E71 The Practice of Silence and Solitude

Faison I'm so glad to be here with you man it's a great day it's always fun this is your new life baptism shirts guys aren't they awesome they are yeah it says this is my new life it's a t-shirt for a podcaster so you can't see what's going on here everybody warmest possible welcome to doable discipleship you may know but this is a Saddleback Church podcast and youtube show designed to help you deepen your friendship with God but Jason likes to call it el espectáculo que tu ayuda a Crusader I did not notice that you had something written on your notes it's this the show that helps you grow it's spectacular always a little is this a google translate it is a Google transom him we're gonna get comments um what a bad translation that was Jason yes oh hey Doug have you been on any web sites lately can you repeat that because you kind of trailed up there Hannah laughs forgot we were doing this bit okay guys we just want to talk about we got an awesome new website that we want to share with you it's Sal back.com slash doable that's right so you can find everything related to this show now on one nice one month eyesight just one nice convenient package from now on anytime you want to see Oh Doug and Jason said go back and watch that episode where do I find it what do I do go to Saddleback accomplish doable and all our previous episodes are right there and we're told it isn't functional yet but in version from version two which hopefully will come out like you know later this year before that we get into the new year it'll be searchable so you can actually search for our old episodes and what was talked about and go check stuff out yeah and that'll also be a function that will work across the entire Saddleback site so all kinds of Saddleback messages and things you'll be able to find through searching it is that exciting but it is veil is the 71st episode of doable discipleship so it is so there's a lot of great stuff to go back and search through speaking of episode 71 yeah for every 71 there was first to 70 last week truer words that was adjacent that was a Jason esque transition all right maybe not up to your standard anyway last week we kicked off a new series we're going through spiritual practices and we're kind of the this is a series where we're actually kind of taking you into some more advanced spiritual practices you know obviously we teach in class 201 the big four right what are they Jason they are a daily time in God's Word yeah they are a prayer or a daily quiet time with God yep they are tithing or giving correct or and they are community small groups fellowship happy in a small group for big spiritual habits and those are the four basic ones that every believer needs to be doing in order to grow spiritually but in this series we're talking about what are some next steps that you can take what are some next spiritual practices that you can start doing in your life to deepen your friendship with God last week we had a really great conversation with buddy Owens who always brings tons and tons of great wisdom make sure you go back and check that out it's not about two cops left doable or in your podcast app and today we're continuing by having a little talk about the practice of silence and solitude which you may not have ever thought of that as an actual practice or a spiritual discipline but indeed it is we're gonna have a whole conversation about that in just a sec [Music] all right friends so we're gonna dive in silence and solitude first off what are they what is silence and solitude Doug yeah well we'll take them in turn we'll start with what is silence it's a little something like this yeah picture that but but maybe longer when you do it silence is real your podcast did not break yeah we thought about doing that I thought everyone's gonna think that their phone stopped or something broke indeed it did not it's just something silly that we did anyway in silence it's basically what it sounds like it just means that we refrain from speaking and we separate ourselves from noisy environments and stuff like that and we don't engage in any external entertainment we're not looking for something to to you know take our attention to take our focus we're just quiet we get to a quiet place and we remain quiet yeah yeah and solitude is as it sounds also it is abstaining from the company of others other people see yeah adios shop is closed I'm busy I'm busy and so while these two are separate practices there are two distinct things they do naturally fit really well together since silence can be practiced more easily when we are withdrawn from other people yeah not as tempted to talk to Doug when I'm not near Doug yeah people tend to bring the noise so to speak and the funk let's talk about why this combo of spiritual practices is so important because you may be thinking silence in solitude that sounds like a very you're talking about these being like advanced spiritual practices please silence and solitude seems like the easiest most like t-ball thing we could possibly ask you to do no no hold on right there there's actually a lot to this well let's start by talking a little bit about silence and solitude in the modern age because we're living in a time that actually makes silence and solitude extremely difficult in fact silence and solitude have become exceedingly rare and will probably keep becoming even more rare in our daily lives as things progress technologically and all that stuff eventually there's gonna be ads like in your bedroom while you're trying to sleep ads playing yeah like they're gonna find a way to jack into your dreams and advertise them while you sleep yeah we're surrounded by all kinds of noise environmental noise in the place that you work and you know even at home even at home in you know the place that you think of as being kind of your sanctuary that can be a lot of noise if you're a parent or you live with other people it can be tough like you got a flock of parrot turn the TV down