601 SFL: Section 7 silence solitude

Spiritual
Disciplines for
the Christian
Life
Donald S. Whitney
Sunday, 8 September 13

Silence
and
solitude...
for the
purpose of
godliness
Chapter 10, DonaldWhitney,
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life

Silence and solitude can be
appealing and transforming -
consider Moses and Paul both
of whom were transformed by
years of solitude in the
wilderness.
Whilst we are obviously made
for interaction with other
people, and God, we need to
realise that the Sprit of God
calls within us to a deeper way
which often involves silence
and solitude, Ps 42:7

Silence and solitude can be
appealing and transforming -
consider Moses and Paul both
of whom were transformed by
years of solitude in the
wilderness.
Whilst we are obviously made
for interaction with other
people, and God, we need to
realise that the Sprit of God
calls within us to a deeper way
which often involves silence
and solitude, Ps 42:7
Deep calls to
deep in the roar
of your
waterfalls; all
your waves and
breakers have
swept over me.

What are silence and solitude?
“The discipline of silence is the
voluntary and temporary
abstention from speaking so that
certain spiritual goals might be
sought...Though there is no
outward speaking, there are
internal dialogues with self and
God.This can be called “outward
silence.” other times silence is
maintained not only outwardly but
also inwardly so that God’s voice
might be heard more clearly.”

What are silence and solitude?
“Solitude is the discipline of
voluntarily and temporarily
withdrawing to privacy for spiritual
matters.The period of solitude
might last for minutes or days...and
might be sought in order to
participate without interruption in
other spiritual disciplines, or just to
be alone with God.”

- silence and solitude are
complimentary disciplines to
fellowship: without s&s we
are shallow, without
fellowship we are stagnant
- s&s are usually found
together - though they are
distinguishable

- culture often makes us
comfortable with noise and
crowds, we are not used to,
and often are not
comfortable with, the
practice of s&s
- yet there is good biblical
witness for these practices

To paraphrase Jean Fleming (Finding focus
in a whirlwind world),
“We live in a busy, noisy world.
Silence and solitude are not 20th
century words...which do not ﬁt into
our era of tv, video arcades and
joggers wired with earphones. We
have an aversion to quiet and an
uneasiness with being alone.”

Biblical reasons for silence
and solitude
Reasons for practicing s&s
include:
1. To follow Jesus’
example better
1. Lk 4:1, 14 Jesus, full of the
Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and
was led by the Spirit into the
wilderness...Jesus returned to
Galilee in the power of the
Spirit...

Biblical reasons for silence
and solitude
2. Matt 14:23 After he had
dismissed them, he went up on a
mountainside by himself to pray.

3. Mark 1:35 Very early in the
morning, while it was still dark,
Jesus got up, left the house and
went off to a solitary place, where
he prayed. (Note the context
here)
4. Lk 4:42 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. - again note the context
within the verse

Dallas Willard writes, “We must
reemphasize, the “desert” or “closet” is
the primary place of strength for the
beginner, as it was for Christ and for
Paul.They show us by their example
what we must do. In stark aloneness it
is possible to have silence, to be still,
and to know that Jehovah indeed is
God (Ps. 46:10), to set the Lord before
our minds with sufficient intensity and
duration that we stay centered on Him
– our hearts fixed, established in trust
(Ps. 112:7-8) – even when back in the
office, shop, or home.”

“Put yourself in Jesus’ sandals
for a moment. People are
clamouring for your help and
have many real needs.You are
able to meet those needs. Can
you ever feel justiﬁed in pulling
away to be alone? Jesus
did...he knew the importance
of being alone”
So what about you?

2. To hear the voice of God
better
- Elijah on mount Horeb heard the
still small voice (whisper) of God,
Habakkuk 2;, 1Paul Gal 1:17
It is worth noting we can still hear
God with other people etc.
around us - but it is also necessary
to take times away from such
distractions
We are often addicted to noise or
activity - even when reading the
Bible we often do need music etc.

2. To hear the voice of God
better
- Elijah on mount Horeb heard the
still small voice (whisper) of God,
Habakkuk 2;, 1Paul Gal 1:17
It is worth noting we can still hear
God with other people etc.
around us - but it is also necessary
to take times away from such
distractions
We are often addicted to noise or
activity - even when reading the
Bible we often do need music etc.
Arguably we are
the most noise
polluted
generation
ever, and most
in need of s&s

Jonathan Edwards on his future
wife, Sarah
“...this great Being, in some way or
other invisible, comes to her and ﬁlls
her mind with exceeding sweet delight,
and that she hardly cares for anything,
except to meditate on him—that she
expects after a while to be received up
where he is, to be raised up out of the
world and caught up into heaven; being
assured that he loves her too well to let
her remain at a distance from him
always.There she is to dwell with him,
and to be ravished with his love and
delight forever.”

To express worship to God
Worship does not necessarily require words, sounds or
actions - a God-focussed stillness and hush will do!
Habakkuk 2:20 But the Lord is in his holyTemple. Let all the
earth be silent before him.
Zephaniah 1:17 Stand in silence in the presence of the
Sovereign Lord, for the awesome day of the Lord’s judgment is
near.The Lord has prepared his people for a great slaughter
and has chosen their executioners.

There is a need to be silent before him - that is
worship - we do not always need to speak in order
to worship!
How often are you so overcome with God that you
cannot speak?

To express faith in God
Being silent before God can show
greater faith than speaking many
words of prayer / supplication
Psalm 62
I wait quietly before God, for my
victory comes from him. He alone is
my rock and my salvation, my
fortress where I will never be
shaken...Let all that I am wait
quietly before God, for my hope is in
him. He alone is my rock and my
salvation, my fortress where I will
not be shaken.

