What I want may not be what I need�

On my occasional trips to conferences or to visit our children, I can never be accused of traveling lightly.  No matter how hard I try, I always end up packing for all of the �what if� possibilities of weather and events that might occur in my few days away from home.  I am astonished at the ability of some people (my children and husband included!) to travel lightly. 

However, even my lightly traveling companions would be hard pressed to literally heed Jesus� instructions to his followers as they prepared to preach the Good News:  �Take nothing for the journey, neither walking staff, nor traveling bag, nor bread, nor money.  Don�t even take a change of clothes.� (Lk.9:3)

Whether traveling on the road or in our ordinary day to day lives, discerning between what we truly need and what we might want is a major challenge.  In our consumer-minded society, it is almost unthinkable to not be prepared for all eventualities.  If we don�t assume responsibility to meet our own needs, who will? 

The prayer in Proverbs is definitely counter-cultural to our materialistic mindset:  ��I ask of you, deny then not to me before I die: �give me neither poverty nor riches; [provide me only with the food I need;] Lest, being full, I deny you, saying, �Who is my God?�� (Prv. 30:7-9)

What is it that I ask of my God in prayer?  After all, Jesus did encourage us to, ��ask, and you shall receive�.� 

Perhaps it is not so much WHAT we ask of our God as much as it is HOW we ask of our God�

As I pray from my needs in my day to day experiences, I go to my God with what I best perceive as my need at any given time.  I may need God�s inspiration in a particularly difficult consultation with my colleagues.  Or I may be painfully aware of my need of God�s healing of my mother�s illness or my friend�s struggle within a domestic violence relationship.

However, it is not only WHAT I ask of God that is important, but HOW I ask.  My challenge often is to approach my God with my needs in a way that trusts that God will meet those needs�perhaps not in my prescribed way, but rather that God will be present with me in my need.  God will walk with me in my journey.

I find that when I spend less time in trying to figure out WHAT God should do to take care of the needs as I perceive them, and I allow God to be with me in my needs, I am provided with what I really need on my journey.

It is then that I may even discover how to travel a bit more lightly�whether it is in my day to day journeys or on those travels away from home�trusting that I don�t need as much as I thought or perceived that I did.