Chapter 3 The Practice of Solitude

Jesus and Solitude The most striking thing about Jesus' approach to solitude is its deliberateness. He withdrew regularly. Not occasionally, not when He had time, not when the crowd let Him. He intentionally stepped away from the noise and the need in order to be alone with the Father. Mark 1:35 captures one instance: very early in the morning, before anyone else was up, Jesus got up and went to a quiet place to pray. This was after an extraordinarily demanding day of healing and ministry. The natural human response would be to sleep in. Jesus got up early and left to be alone. This is not coincidence. It is pattern. Jesus modeled the rhythm of solitude as essential to sustained ministry — and He did it in the middle of the most demanding ministry the world has ever seen. "But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." — Luke 5:16 Building a Practice of Solitude Start small. You do not need a monastery to practice solitude. You need a consistent commitment to being alone — genuinely alone, without a device in hand — for a regular period of time. Twenty minutes of silence in the morning, before the day begins, is more valuable than it sounds. Sit. Be still. Don't pray immediately — just arrive. Let the noise settle. Then begin to pray, or simply to be present to God. Build upward from there. A quarterly half-day of solitude and silence. An annual day-long retreat. As the practice develops, the capacity for it grows — and the fruits of it begin to show up in your preaching, your relationships, and your inner life. Start with 20 minutes. Just 20 minutes of genuine silence, without a task or a device. Do it for 30 days and see what happens to your soul.