There are few things more important in life than praying and waiting.

Nevertheless, few of my prayers last over one minute. And I doubt I’ve ever sustained a prayer over two minutes. I pray at a “comic book” level.

To be sure, if I’m “relaxing”—such as when I used to jog before I broke my ankle in 2003—I often fall into a stream of consciousness.

As I jogged at dawn, my thoughts flowed from one thing to another, including brief prayers. In that sense I prayed for over an hour as I saw the dawn, savored the fresh air, heard birds sing, and felt strength and optimism surge through me (or, on other mornings, as I felt the icy cold wind, stumbled in the dark, heard cars racing by me, and did my best to ignore the pain in my feet).

Nowadays, I sense the same strength and optimism when I rise before dawn, make a hot cup of coffee, and sit quietly (perhaps reading my Bible) on the patio of my house in Florida. I fall into a stream of consciousness. I see the dawn. I savor the fresh air. I look out over a small lake. I love watching ducks paddling and birds flying, all while they squawk and sing to greet the dawn.

There’s something sacred about watching and feeling the start of something new. Whether the dawn of a new day. Or the dawn of a new way of living—the Way of Jesus!

The first believers (who are described in the early part of Acts) did not pray at my “comic book” level. This “group numbering about a hundred and twenty” “all joined together constantly in prayer” (Acts 1:15,14), sustaining an intensity of prayer akin to reading War and Peace or The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

They prayed constantly as they waited for the gift of the Holy Spirit to come upon them, as Jesus had promised (Acts 1: 4,8).

It’s hard to wait.

I’m sure it was hard for those first believers to wait. They must have been as impatient as small children (and big “children”!) waiting to open their gifts on Christmas morning.

It is even harder for Americans to wait. We’re so out of practice! We demand fast food. We demand instant credit. We break the speed limit to arrive a few minutes sooner. We flit from channel to channel on the radio and TV. We seek instant gratification.

Like those first believers, we must learn to wait.

Waiting is the way we show we have accepted our human limitations.

Waiting is the way we show we are dependent on the gifts God gives us—especially the gift of the Holy Spirit.

And waiting is the way that we discipline ourselves to accept God’s authority to set the times and dates of events in our life. And of events in our world. (Acts 1:4-8). We must wait for God to act in God’s good time and in God’s good way.

I learned this discipline while waiting for my ankle to heal after I broke it.

For several months, I slept in my den on the first floor. I could not walk up the stairs to the second floor of my house where my shower was located.

I had to use my arms to lift myself up each stair. I would sit on each step, pausing to catch my breath. This was an exhausting task, especially in the first few weeks until I increased my upper body strength. My muscles ached like I had the flu.

When I reached the hallway at the top of the stairs, I faced an even greater challenge. Somehow, I had to get off the ground so I could “walk” using my crutches.

To accomplish this miracle, I dragged myself down the hallway, until I reached a low couch that rose a few feet off the ground. I lifted myself onto it. I collapsed, sprawling across it, panting and gasping until my heart stopped pounding and I caught my breath. My weakness and my depression overwhelmed me.

One day (as my overburdened heart pounded and as I waited to catch my breath), I noticed something hanging on the wall that I’d never seen before. It was a little plaque with a cute drawing of “comic book” children that quoted this wisdom from the 27th Psalm:

Wait for the LORD;

be strong and take heart

and wait for the LORD.

(Psalm 27:14)

I must have always been in too much of a hurry before to notice this wisdom. And I was always too healthy before to heed this wisdom.

But now—like those disciples 2,000 years ago—I had to learn to wait. I had to accept the thorn in my flesh. I had to let God’s strength be made perfect in my weakness (2 Corinthians 12:7-9). I had to learn to wait, be strong, take heart, and then wait some more.

So, as you follow God’s plan for your life and for our world, spreading Light and overcoming Darkness, be prepared to spend a lot of time praying and waiting. Because you will need to learn the discipline to apply this wisdom from the 27th Psalm:

Wait for the LORD;

be strong and take heart

and wait for the LORD.

(Psalm 27:14)

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This blog is based on pages 15-17 of my book, Lighting the World.