In A Slow and Certain Light, Elisabeth Elliot tells of two adventurers who stopped by to see her, all loaded with equipment for the rain forest east of the Andes. They sought no advice, just a few phrases to converse with the Indians.
She writes: "Sometimes we come to God as the two adventurers cames to me--confident and, we thing, well-informed and well-equipped. But has it occurred to us that with all our accumulation of stuff, something is missing?"
She suggests that we often ask God for too little. "We know what we need--a yes or no answer, please, to a simple question. Or perhaps a road sign. Something quick and easy to point the way."
She concludes, "What we really ought to have is the Guide himself. Maps, road signs, a few useful phrases are good things, but infinitely better is Someone who has been there and knows the way."
(This article was taken from Illustrations for Preaching and Teaching, editted by Craig Brian Larson.)
