Spiritual Disciplines: Solitude

“All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” —Blaise Pascal (1623–1662)

The introverts reading this blog post may already be cheering. I’ll pretend I can faintly hear you from this distance! Solitude? Spending time by myself? “Sign me up,” you quietly say aloud as you type it out on your phone. In a busy world, we are all pulled away from this healthy practice by the demands of work, family, friends, and more. But solitude is much more than simply alone time and it is certainly different from doomscrolling alone in your bed at night.

Two weeks ago, I defined both the spiritual disciplines and, at the same time, any good faith attempt to follow Jesus well, with the statement “following Jesus in the overall style of life he chose for himself.”

(If you missed it, you can catch it at this link. Last week, our first spiritual discpline was the intense study of God’s Word.)

There is much that can and should be said about all the spiritual disciplines, but my posts are focused introductions that spotlight our Lord Jesus. He is the only perfect person in all of human history, so those of us who know how very, very good he is desire to become like him in our character. Also, human transformation (changed lives) really can happen. I’ve seen it happen and I’ve experienced it.

Solitude (and, with it, times of silence) is an old spiritual discipline that does connect back to Jesus’ own practices that we can see in the Gospels. Again, solitude, as a spiritual discipline, is more than being alone. Rather, solitude is a purposeful time spent with God. In many instances, you may spend that time with Christian music playing where you can hear it, even if only faintly. You may spend that time praying aloud to him. But in other instances, you might pray silently and hold back from talking out loud to yourself. (I do encourage you to consider engaging in a time of silent solitude from time to time.)

Solitude is a purposeful time spent with God.

Let’s briefly look at five times Jesus spent a period of time in solitude and, potentially, silence. Though each instance is a period of purposeful solitude, each instance will be for a different purpose.

Luke 4:1-15. This passage is Luke’s account of Jesus’ famous confrontation and temptation by Satan himself. It comes right after Jesus’ baptism by his cousin John the Baptist in the Jordan river. Luke 4:1-2 say, “Then Jesus left the Jordan, full of the Holy Spirit, and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over, he was hungry.”

Between the account in Luke’s Gospel and the one in Matthew’s Gospel, we can see that Jesus does not have his disciples because he has not called them yet. He is completely, one-hundred percent on his own in the wilderness. He participates in this to test himself against the temptations of the Tempter-in-Chief, the Original Tempter, Satan. How well would you and I do against the temptations of Satan himself if he, personally, were the demon testing us? And what if you and I were each on our own for 40 entire days, no cell phone, and worst of all no food? I don’t know about you, but I would probably fold pretty quickly. Jesus, though, proves his character not simply to himself, but to the world!

In Luke 4, Jesus spent time in solitude in order to prepare for a major task. Specifically, the beginning of his public ministry. As you read, you will see that his return to society leads directly into ministry (Luke 4:14-15) and, soon after (Luke 5), the calling of his first disciples.

Jesus spent time in solitude in order to prepare for a major task.

You and I have major tasks in our lives. We begin a new job. Or we begin a new project at work. Maybe you are about to begin the active stewardship of an aging or ailing loved one who needs regular or constant care. That’s a major task! If Jesus spent some time in solitude, it would be wise for you and I to do the same. (I don’t recommend 40 days every time, but who knows? Maybe you do actually need a period of time like that. Most people will occasionally need one to three days, in my rough estimation.)

In the Gospel of Mark, we see another instance of Jesus seeking a time of solitude. Chapter 6 reports the tragic death of his cousin, John the Baptist. When that happens, Jesus hears about it through John’s disciples (Matt. 14:12). In this period where he would obviously grieve John’s death, as well as the manner of his death, Jesus seeks time alone (Mark 6:32), but the crowds find him. In his great compassion, Jesus puts off rest and serves the crowds by teaching them and ultimately feeding the five thousand men.¹

After the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus sends the crowds home and he also sends the disciples on to Bethsaida by a boat. Mark 6:45-47 show us, “Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After he said good-bye to them, he went away to the mountain to pray. Well into the night, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he was alone on the land.” In other words, when the work was done, Jesus spent time alone to rest or recharge, as well as to grieve. Please do not mistake my point: not all grieving can or even should be done in solitude. Let the church help you carry your burden (Gal. 6:2)! The point I hope you are seeing is that even Jesus, the only perfect person, chose to prioritize having times of solitude to rest after hard work, and in order to grieve.

Notice also that “he went away to the mountain to pray” (emphasis added). His solitude for rest and grief was not “alone time.” In fact, he was spending time with someone: Jesus spent time in prayer with God the Father. When was the last time you spent alone time with God instead of with your phone? I don’t mean 5 or 15 minutes in the morning before you go to work. When was the last time you took real time out of your schedule to devote it to one-on-one time with the Lord? Jesus did it. Let’s learn from him (Matt. 11:29).

Jesus spent time in solitude to rest and, after the death of his cousin, to grieve.

Turning back to Luke, we find Jesus spending time in solitude before making an important decision. Luke 6:12-13 tells us about that moment. “During those days he went out to the mountain to pray and spent all night in prayer to God. When daylight came, he summoned his disciples, and he chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles.”

We know from Luke’s Gospel that Jesus has already engaged in truth-telling and preaching. So this time of solitude is distinct from the kind where he prepared for a major task, as discussed above regarding Luke chapter 4. Rather than a major task, this solitude precedes an important decision or question: who will be the twelves disciples raised to a special level of Jesus’ investment in terms of time and mentoring (discipleship)? Time alone with God allowed Jesus the space of prayer and “unhurriedness” to come to peaceful clarity.