you know it's funny you should say I have over the past few weeks had migratory parrots roosting in a tree above my house I kid you not happens every year they come through and right now they're making their southward migration cuz you know the seasons starting to change here you know and they just squawk and then they'll take flight out of the trees and do these big circles squawking and squawking and squawking anyway so the point remains guys it is tough to find silence and solitude it's not easy we've got devices on us all the time look at Jason's cell phone right here I put it there I'll put his phone number in the shoulders okay you know you got a device on you all the time if you're like most people that is literally designed to take as much of your focus and attention as possible the apps that are on your phone are are specifically built to capture your attention and to divert your attention away from you know silence and solitude and we're accustomed to being entertained all the time it's hard for us to to just enjoy peace and quiet because we want to be entertained we want to be stimulated constantly so yeah it's not easy yeah it's and that just speaks to the fact that most modern people we can barely stand silence it's just so it's it's become almost super uncomfortable for us like that whatever it was ten seconds of silence we did just a few yes you're probably freaked out like what's wrong with my thoughts what is happening yeah it's it's it's just a matter of fact that we've kind of lost our taste or because we it's not it's not something we almost need to endure anymore what we think about because we got so many means for a distraction and engagement and yeah so it's become most smooth to the point that silence has become deafening and and you notice a silence people notice it it's almost overwhelms you when you feel it and so that's just kind of where we're at right now with that look the practice or the idea in the modern age yeah that's totally right well let's talk about why silence and solitude are so important and there are a lot of really really good compelling reasons for that but I want to start us off with a verse it's Psalm chapter 27 verses 4 & 5 and it's a personal favorite of mine it might even be I might even go as far as to say this is like my number one my favorite my life verse this isn't really this is a couple of verses that's kind of been there for me over the years and I've always really loved it's always been a good help to refocus in times of real struggle and difficulty this is a verse that I've always leaned on but I think it really gives us a strong sense of the power and worthwhile Ness of silence and solitude so let's read this together it goes like this and this is a psalm of David it says the one thing I ask of the Lord the thing I seek most is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life delighting in the Lord's perfections and meditating in his temple for he will conceal me there when troubles come he will hide me in his sanctuary he'll place me out of reach on a high rock I love that verse and I think that's a good framing verse for us today because this idea of entering into God's presence entering into the temple so to speak the sanctuary the place where God is so that we can just be alone with him and be quiet I think kind of sets our theme agreed so the first thing that we want to talk about and why or silence and substitute important is that they provide space for listening because when we cease to speak we intentionally allow space for God's voice God's not gonna you know speak over you he's gonna wait he's it's so often that we in prayer or or whatever as well about our lives just do you know make it so that we're always doing the talking and in prayer that's like that's a common thing is it's it's it's a here's the needs here's the thought seriously a you know you know here's here's all this stuff from me and yet we often forget to be silent and let God speak it's a conversation our relationship with God is a conversation we talked about this before in the quiet tied up a so that we did a little bit ago but we have to allow room for God to speak so it provides space for listening God loves to hear from us that's the truth God loves to hear from us but we must not forget that he also desires to speak to us as well I'm so in silence what's really what we're doing in intentional times of silence is humbling ourselves and acknowledging that God is wisdom God is truth God is love and we look to him in those times of silence and receive that from him yeah if we admit it's it's admitting that we don't have the answers it's not saying God I need help with this I believe it's this I'm gonna do that yeah it's saying it's saying God you know far better than me so if you have something that you want to say to me in this time I'm gonna listen yeah and so silence is the opportunity to just be still and know yea that he is God who I almost interjected I'm glad I waited there was a silence mom I was like jump-roping oh yeah no not yet you know my Turk I you just made me think of something a lot of times in your walk with God you may have had moments where you feel like God's just being silent like God's not speaking to you you might want to ask yourself is does God seem silent to me because I won't shut up if God seems quiet it may be because you're not giving him space you're not being quiet enough to hear him so think on that there's a court that I heard I think I heard it I think I heard it in a movie or something Jason you have an encyclopedic knowledge of all things film but I think I heard a quote in a movie one time that said listening is loving and I don't know that it was connected to like any useful worldview or anything like that but that idea of listening his loving really stuck out to me and it made me think this idea that if we fail to listen that we're actually failing to love this just recently yeah where do we use it anyway the pastor excited well he he has he has he has taught on