What does it mean to "wait upon the Lord" and how do I do that?

Perhaps one of the most difficult things to do as a twentieth century American Christian is to wait. We want things now! Of course, there is nothing wrong with wanting something done as soon as possible, provided the decision to want something has been made prayerfully, on the basis of scriptural principles, and with a view to glorifying God; often it is not. Herein lies both the problem of seeking instant gratification and the key to waiting upon God. Let me explain:

The Israelites were always to seek God's will in matters pertaining to life and godliness. Everything from warring with neighboring nations to building the temple all had to be done according to God's will. When Israel decided to attack a nation that God told her not to, she lost. It is interesting that believers can become so caught up in their own personal devotion to God to the extent that they can actually disobey God, thinking all the while that they are in full compliance with His will. Jephthah found this out the hard way, hastily vowing to sacrifice to God the first thing that came out of his house if God gave Israel victory over the Ammonites. How sorry he must have been when he saw his daughter coming to greet him. The point is that God always wanted Israel to bring all of their decisions to Him in prayer and confidently execute them upon full confirmation obtained from His Word via the priest, a prophet, or the written law. That way, all hasty decisions could be avoided.

We find this principle in the New Testament and no more vividly than in Acts 1. Jesus commissions the disciples, and us by extension, to be His witnesses around the world after they receive confirmation from the Father. I can just imagine their frustration: "We have been personally trained by Jesus himself for three and a half years and passionate about spreading the Gospel and He wants us to wait?". They may have been passionate and well equipped to minister, but they had not yet received the go-ahead from God, which was to be their strength and power. The power from on high was the indwelling Holy Spirit given as God's confirmation to the new local church ministry. Whenever we act without proper biblical authority we will be acting on our own strength, not on God's.

To wait upon the Lord, then, means to make sure that we have biblical grounds for doing whatever we do before we do it. And we do that by knowing what God's Word says.