Silence and Solitude

My husband and I participate in Silence and Solitude at our church, it is an amazing experience. I hope that if you ever get the chance to participate in such an event, please try it.  Our silence and solitude experience lasts 4 hours.  I would love to attend a week-long event.  If you are an active person, it might be more difficult for you to be in solitude.   I call it "fasting from noise"!  

For my Lenten Journey this year, I am spending an hour daily fasting from noise.  According to Wayne Cordeiro's book "Leading on Empty", there are...

Four Ways to Live Your Life

1.  Reaction – passively dominated by urgencies and pushy people
2. Conformity – succumbing to the fear of man and just being and doing what everyone else wants, which is not necessarily following God’s will for you personally
3. Independence – nonconforming rebellion in the name of freedom, marked by doing only what you want and ignoring godly authority over you
4. Intentionality – reverse-engineering your life and living it prayerfully and purposefully, journaling your thoughts throughout the day, and using silence and solitude to hear from God and organize your life

My goal is to be more like #4 - Intentional!!!  I use to conform to what others wanted from me, but not anymore.  I conform to what God, wants from me and then myself. While on YouVersion, I came across Silence & Solitude: Helpful Worship by Mark Driscoll.   I found it helpful. 

  

Four Ways to Change Your Life

1. Heart change – conviction from God and repentance from you
2. Study – research and fact-finding for how to change your life, which includes reading the Bible and other books, speaking with people you know who have wisdom, etc.
3. Plan – ongoing, detailed, and prayerful life organization
4. Action – working your plan and making changes as life requires  

Be sure to do your research, make a plan and then put it in action, the change will come.

Explanation of Silence and Solitude
Silence is voluntary and temporary abstention from speaking so that certain spiritual goals might be sought, it requires Discipline.  Silence is observed in order to read, write and pray, there is no outward speaking but there are internal conversations with God.
Solitude is the Spiritual Discipline of voluntarily and temporarily withdrawing to privacy for spiritual purposes. The period of solitude may last only a few minutes or for days. As with silence, solitude is sought to be alone with God.

Priceless Reasons for Silence and Solitude
I have been in Bible study in Luke for 7 weeks and I'm reminded that there are many reasons for being disciplined in silence and solitude, but the most important reason that stands out to me; follow the example of Jesus.  He knew the importance of being disciplined and being alone in silence.  

1. To be like Jesus I must discipline myself to find times of silence and solitude. 
2. The reason I must do this is to find spiritual strength. To hear the voice of God better.
3. It's hard to fast from "background" noise; there is so much of it in our world. But there are times to eliminate the voices of the world in order to hear the voice of God without distraction.

At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. 

Luke 4:42

To Express Worship to God
The worship of God does not always require words, sounds, or actions. Sometimes worship consists of a God-focused stillness and hush. It's not just a silence that's enjoined, but a silence "before the Lord God!”  There are times to speak to God and there are times simply to behold and adore Him in silence. That's the silence of worship.
 

To Express Faith in God
The simple act of silence before the Lord, as opposed to coming to Him in a wordy fret, can be a demonstration of faith in Him.
 

Twice in Psalm 62 David displays this kind of faith. In verses 1-2 he affirms, "My soul waits in silence for God only; from Him is my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken." Then in verses 5-6 he says again, "My soul, wait in silence for God only, for my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be shaken."

To Seek the Salvation of the Lord
A time of silence and solitude to seek the salvation of the Lord can refer either to a non-Christian seeking salvation from sin and guilt in Christ or it can apply to a believer seeking God's salvation from certain circumstances. 

The words of Jeremiah in Lamentations 3:25-28 are appropriate in either case: "The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him. It is good that he waits silently for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that he should bear the yoke in his youth. Let him sit alone and be silent since He has laid it on him. Let him put his mouth in the dust, perhaps there is hope."

To Seek the Will of God
The reason we love to spend time of silence and solitude with God is to discern His will about a matter. 

Jesus did this in Luke 6:12-13 when deciding whom to choose as the disciples who would travel with Him: "And it was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God. And when day came, He called His disciples to Him; and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles."

To Learn Control of the Tongue
Learning to keep silent for extended periods of time has help me control my tongue more often. Learning control of the tongue is critical to living like Christ. How can the disciplines of silence and solitude teach tongue control? On a long fast you discover that much of the food you normally eat is not necessary. 

When you practice silence and solitude, you find that you don't need to say many things you think you need to say. In silence we learn to rely more on God's control in situations where we would normally feel compelled to speak, or to speak too much. 

The skills of observation and listening are also sharpened in those who practice silence and solitude so that when they do speak there's more of a freshness and depth to their words.   

Distractions from Silence and Solitude

1. Lack of planning -make sure you have a plan and stick to it
2. Background Noise - time to turn off the phones, laptops, etc.  
3. Busyness - people have so many excuses why they don't have time to read the Bible, pray or be silent.  They chose to busy with life instead of worshiping our Father. 
4. People Stealing Your Joy - take a look at those around you, are they stealing your joy?  They are full of drama, inconsiderate and demanding.  Pray for them but don't them steal your joy in Christ!

God often makes His will clear to us in public, but there are times when He discloses it only in private. To discover it requires the Disciplines of silence and solitude.

Are you ready to spend some quality time in Silence and Solitude?  It can be 5 minutes a day or plan an hour a week; however you want to do it.  Make a plan, you won't regret it.  

In Him, 

Martha