this idea before but this idea came to me that that to love to love means seeking to perceive the beloved it means seeking to perceive the heart of the other you know think of it in any relationship that you have with another person a very loving thing that you can do is to actually try to see and hear and understand that person to seek to comprehend someone else is an act of love in itself because it reinforces the strength of relationship and I think if we're not quiet with God mm-hmm we may not hear from him so listening is loving do it with God not just with other people that you're in relationship with all right so it provides room for listening as you said second it provides space for looking silence solitude provide space for looking that means we look at what's happening in our hearts it looks it means we we take a look at what God is doing in our lives his fingerprints on the world and we intentionally focus our sight on God it's very true as I think we've already made this pretty clear so far that daily life seeks to take your focus in all kinds of different directions away from God usually but when we enter into a conscious time of silence and solitude there's something very profound that happens because we're not just we're not just placing our focus on God with our minds with our thoughts or even with our hearts or with our feelings we're actually in silence and solitude bringing our bodies into submission to that silent and solitary moment where we actually are closing our mouths and creating silence and we are actually turning our bodies moving our bodies into a place of solitude so that we can be alone with God and that's a very profound thing that all spiritual disciplines come down to taking a concrete step into deeper relationship with God and silence and solitude is no different it's not ethereal it's very physical it's a physical act so it's room for looking yeah and I would add to that to a common thing to do and I think I would prefer to do it this way is when you engage in silence and solitude is to remove yourself and go somewhere in nature and it allows for that is it allows for that looking like you were talking about and you're experiencing God's creation being a part of God's creation you are God's creation the world that guy created is God's creation so you get to be a part of that yes you can do this practice in your home it's it's harder but if you if you want to start this practice I'd encourage you to go to a park or go to a forest or a riverbank or the beach or somewhere yeah somewhere and just and just take in God's creation as a part of this time that's good great number three Jesus gathered his strength in his gathered strength in his times of silence and solitude guys if if if Jesus needed it if he felt like this was important then I would harken to say that we should think it's important here's just a couple of examples of times when Jesus engaged in this practice he spent 40 days in the desert at the start of his ministry you can read about it in Matthew 4 fasting by the way he also fast at least we talked about last week mmm he engaged in this practice before he chose the 12 apostles you just read about in Luke 6 and he waiting his betrayal in the Garden of Gethsemane he engaged in silence and solitude he went away from his disciples and just had a time with himself and God Matthew 26 talking about that so he understood the importance he understood the why behind it he engaged in this practice time of silent solitude with him in God and God the Father and talking and engaging and just being with ya yeah he understood that it prepared him for hard things that were coming yeah big choices that needed to be made or that sort of thing yeah he definitely modeled it which takes us number four Jesus modeled silence and solitude as part of his abiding relationship with the Father and that term abiding this might be a hey word of the day a fun moment abiding means living in to live in that's why an abode is a home in a place where you live abiding means to live to live there and Jesus took time away so that he could constantly invest in his relationship with his father he wanted God's voice to remain the most prominent voice in his life and so even though he spent lots of his time amidst the crowds and ministering to others and teaching to his disciples all those things he withdrew often to lonely places so that he could be with his Heavenly Father so he modeled that personally and it's kind of like you were saying if Jesus recognized that it was important for him the God man it is certainly important for us I would say so and the fifth one's a little more practical is a science in solitude promotes wisdom okay many of the foolish decisions and choice we make in life happen because we were too hasty we rushed into things guys I don't know if you've noticed this about kind of our modern culture but we tend to be a Russian culture we tend to try to talk fast make decisions quickly and just keep going go and going this is gets in the way of that but on purpose this allows for a culture of taking your time knowing that it's important to slow down at times it's important to take times especially with decision-making so this practice it allows and creates for space for slower reflection and it can help enable better choices if you take your time and take a time of silence and solitude and just think through what is before you and in talk with God about it it allows you to make better choices and it can help us to be wiser with our words so that's why I was talking about with slowing down is the practice of silence it reinforces my ability to humble myself and hold my tongue there are plenty of times when it's it's better to choose the silence than to say something stupid yeah so so this practice helps you to be able to do that in in real time if you practice this on your own time then in real time it allows for you to better say you know what I'm just gonna choose silence right now and it creates a moment for me to reflect