By Pastor John

I recently audited a course at seminary and heard the professor say, ?To grow spiritually we need to practice the spiritual discipline of solitude.? As I heard these words I considered how challenging it can be at times just to find time to pray. But to remove oneself from every responsibility to be alone with God, without interruptions, and with any frequency, seems an even greater task.

But Jesus practiced this discipline. In Mark 1:35 we are told that ?Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.? (NLT) And he would invite his disciples to do the same. For example, in Mark 6:30-31 Jesus said to his disciples, ?Let?s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.? (NLT) Jesus pulled them away from all of the noise and distractions of ministry so that they could be together with him in a quiet place to find rest.

So why are silence and solitude so important to our spiritual growth? Here?s why: When we seek God, away from all of the noise and distractions that fill our day, we are able to center our minds on him, and meditate on his word, and discern his voice. The truth is, we are surrounded by noise and distractions of all kinds. We are always plugged in to social media and always checking our phones to see if we have texts or missed messages. It?s as if we don?t want to miss anything important. Even when we take time to pray, we stop to check our phones for messages. All of the noise and constant interruptions do not allow us to give God our undivided attention. It seems that there is no time to just be still and know that he is God (cf. Psalm 46:10), no time to meditate on his word, and no time to discern his voice in our life. How can we truly grow spiritually in this environment?

To grow, we need to make time to be alone with God, away from all the noise. Going on a one day retreat would be great. But most of us can?t leave behind our responsibilities for a day. We can, however, block off time each day to be alone with God, without interruptions. We may have to wake up earlier, when everyone is still asleep or go to sleep later, when the house is quiet. We may have to find a park bench during our lunch break to have alone time with God. One thing is clear. If we want to grow spiritually we must carve out uninterrupted time from our day to be alone with God. We may think that we do not have the time to do this. But if we set aside our computers and mobile devices we would discover that we do have the time.