In 2012, Willow Creek Church in Chicago, Ill., wanted to know how to be most effective in helping people grow in their faith.
Willow Creek used to be one of the largest churches in the U.S., with about 25,000 people attending prior to the pandemic. They were pouring thousands upon thousands of dollars into programs that they were hopeful would help people grow and mature. Obviously, wanting to use those dollars well, they wanted to know the most effective ways to help people grow. Was it small groups? Was it the Sunday morning programs? Was it service projects?
To find out, they hired the Stanford Graduate School of Business to do some research. Of course, measuring spiritual growth can be a tricky business, so they developed objective measures and then asked people who had come to faith at Willow Creek what had helped them most to grow in their relationship with Jesus. The name of the paper that came out of the research was “Willow Creek Community Church: What Really Makes a Difference?”
The result, though not surprising to many of us, had nothing to do with any program, small group, or Bible study. The most significant factors in their spiritual growth actually had nothing to do with the things the church had been paying thousands upon thousands of dollars to accomplish. I’m not saying those things didn’t have any bearing; I’m saying they weren’t the most significant things that helped people grow.
The single thing, hands down, that helped people become more like Jesus and do what Jesus did, according to Stanford’s research, was finding a quiet place to pray and read their Bibles. Overwhelmingly, that was what helped people follow Jesus; they developed the practice of silence and solitude.
What is the practice of silence and solitude? It is simply this:
Silence and Solitude: Intentional time in the quiet to be alone with God.
It’s nothing mystical, and certainly not rocket science, but I think for many of us, developing the practice of silence and solitude seems almost impossible because of our noisy lives. Most of us have become so accustomed to the fullness of our overbusy, marginless, noisy lives that sitting still to do nothing but talk to God, listen to God, and read His Word seems like an impossible task.
I think some of that is due to the crazy pace of modern life, but more than a modern problem, I think it is a human problem.
Blaise Pascal, the scientist and Christian thinker of the 1600’s, wrote:
“I have discovered that all the unhappiness of men arises from one single fact, that they are unable to stay quietly in their own room.”
—Blaise Pascal
This past week, we visited my daughter, Madison, and her husband in Sheridan, Wyoming, and I didn’t realize how noisy our neighborhood was until I spent this last week at her house. Our house sits not too far from Hermiston High School. People are driving up and down our street at all hours. We’re not too far from the fire station. Life Flight flies directly over our house, and the railroad tracks are about 50 yards from my front door. I have become so accustomed to the noise of our neighborhood that the first night at Madison’s, when I woke up at around 3 AM, I was a little freaked out by how quiet it was. There were no cars, no sirens, no trains, no skateboards, no life flight. It was so still and quiet that it immediately caught my attention.
We’ve become so accustomed to the noise in our lives that we just think that it’s normal. The busyness that keeps us on the edge of burnout is just a way of life. But Jesus has demonstrated a better way of life that leads us down the pathway of discipleship.
Today is the third message in our series entitled “Designed for Discipleship.”
Because a disciple is someone being formed by Jesus, following Jesus’ way of life, and living out Jesus’ mission to make disciples, it makes sense for us to look closely at Jesus’ life. As we look at His life we see that …
Jesus began His public ministry with silence and solitude.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke all describe what happens after Jesus is baptized by John the Baptist. Here’s what it says in Matthew’s account:
Matt 4:1-11 (CSB)—Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. Then the tempter approached him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”, Then the devil took him to the holy city, had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will give his angels orders concerning you, and they will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”, Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” Then the devil left him, and angels came and began to serve him.
It says that Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness. The word translated wilderness is the Greek word ἔρημος (erēmos) = quiet, tranquil, uninhabited, remote, solitary place
There, when Jesus had been alone for a month and a half, and hadn’t eaten for a month and a half. Satan began to tempt him.
When you read this, you may think, “That’s just like the devil, to tempt us when we are at our weakest.”
How many of you get kind of hangry when you haven’t eaten?
I don’t think that is what is happening here. Instead of viewing the wilderness as a place of weakness, we need to see it as a place of strength.
Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness, into the eremos, because it was only after a month and a half of prayer and fasting that Jesus was at the height of his spiritual strength. It was only at that point that He was able to take on the Devil and win.
In silence and solitude, we find strength.
In the silence and solitude of the wilderness, free from distractions, including food, Jesus was able to focus, find His strength in His Heavenly Father, and be empowered by the truth of His word.
How often do you find yourself needing strength to face the enemy? How often are we challenged and tempted by the world, our own flesh, and the devil? The strength to stand up against those attacks comes from His presence, and we best find his presence in silence and solitude.
Some of the early church fathers did some weird things with this habit of silence and solitude. You don’t have to take a vow of silence, you don’t have to become a hermit, and you don’t need to move to a monastery to practice silence and solitude. But I do want you to understand what scripture says about silence and solitude and how Jesus demonstrated it in His life on earth.