before I respond a term for this is micro silence it's just taking a brief period of silence and thinking through your answer rather than jumping right into something yeah yeah I've seen people do this and it's it's stark you know if you if you ask a question and they sit there for a bit yeah and think and in a way it's like jarring but it's also refreshing because you know that they're seriously thinking about what it is they want to say yeah I know who you're thinking of yes its Pastor Tom we've both made that observation and it's amazing and I love that about him well go back go back and listen we'll put the links in the show notes but go back and listen to our Q&A episodes with Tom Tom does something that I think is really remarkable when you ask him a question he takes he takes a couple breaths to respond and then what comes out of his mouth is extraordinarily wise and that's and and that's what we're talking about here is that these micro silences are so called micro sight micro silences can it can be done mid conversation while you're talking with somebody yeah and it doesn't it to be long it doesn't mean like you just freeze like you're a cyborg that just like lost power and you sit there for like 20 minutes while you think through your entire response it can just be a short thing where you just sit there take a breath and process what you've just heard so that you can take the time to form a thoughtful response it may not be a perfect response it may not be a genius response but at least it will be a thoughtful response and it's more likely to be the best response you can offer rather than something rash because when you are rushing you tend to speak rashly and so this kind of makes me think of like like a speed bump you know when you're driving through a parking lot there are speed bumps you know place throughout what's the whole point of that is to slow you down yeah because if you speed through a parking lot somebody's gonna get run down and you might be running people down in your conversations because you just don't know how to chill slow down think about what you're gonna say next and maybe here's a crazy idea take the time to actually listen to the other person listen to what they said before you just jump to your response and sometimes we're always thinking like two steps ahead in conversation anyway we're talking about interpersonal stuff right now but this is the kind of one of the practical elements like Jason said there are a couple verses on this that come from Proverbs and I think they're actually kind of I think they're kind of comical actually the first one is is uh you know not so funny more very seriously the second one's pretty funny proverbs 18:21 says the tongue can bring death or life those who love to talk will reap the consequences you talk too much bad things can happen yeah right the tongue is a flame of fire can set your whole world ablaze proverbs 1728 says even fools are thought wise when they keep silent with their mouths shut they seem intelligent so end of the day a little more silence and you may be perceived as a smarter person nothing wow this guy's so thoughtful the way he just sits and Ponder's or girl it's so great yeah they're making the intentional choice to be silent yeah let the other person ramble yeah let's see how our voice has changed yeah all right well okay silence and solitude extremely important every growing believer needs to find ways to build silence and solitude in their lives we're gonna talk about how to do that in just a few minutes but first we got to recognize that there are some real challenges with silence and solitude it's not easy to build this into your life and you might hit some you might hit a few bumps along the way yeah these challenges you may have already even considered as we've been talking you're like but I get bored yeah there you go first challenge we're talking about okay boredom is a sensation that that we modern people really rarely experience so when we force ourselves to sit still for a while it can really be hard to handle it's because we don't it's not it's there's literally everything under the Sun we can find to keep us engaged or keep us entertained yeah so it's it's something it's it's rare because you don't have to be conserved bored anymore and that's the kind of the crazy part of this right it's not mandatory like if I don't want to be bored I don't have to exactly there are literally millions of videos that are just like a couple taps away like you could fall down the YouTube hole or exactly all kinds of stuff I could yeah I could just play fortnight while I'm doing this I don't play for it please don't know what it is be honest don't either um we're old now yeah many great Christians throughout history have viewed boredom as a wonderful gift because boredom comes when there is empty space in our lives space which can got or space which God can fill right so Borden is an opportunity almost to say hey I don't have to be doing something right now I can spend the time with God I can pray I can worship I can you know engage with God yeah and then and then oftentimes too we yeah okay right okay oftentimes too is what we is when we think about the practice of silence and solitude is we look for an experience is is is we get anxious because we say okay I'm expecting an experience I'm gonna go away for a while I'm gonna have this experience with God and sometimes if we're just sitting inside within solitude they had nothing's happening then you start to get a little you know anxious or out or upset even because you're like wait a second I'm supposed to be having this experience yeah isn't God supposed to show up with some razzle dazzle exactly I took the time and where is he and why am I out having this great profound moment exact deal exactly yeah and now and wonderful teams can happen we're not saying that it won't or it can't but what we're saying is is don't don't need that don't expect it because when you do it puts this it puts a new layer on what