Lesson Notes

Introduction

• Brief Recap
  • Based on Don Whitney’s Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life
  • Focused on developing spiritual habits for the purpose of godliness – growing nearer to Christ and growing more like Christ
  • 1 Timothy 4: 7-8 – “Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.“
• Tonight we consider habits that should be very polarizing right now
  • Silence & Solitude!
  • Many of you will be like – no thanks, I’ve got too much of that right now!
  • Others will be like – are you crazy, my house is full of people who are testing my sanity, I never get silence and solitude!
  • This is different – this is silence & solitude for the purpose of godliness!

Godly Silence & Solitude

• Godly silence = voluntary and temporary abstention from speaking so that certain spiritual goals might be sought.
  • Read the Bible, meditate on Scripture, pray, journal, etc.
  • You don’t speak out loud, but certainly talk to God or yourself silently 
  • Or still your mind and focus upward on God
• Godly Solitude = voluntary and temporary withdrawal to privacy for spiritual purposes
  • Could be a few minutes on your deck, out on a walking trail, or a few days away
  • To practice spiritual habits without interruption or be alone with God and think
  • I do this every couple of months, as things build up and I sense there’s much to reflect on and sort through – usually I spend a day at home with the Lord
  • My dream is BGAV’s 72-hour silent retreat in October!
• Generally silence and solitude are practiced as a paired set
• Christlikeness requires both biblical fellowship (talking about God and the things of God) with others AND silence & solitude – one keeps us fresh, the other grows us deeper
• North American culture has made us very uncomfortable with quiet and with being alone – for most people there is continuous background noise in our lives
  • Silence and solitude can be very, very hard when we begin!
  • It requires discipline for those who never turn off the background sounds of TV, iTunes, radio, etc.
  • I love it and crave it the more I cultivate it in my life
  • Many of us are now in an intense period of training in silence and solitude!
• Reasons for Practicing Silence and Solitude
  • To Follow Jesus’ Example
    • Temptation – 40 days of solitude and fasting
    • Matthew 14: 23, “And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone“
    • Mark 1: 35, “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.”
    • Getting alone with God in silence and solitude was clearly a priority to Jesus. If the Son of God needs to get away from the crowds, hustle, and bustle, you better believe we do too!
  • To Minimize Distractions During Prayer
    • Focus our minds in prayer – it’s hard to pray when there are lots of sounds and activities around us, whether family or news talking heads
  • To Worship
    • Worship can include God-focused stillness
    • Habakkuk 2: 20, “But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.”
    • Zechariah 2: 13, “Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.“
    • Sometimes proper worship isn’t song or prayer, it’s awe-filled silence
  • To Express Faith in God
    • Sometimes it takes more faith to shut up before the Lord than to pray
    • Psalm 62: 5-6, “For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.“
  • To Be Physically, Mentally, and Spiritually Restored
    • We can exhaust ourselves with our responsibilities – to God, family, employer, etc.
    • Sometimes we just need to get away to recover
    • Mark 6: 30-31, “The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.” That sounds like us pre-COVID!
  • To Gain a Spiritual Perspective on Things
    • Silence and solitude are a good way to step back from the worldly perspective we constantly receive via social media, internet, news, etc. 
    • Those generally give us an unbiblical perspective, even for Christians
    • Get away, get into the Word, and get near to God to get a different and altogether healthier perspective
  • To Seek the Will of God
    • Like Jesus when selecting Apostles, Luke 6: 12-13, “In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles:“
    • Whitney, “God often makes His will clear to us in public, but there are times when He discloses it only in private.”
    • That has been my personal experience – often a little time of silence and solitude clears up a considerable amount of swirl
  • Fundamentally, intentional silence and solitude provide time to think about life and seek God – to become more like Jesus

Ways to Practice Silence & Solitude (Better)

• If all this sounds great but you haven’t been doing it, stop dreaming and start doing!
• Minute retreats – whenever you have a minute at a red light, or while kids are quiet, take that minute and consecrate it to God
  • Think about Christ – bring a verse to mind, remember something about Jesus you appreciate, remember your morning reading, speak a quick praise or prayer
• Set aside daily quiet time with God – silence and solitude every day is tremendously important to regular growth in Christ
  • Bible reading, meditation, prayer, and perhaps journaling
  • It’s incredibly important, so make the time – it won’t happen by accident!
  • You say you’re too busy to do it, but actually you’re too busy not to!
  • This is  how you tap into God’s power, peace, and presence amidst daily frenzy
  • Jim Elliot, “I think the devil has made it his business to monopolize on three elements: noise, hurry, crowds…Satan is quite aware of the power of silence.”
  • This also equips  you for both minute retreats and extended silence and solitude
• Get away for extended silence and solitude
  • Could be using an empty room at church for a few hours – I sometimes use the Worship Center during the week
  • Or stay home when everyone else is at work or school – not effective now!
  • Or go away to a retreat center, beach house, cabin for a couple of days.
  • Prepare a plan/schedule!
    • You should be flexible, but have a plan
    • 4 hours of silence is a long time if you’ve never done it before!
    • Ex: 15 minutes listening to worship music, reading psalms of the day for 30 minutes, meditation for 15, praying Scripture for 20, journal for 15, be silent before God for 10, thinking about a particular topic for 30 minutes, pray for 15, devotional reading for an hour, pray for 10, journal for 20.
  • Don’t let doing this “some day” excuse not seeking silence and solitude daily!
  • On the other hand, be intentional, set a date and mark it on your calendar way in advance so it doesn’t just keep getting put off till “life slows dow”
  • For many of us, life has slowed down – so try this at home right now!
• Over time, find several good places for silence and solitude
  • Somewhere at  home, in your neighborhood, within a short drive, within a few hours drive
  • Gives you options based on what you’re planning
  • If you have small children, you might need to resort to creativity
    • A. W. Tozer retreated to his furnace room
    • Susanna Wesley would put her apron over her head and read her Bible and prayed underneath it
    • Jonathan Edwards walked for hours in the fields near his home
    • Child swap with a friend or your spouse so they can also have free time
  • Normally the church building is a good spot in the afternoons – but not right now!
• Warning – after extended silence and solitude, reality can be jarring, so prepare yourself for re-entry!

Concluding Thoughts

• Whitney, “When we consider it in the light of Scripture, we realize that it would be neither right or desirable to be cloistered from our God-given privileges and responsibilities involving other people. Biblical reality calls us to family, fellowship, evangelism, ministry, and other aspects of life together in the local church for the sake of Christ and His kingdom. And yet, sometimes our souls crave separation from noise and crowds into silence and solitude. Just as we must engage with others for some of the Disciplines of the Christian life, so there are times when we must temporarily withdraw into the Disciplines of silence and solitude.”

Homework

• Schedule an extended time of silence, make a plan for the time, and do it!