The practice of silence and solitude is finding a place that is free from distraction, where all the noise of our lives is quiet, no phone, no music in the background, no people around you, and there we take time to pray, to listen for our Heavenly Father’s voice. Spend time seeking Him in and studying His word.
This event in Matthew 4, where Jesus goes alone into the wilderness, sets a pattern for the rest of Jesus’ life and ministry. A pattern where Jesus, when he is at his busiest, when he is completing the most demanding tasks, goes into the eremos.
Mark 1 is another example. This is Jesus’ first day on the job as Messiah. He comes out of the wilderness, calls some disciples, drives out a demon, heals Peter’s mother-in-law, drives out some more demons, heals some more people, and then look at what he does,
Mk 1:35-38 (CSB)—Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he got up, went out, and made his way to a deserted place; and there he was praying. Simon and his companions searched for him, and when they found him they said, “Everyone is looking for you.” And he said to them, “Let’s go on to the neighboring villages so that I may preach there too. This is why I have come.”
In vs 35 while it was still dark, he got up, went out, and made his way to a deserted place. Here, Jesus, after a full day of work, finds silence and solitude and begins to pray. His disciples come looking for him because the first day went so well; everyone wants a repeat.
Then, in verse 38, Jesus says, ” No, change of plans. Let’s go on to the neighboring villages so that I may preach there too.” While He was in His quiet place, He received new marching orders from His Heavenly Father.
In silence and solitude, we find direction.
How often do we pray for God’s leading? How often do we ask God for direction but never take time to be quiet and listen for the answer?
When we spend time praying in silence and solitude, in a place free from noise and busyness, God, who so often speaks to us in a whisper, can be heard giving us direction and showing us our assignments.
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In Mark 6, there is another account of Jesus and the eremos. At the beginning of the chapter, Jesus commissions the 12 disciples to go out and do the things he had taught them. So they went out, drove out demons, and healed the sick. And then they return to Jesus to give their report.
Mk 6:30-31 (CSB)—The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a remote place and rest for a while.” For many people were coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.
In silence and solitude, we find rest.
Sometimes life is just crazy. Some of you have incredibly demanding jobs. If you are a parent of young ones, you’re always on, and it can feel like you never have an opportunity to recharge your batteries. It might seem like silence and solitude are a luxury you don’t have time for, but I want to suggest that without the habit of silence and solitude, the fuel that your heart and your soul need to face what life throws at you will not be available to you. Spending time alone with God is not a luxury; it is a necessity.
I am doing a number of weddings this summer. We like weddings, and we like seeing people make a covenant with each other, before God, that they will love each other for a lifetime. But imagine what would happen if, after getting married, the young man says to his new wife, “You know I’m pretty busy with my job, my hobbies, and my other friends, but I think I have about an hour and a half for you on Sunday mornings. That’ll be our one time together for the week. Anything you have to talk about, any feelings you want to share, or any concerns about our relationship that you have can be talked about then.”
How do you think that relationship is going to go?
When Stacey and I don’t have time alone to just be together, we are at our worst. The relationship is hard. Communication is bad. But when we intentionally make time to be alone together, the best things in our relationship flow from those times. In those times, we find connection. The same is true in our relationship with our Heavenly Father. Connection comes from intentionally spending time alone with Him.
There are many, many more accounts of Jesus finding silence and solitude, 9 in the book of Luke alone. Look at what Luke records here.
Luke 5:15-16 (CSB)—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.
Jesus said to his disciples in John 5 that he only does what he sees his Father doing, and then in John 14, he says that anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How does Jesus know his Father so well? How is Jesus so connected to the Father? Because he often found silence and solitude and prayed.
In silence and solitude, we find connection.
In the same way Jesus’ ministry began with silence and solitude, it ended with silence and solitude.
Mk 14:32-36 (CSB)—Then they came to a place named Gethsemane, and he told his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. He said to them, “I am deeply grieved to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake.” He went a little farther, fell to the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, “Abba, Father! All things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will.”
It doesn’t say exactly what Jesus heard from the Father when He was praying so intently, but whatever it was, it sustained Him through what was coming. While He prayed in silence and solitude, through His connection with the Father, He completed the task He came to complete.
We need this kind of connection with our Heavenly Father. It is what will fuel our walk with Him. It is how we will become more like Him and learn to do the things He did.
You don’t have to move to a monastery. You don’t have to fast for 40 days. But I want to ask you, when was the last time you were genuinely alone with God? No phone, no music, no background noise. Just you and Him.
Jesus, the Son of God, fully man and fully divine, couldn’t do what He came to do without it. He found strength in the quiet before He faced the enemy. He found direction before He made His next move. He found rest when the demands were greatest. And He found connection with His Father that shaped everything He did.
If Jesus needed silence and solitude, so do we.
This week, I want to give you a simple challenge: find your eremos, find silence and solitude. It doesn’t have to be long. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Just find a quiet place, put your phone in another room, and show up. God will meet you there.
Chris Hankel 
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