Solitude Discipline

Introduction

Hello Everyone! 9 disciplines over the last 3 days.

Bible Intake

Prayer

Worship

Evangelism

Discipleship

Serving

Stewardship

Fasting

I hope that these 8 disciplines have encouraged you all. We have one more to go.

The discipline that we are going to be going over next is silence and solitude. This is one of my favorite disciplines because of how influential it has been in my walk. This is such a big thing for our culture because we're always on the Internet now and have our cell phones and we're always just moving 1,000,000 miles an hour but The thing is is that when we stop and we really focus on being in the presence of the Lord it's amazing what God can do. That's why the discipline of solitude is so important. So let’s dig in.

Explanation of Silence and Solitude

1st, I want to explain what silence and solitude means. The author of the book that we based this series off of find the discipline of silence as the voluntary and temporary absence from speaking so that certain spiritual goals may be achieved. Sometimes this is silence in order to focus more on reading the Bible would be to meditate on scripture to pray to journal and so on.

Colossians 3:2 says to set our minds on the things that are above. Paul here is getting at the idea that one must focus on God intentionally. Psalm 46:10 says be still and know that I am God. This is the same sort of idea both of these scriptures they remind us that we have to slow down focus on God and be in his presence. This is stepping away from your responsibilities and distractions and focusing in on the presence of God. The reason this is such a big deal is because it's so much against our culture.

The culture says to go go go consume as much as you can as fast as you can. This is why Social media is so popular. It's because you can sit there for hours and get instant gratification by swiping your finger.

Paul combats this idea with being still and seeking the presence of the Lord, and that's really what silence and solitude is. Stepping away from whatever it is that's distracting you and being solely focused on the presence of the Lord can have many great benefits.

Valuable Reasons for Silence and Solitude

First you must understand that Jesus practiced solitude. He modeled it for us. Look for example, at Matthew 4:1 we see that Jesus is led into the wilderness in order to be tested and tempted; he intentionally goes and puts himself in solitude.

You see in Matthew 14:23 Jesus after a busy day he went up on a mountain by himself and he prayed to the father.

We see in Mark 1:35 that Jesus he rose up early in the morning when it was still dark departed and went to a desolate place where he prayed.

All three of these examples are prime situations where Jesus intentionally secluded himself in order practice silence and solitude. That Jesus was a very busy man but he understood the value in silence time with the Lord. Time with no distractions it's just him and the Lord.

Practicing Solitude can help you to minimize distractions. Most of the time we have things trying to get our attentions. It may be a phone, a job, a spouse, a friend, or maybe a child, whatever it is that is grabbing for your attention understand that we must be disciplined. We have to make sure we give our time to important things. And we have to ensure that one of these things is time spent undistracted with the Lord.

Another thing that practicing silence and solitude can do is it helps you to express worship to God. Worship doesn't always mean singing were even praying to God but sometimes it could just be the orientation of her heart. When you practice solitude you're making an effort to intentionally focus and set your heart on the Lord and only on the Lord and that really shows that you love and care about him, and it does bring him praise. It shows dependency on him.

Sometimes when we approach the Lord, we may be so filled with his love that we can't even express words. It's times like these that, even just being in God's presence, he knows exactly what's in our hearts, and he is glorified.

We should practice solitude because it expresses faith in God. Being in silence with the Lord it shows we are faithful because we don't even need to say anything or do anything we just know that he's there and we rest in the promise that he knows exactly how we feel. Psalm 62:1-2 says, “for God alone my soul waits in silence from him comes my salvation he is my rock and my salvation my fortress I shall not be greatly shaken.” When we practice solitude and silence like David does here, it expresses our faith in God.

When we practice solitude and silence we can be physically and spiritually restored. When we take time to rest and be in the presence of the Lord we can find strength in whatever situation we're in. Strength that comes from the Lord in his presence but we first have to make the effort to seek him. Paul in Philippians chapter 4 wrote that the key to contemptment was finding his strength in the Lord and not in himself. The discipline of Silence and Solitude encourages you to find faith in Him.

We can also regain a spiritual perspective. Sometimes as humans we get so caught up in the things that are going on around us that we forget to recognize who God is and what he's done. When we meet him in silence, we recognize who he is and what he's done in our lives.

And lastly when we seek the Lord in silence and Solotude it helps us to be more in tune with the will of God. . One of the main reasons that someone would sit in solitude is because silence of being alone helps us to hear from God. Sometimes the world around us can distract us from the things that God is saying to us and so when we seek him out and solitude and silence, it helps to get those distractions away and for us to really focus on what he's saying to us. Similar to how fasting helps too recognize idols in our lives. Silence can help us to determine the will of God in our lives. Don’t get so caught up in doing and saying that you forget to listen to how the Lord may be speaking to you.

All these things they really highlight the importance and the benefits for why to practice silence and solitude. At the end of the day this is a discipline now and so we can talk all day about why it's needed but I want to give you guys some steps on how to actually make it happen in your everyday life.

Suggestions for Silence and Solitude

In the book that we base the series off of it it gives us many suggestions personality and solitude. Want to share a few of them with you. One of the things that it says is that you should find empty time in your day and just be intentional with it even if it's only a minute here or there waiting maybe for a bus or for food to be done cooking. Take that time and be intentional with it sit in the presence of the Lord un-distracted.

Another suggestion is to try to do this daily. Make is a daily habit even if it starts as only for a minute a day. Every day take whatever you've committed to doing and sit in silence With the Lord. Do everything that you can to make sure your silent alone time with he Lord happens. Listen we are all busy. But we always make time for the things we prioritize. Prioritize silence and solitude and understand how God is really is for our spiritual walk.

And remember that you may need to get creative. I know a lot of you have children and jobs and other things that take up your time. It may be hard to find a quiet place to seek the Lord. But notice that Jesus, he prioritized it and he would depart and walk up mountains in the middle of the night when everyone else was still sleeping, just so he could be alone. Seek this discipline with the same amount of effort. Do whatever you have to do to seclude yourself and to be intentional about seeking the Lord, listening to what he has to say even if it means less time sleeping or watching tv. I promise you it is worth it.

There have been many times in my life when I took the time to really seek out the Lord and just listen to what he has to say instead of seeking him and asking for things. I just waited for him to speak to me, it's amazing what he's done. It's amazing the thing is that he has pointed out to me that I had never noticed before.

My hope is that you all would make an effort to seek the Lord in silence and solitude, and that you would hear and see that the Lord is moving. Following in the example of Jesus and practice silence and solitude daily. Thank you again for allowing me to speak on silence and solitude this evening. (Maybe afternoon)

1. What typically gets in the way of silence and solitude?

2. How can you put this discipline into practice this week?

3. Can this be something that you do daily?