Time to ponder

This post is a continuation of the thoughts expressed in the previous post. An interesting situation occurred today. I work in a language computer lab. It's a desk job and when it's not busy I have time to study and do homework. I recently picked up a long afternoon shift on Monday's considering that I have two essays due weekly on Tuesdays. It would be a good opportunity to do reading and work on my papers. Today, however, when I showed up for work I was surprised to find that the power was out in the entire building. To make a long story short I found myself in a situation where I was restricted to sitting behind a desk, couldn't do my homework, couldn't access anything to read, had no one to talk to, no paper to write a letter, no music scores to study or listen to, etc. When given the time to merely ponder, what do I ponder? What should we be pondering? Here was the perfect opportunity to do just what I've been saying I don't have time to do, and I didn't know what to do with it. Do you think "pondering" is something that we have to practice and must effective and productive pondering be accompanied by reading or discussion? Is it futile to ponder without study? Is this why scripture study is nearly always coupled with prayer?
If you were given similiar time to ponder, what what you ponder?