slip or transfer you to the city of your dreams or the land of your nightmares. A new boss has been hired and he/she has issues with you, even though this morning will be the first time you’ve met.

You whistle as you stride happily down the sidewalk or into the office. Life is good. You are ready for anything this day hands you.

You think.

Trouble ahead. Be prepared.

That’s where prayer does its best work.

Our Lord walked to the gravesite of Lazarus. His friend has lain dead for so long the body is decomposing. Everyone watches to see what Jesus will do. As far as we can tell, the Lord has never done anything that approaches this in magnitude. On other occasions, He raised a little girl dead one hour and a young man dead for no more than a day. But nothing He has faced comes close to this challenge.

Jesus does something fascinating and instructive for us. He stops to pray. We’re not surprised by that, but look at what He prayed.

“Father, I thank You that You heard me when I prayed.” (John 11:41)

Got that? He has already done His praying. He’s ready for whatever He encounters today.

Jesus was fortified for the demands of this day. Prayer had done its work in His life.

Consider the great failure in the life of King David. We could wish he had had the forethought to have prepared for his new life as a retiree by praying for fortification.

“Now, it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle….David stayed at Jerusalem. Now, when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing….” (II Samuel 11:1-2)

Nothing was ever the same for David after that moment. Temptation blind-sided him and caught him unaware and he fell headlong into that bottomless pit.

We wonder. What if when his life circumstances began to change (“I’m getting a little old for this warrior bit; it’s time to stay at home more”), he had prayed for the Father to fortify him for whatever was ahead. What if he had been watching for temptation and been prepared for it, and thus saved himself, his nation, generations of his descendants, and of course the Uriah family incredible grief and misery.

Job said, “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look on a virgin.” (Job 31:1) We assume this means he had committed himself in advance not to look lustfully on young women. Had David made such a covenant, he would have done well. Many a modern fallen servant of God looks back ruefully, and thinks the same thing.

Our Lord gave us the instruction we need for this area and these times of our lives.

“Lead us not into temptation. Deliver us from evil.” (Matthew 6:13)

Jesus told His disciples, “When the shepherd puts forth his sheep, he goes before them.” (John 10:4)

Let us pray.

“My Lord, go before me today. I do not know what tasks and temptations this day holds, what demands I will encounter, what foes may be lying in wait. Tomorrow is an even greater mystery. I cannot foresee the people I will meet or the situations in which I will find myself.

“Lead me, O Lord.

“I am aware that testing is for my benefit in order to purify and strengthen me. However, I count any day a good one when I was not placed in a critical situation where I could have blown it all and sabotaged the work You are doing in my life.

“Go before me, Jesus, my Shepherd. Make the way safe ahead of me. Lead me in the path of righteousness for Thy name’s sake.

“Prepare me for what I will see, be glorified in what I will say and think and do.

“I do not want to stay home and avoid all difficulties. In my heart of hearts, I want my life to make a difference in this world. Therefore, I willingly venture into unsafe places for Jesus’ sake.

“The enemy awaits, Father. He and his army have laid their improvised-explosive-devices at critical points ahead. Keep me alert.

“Fortify my armor in the places where I will be attacked. Fortify my faith for the doubts that will arise. Fortify my mind for the questions, my heart for the stresses, my soul for the demands.

“And when the day is over, may I look back with joy at having sensed Thy presence at key moments, known Thy leadership in crucial decisions, and felt Thy power in moments of weakness.

“Thy will be done in me, O Lord. For Jesus’ sake. Forever. Amen.”