Wait and Pray -- Friday Five

Sally writes: Part of the Ascension Day Scripture from Acts 11 contains this promise from Jesus;

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Then he was taken from their sight into the clouds, two angels appeared and instructed the probably bewildered disciples to go back to Jerusalem, where they began to wait and to pray for the gift Jesus had promised.

Prayer is a joy to some of us, and a chore to others, waiting likewise can be filled with anticipation or anxiety....

So how do you wait and pray?

1. How do you pray best, alone or with others?
Alone. Although I participate in a weekly prayer group, alone is better for this introvert.

2. Do you enjoy the discipline of waiting, is it a time of anticipation or anxiety?
I can deal with waiting. I wouldn't say it was a joy, but it isn't anxiety. "I have learned to be content..."

3. Is there a time when you have waited upon God for a specific promise?
yes. And sometimes He says "no". Sometimes He just says "later".

4. Do you prefer stillness or action?
Stillness, I may be lazy.

5. If ( and this is slightly tongue in cheek) you were promised one gift spiritual or otherwise what would you choose to receive?
Discernment so when someone does something stupid, or mean, or out of the blue, I could know what the daylights they were thinking when they did it and how to most appropriately deal with this oddity. Rebuke, ignore, hug? sometimes it just really isn't clear.

and, to Answer GannetGirl's additional question: My favorite book on prayer would have to be Brother Lawrence, Practicing the Presence of God.