To express faith in God
Being silent before God can show
greater faith than speaking many
words of prayer / supplication
Psalm 62
I wait quietly before God, for my
victory comes from him. He alone is
my rock and my salvation, my
fortress where I will never be
shaken...Let all that I am wait
quietly before God, for my hope is in
him. He alone is my rock and my
salvation, my fortress where I will
not be shaken.
Isaiah 30:15
This is what the Sovereign Lord,
the Holy One of Israel, says:
“Only in returning to me
and resting in me will you be saved.
In quietness and conﬁdence is your
strength.
But you would have none of it.

David Brainerd,
“I withdrew to my usual place of retirement in great
peace and tranquility; spent about two hours in
secret duties and felt much as I did yesterday
morning, only weaker and more overcome. I seemed
to depend wholly upon my dear Lord, wholly
weaned from all other dependences. I knew not
what to say to my God, but only lean on His bosom,
as it were, and breathe out my desires after a perfect
conformity to Him in all things.Thirsting desires and
insatiable longings possessed my soul after perfect
holiness...

“...God was so precious to my soul that the world
with all its enjoyments was inﬁnitely vile. I had no
more value for all the favor of men than pebbles.The
Lord was my ALL; and that He overruled all greatly
delighted me. I think my faith and dependence upon
God scarce ever rose so high. I saw Him such a
fountain of goodness that it seemed impossible I
should distrust Him again, or be any way anxious
about anything that should happen to me.”
David Brainerd

To seek the salvation of the
Lord
- for a non-believer seeking to be
born again
- for a believer seeking deliverance /
salvation in a particular area
Lamentations 3:25-28
It is worth comparing the quote
from CH Spurgeon (next page) with
the practice of a generation who
think altar calls require music,
changed emotions, and a “good
preacher”

I commend solitude to any of you who are seeking
salvation, ﬁrst, that you may study well your case as in
the sight of God. Few men truly know themselves as
they really are. Most people have seen themselves in a
looking-glass, but there is another looking-glass, which
gives true reﬂections, into which few men look.To study
one’s self in the light of God’sWord, and carefully to go
over one’s condition, examining both the inward and
the outward sins, and using all the tests which are
given us in the Scriptures, would be a very healthy
exercise; but how very few care to go through it!
C.H. Spurgeon

To be physically and spiritually restored
Mk 6:31 shows Jesus doing that with his own disciples -
they had given out spiritually and physically and now
needed to be replenished
To regain a spiritual perspective
This brings a less worldly perspective to our lives and
thinking.
When Zechariah was told of Elizabeths forthcoming
pregnancy he doubted - he faced a time of silence and
seems to have reemerged with a new God-given
perspective on things

Taken from: http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/christian-solitude-mike-
wilkins-sermon-on-disciplines-general-89110.asp?Page=4
Whitney tells of how Billy Graham was being
pressured by Charles Templeton to give up his
belief in the inspiration and authority of the
Scriptures.Templeton had many convincing
arguments that Graham had trouble refuting, and it
was a tumultuous time for him. Graham took some
time in solitude and meditated on the many times
in scripture that it said “the Word of the Lord
came.” He saw how Jesus treated scripture, and he
realized that intellect alone would not solve his
problem – that it was an issue of faith.

So he placed his Bible on a stump and knelt down
and said, Oh God; I cannot prove certain things. I
cannot answer some of the questions Church is
raising and some of the other people are raising,
but I accept this Book by faith as the Word of
God.” And through that time of solitude and the
perspective he gained that night, Billy Graham was
shaped into the man the world has known since.

To seek the will of God
Lk 6:12-13 - when Jesus was choosing the 12
Hudson Taylor and his decision to go to the inland
parts of China came out his spending time alone in
silence, solitude (and I imagine reﬂection) on the
beach in Brighton on June 25th 1865

To learn control of the
tongue
Being silent for periods can help
us in gaining restraint over the
tongue - the Bible talks a lot
about the tongue
James 1:26, Prov 17:27-28, Ecc
3:7, James 1:19, James 3:2
When fasting from food we
discover how often we indulge to
excess - much the same is true in
speaking - in fact in practicing
solitude we rely more on God’s
control and feel less need to have
some form of input

Silence and solitude are an integral
and essential part of practicing the
other disciplines:
- part of personal worship
- part of Bible study
- part of prayer
- maximise your learning, journalling
and reﬂection
- most importantly they provide us
with time to think about, and listen
to, God

Austin Phelps, a minister from
the mid-19th century
“It has been said that no great
work of literature or science
has ever been produced by
someone who did not love
solitude. It is also a
fundamental principle of faith
that no tremendous growth in
holiness has ever been
achieved by anyone who has
not taken the time frequently,
and for long periods, to be
alone with God ”

So how do I do it?
1. Minute silences / retreats
At many moments in your day you
could choose to be silent and alone
Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, toThee;
Take my moments and my days,
Let them ﬂow in ceaseless praise,
Let them ﬂow in ceaseless praise.
2. A consistent daily time of
s&s
This is not easy when there is so much
that you must do - you really have
to plan such times

3. Getting away for a retreat of s&s
- a day, afternoon, evening, weekend
- nothing but a Bible and notebook
4. A special place
- at home, on a walk, locally
- ﬁnd places that have a “special sense of God” for you
- Susanna Wesley (mother of many children) used to
pull her apron over her head and retreat in prayer and
Bible reading

That
seems
like a
good
idea
Bye!

601 SFL: Section 7 silence solitude

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601 SFL: Section 7 silence solitude