The Discipline of Solitude
This sermon comes from a short series at Door of Hope Church in Portland on 12 spiritual disciplines essential to the Christian life. Pastors Josh White and Tim Mackie teach that these disciplines “mark the life of a maturing follower of Jesus.” As an athlete trains for a competition, we as Christians must train ourselves in these practices with intention, humility, and balance, preparing ourselves for “performance moments” when we can display Christ’s character in us (see 1 Timothy 4:7-10).
One such discipline is solitude – a practice modeled by Jesus throughout the Gospels. As seen in His temptation in the wilderness, His retreating into prayer alone, or His pleading before the Father in Gethsemane, Jesus committed Himself to private, undistracted time with God. Tim Mackie points out that in Jesus’ example we find...
Solitude’s goal is intimacy with God.
Solitude is about focus – creating times and spaces in which we say “no” to everything but God.
Solitude provides freedom from managing others’ perceptions of ourselves. It is a time when we can lay ourselves bare before a God who knows us best.
Solitude fosters the belief that we can’t live adequately without depending on God.
Solitude, as modeled in Scripture, involves meditating on the Word of God, an act of “whispering” its truth to ourselves (see Psalm 1).
Solitude is a form of self-denial, a discipline that identifies us with Jesus in His last moment alone with God, in agonizing prayer just before He submitted His will to God at the cross.
We don’t know exactly how Jesus spent His time alone with God, but we do know the priority He placed on solitude in His life. It’s quiet, undistracted moments with God that strengthen our devotion to Him, enhance our joy in community, and train us to live like our Savior.
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.”
Painting shown: “Christ in the Desert” by Ivan Kramskoi