Who amongst us could not use peaceful clarity when making an important decision? Do you remember the last time you were rushed into a truly important decision? It was pretty awful, right? And you might have made the wrong decision in the moment, where you selected an option that seemed good in the moment but when you had more time to consider you realize it was not the wisest or best option. Consider this. Even Jesus needed time alone with God before making an important decision. We are not better or wiser than Jesus. Surely, we need time alone with God before making important decisions, too.

Jesus spent time in solitude before making an important decision.

Luke 22 is a powerful and important chapter. Amongst other important parts of the life of Jesus, Luke records another time of solitude, spent for a different purpose than the others we have examined so far.

Luke 22:39-44 reports on Jesus’ time in solitary prayer on the Mount of Olives just prior to Judas’ betrayal and the arrest of Jesus. (The entire moment covers verses 39-46 before rolling into Judas’ betrayal in verse 47.) Here are the verses: “He went out and made his way as usual to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. When he reached the place, he told them, ‘Pray that you may not fall into temptation.’ Then he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and began to pray, ‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me ​— ​nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.’ Then an angel from heaven appeared to him, strengthening him. Being in anguish, he prayed more fervently, and his sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.”

You may already know that by this time in Jesus’ life, he is abundantly aware of what he is about to experience at the hands of the religious leaders and the Romans. He knows the Messiah is to also be the Suffering Servant, who would bear the earthly weight of physical beatings and literal bodily death. He knows the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world is the sacrificial lamb, the Lamb Who Was Slain, because the wages of sin is death, which is to say he would bear the heavenly weight of the wrath of God. He would receive in his person the righteous penalty for all the sins of every man, woman, boy, and girl who would put their faith in him. He knew the burden to come. Further, Jesus was and is not just God. He was at his conception and he continues to be fully human, as well. He felt what any other human being would feel in that context. He felt stressed. He felt so stressed that the Gospel reports him sweating blood (Luke 22:44).²

So, stop and look at what Luke is reporting to us. Jesus felt stress, incredibly high levels of stress considering his near future. What is he to do? Blow off steam with a game? Numb the stress with alcohol or mind-altering substances? No. This person is Jesus. He took that opportunity to spend time in solitude during a time of stress.

Jesus’ solitude during this time of stress served the purpose of remembering both God’s will and God’s mission. God’s will was that he himself would bear the sins of his people. The judge would get off the judgment seat and put himself in the execution chamber to take the death penalty for the convicted criminal. God’s mission is to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). But he can’t do much seeking or saving if he doesn’t die for the sins of his people. So Jesus’ time of solitude is clearly a time of prayer (Lk. 22:41-42) and it is a time where he can clarify those two issues. There is no doubt in my mind that Jesus sought this time in order to walk with peace, strength, and dignity through his betrayal, trials, sufferings, and death.

Maybe this example is the easiest pill to swallow. It is common practice even for people who don’t consider themselves Christians to pray to God for help during times of trouble. There is a popular song on the radio nowadays where the American theologian singer and guest wrestler on WWE Jelly Roll says, “I only talk to God when I need a favor, and I only pray when I ain’t got a prayer.” My point here is not to speak against this practice, but rather to encourage it. Pray at all times (1 Thess. 5:17). But when the times are tough, you have to turn to your Heavenly Father. If anyone has help for you and a way out, it is him.

Jesus spent time in solitude during a time of stress (or, distress).

We have come to our last passage. I know we have spent a lot of time in the Gospel of Luke, but go into it with me one more time. In Luke 5:15-16, we read about Jesus’ practice after ministry efforts. Those verses tell us, “But the news about him spread even more, and large crowds would come together to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. Yet he often withdrew to deserted places and prayed.”

I certainly hope you will notice that Jesus uses times of solitude and prayer to rest. (Notice, it shows just him, not Jesus and the disciples.) But I hope you will especially notice in this passage the powerful little adverb “often.” Jesus “often” withdrew to deserted places to pray, it says. How incredible is that? I know it can be hard to imagine or wrap your brain around it, but Jesus really did spend relatively frequent times of solitude for the purpose of prayer. We can barely squeeze in 5 minutes of Bible reading a day, while also spending countless hours listening to podcasts, debating the finer points of our favorite baseball team, or catching up on two to five hours of whatever show has our attention lately. Jesus’s frequent habit of solitude for the purpose of prayer may be a wake-up call kind of challenge, but I think it is the one we need.

Jesus often spent time in solitude in order to pray.

“But this is Jesus we’re talking about,” you object. You would be right in that objection if you mean we cannot achieve perfection through our efforts. Jesus, however, calls us to “learn” from him (Matt. 11:29). And we can become like him if we will continue to “follow Jesus in the overall style of life he chose for himself.” He did it. We can do it. Let’s do it!

Allow me to close with one more question and response. Are any of the situations I described in this post unique to Jesus? Of course not. We all prepare for major tasks, return from hard work, grieve losses, prepare to make important decisions, experience stress, and need to pray. None of us are immune from these areas of life. If we will spend time alone with God, he will guide, encourage, and provide for us like he has done before.

Sometime soon (maybe today) turn off your phone. Put away the work project. Ask someone to watch the kids for a little bit. And find time to be genuinely alone with the Lord God. He wants you to spend time with him. He wants you to know him better. He wants you to take up his yoke and burden. He wants you to learn from him! He wants to bless you. So take some time very soon and spend it alone. Spend it alone with God and spend it purposefully, for the sake of the richness of your life in Christ.

Come back next week for another post on a different spiritual discipline.

1. The Bible reports a count of 5,000 men and mentions that there are women and children, too. We don’t have numbers for the women and children, but it is a safe assumption to estimate Jesus fed anywhere from 18,000 to 25,000 people through that miracle! ↩︎
2. This occurrence is a real physiological phenomenon. You can read about it in multiple sources, but I was first exposed to this information in an incredible book called The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel. I highly recommend it to you. ↩︎