you're going out there for is you're not going out there to just spend time in this practice with God is you're going out there to be wowed it's it's it's you're is you've changed the whole purpose yeah because the purpose is is to just be still and know like I said earlier yeah it's - it's to appreciate God's beauty it's to listen like what we talked about is the abiding it's just it's the abide having time living with God exactly and so so don't so in so having this need for an experience can wreak that and and and oftentimes that's why we feel aboard them because we eight weeks we need an experience right work right we're kind of conditioned against we're conditioned to get that exactly so in silence God is not offering you a show okay he is offering himself saying just be with me yeah yeah yeah think of like your time that you spend with like your best friends you know like you don't expect them to impress you every time you hang out you hang out with them for the joy of being with them you can have that with God all right so boredom is a big one believe us we get it and then there's another one it's called anxiety you might actually feel some stress because we live at such a rapid pace all the time many serious hurts and fears and wounds from the past can actually surface in times of silence where that stuff can kind of get numbed or pushed beneath the surface because we're moving at such a rapid pace all the time but as you know you know and you might see glimpses of this like when you're laying in bed at night before you fall asleep and there's that moment of silence and solitude that comes before sleep finally carries you away where you begin thinking about things that you haven't thought about all day maybe things you haven't thought about for years so sometimes when we're still for a little while some unresolved issues can begin to show up and that can be particularly overwhelming if that stuff's been building up for a long period of time so anxiety can actually be a part of your at least your early experience in silence in solitude it may sometimes even feel like now I'm alone and I'm alone with all these hurts but this is a moment where I want to remind you that silence and solitude is a bit of a misnomer because the whole point of silence and solitude is not to be separate and is not necessarily to be silent its to listen to God and to be with him so solitude in the sense that you're not with others you know other people but you're with God and so make sure that you remember that God is with you through that experience and that when he allows those things to come to the surface it may be that this is an opportunity to work on something that needs to be dealt with and to reinforce this look at Matthew chapter 28 verse 20 it says and be sure of this Jesus speaking I'm with you always even to the end of the age so God is with you all the time when you're going through these times of silence and solitude when hard things are coming to the surface and you're having to wrestle with those God is with you so remember that and remember to that that that is part of the purpose of silence and solitude is to allow things to come to the surface remember you're listening and you're looking and part of that looking is look at what God wants to communicate to you what what does God want you to deal with what is a what is something from the past or in from the present that God wants you to wrestle with a little bit what's something that he wants to come alongside you and help you gain victory over so you may find that something maybe get revealed in your time of silence and solitude that actually then you need to maybe take that realization you need to take that thing that God brought to the surface and and maybe there's follow-up action to that now you know because of this time of silence and solitude it causes me to really recognize that there is this big hurt that I have not really worked through this thing that kept rising up in this time of silence and solitude and maybe you need to go get counseling after that and speak with somebody about that who can help you process through that stuff so that maybe part of the role of silence and solitude is to draw out the things better that are hurting you at a deep level and I think I'll just take the moment to say if you have anywhere near Saddleback Church make sure that you look into our counseling ministry if there's something that has come to the surface and that maybe is bothering you even now that you'd like to speak with somebody about and I'll link to that in the show notes so you can find good and find access to that so always have confidence so that when you're going through times of silence and solitude God is with you agree another big problem that we want to hit on is distractions because if we understand that distractions easily come up right especially I found like and I'm sure I'm sure you probably have too it can so be so easily to be distracted in times of silence or in solitude I'm sure you've probably experienced that I'm sure I'm not the only one where you're praying and you're talking to God and then all of a sudden yeah and you know and then all these other things start coming up did I remember to lock the door did I remember to turn off the air conditioning because it's summer and nobody's home and all this stuff so distractions guys are so easy to come upon us so what you got to do is to is to not be surprised by them but to anticipate that distractions are going to come up so have a means to kind of circumvent those right a common thought is to have like a notepad or something that's near you and as a thought comes up is write it down and you can have it to come back to when you're done with this time is knowing okay I'm not gonna forget it it's there I'll come back to it I don't need to be worried about that right now so it's just I think ahead and plan for what you're going to do with distractions and a big part of that is to remove yourself from as many possible distractions as you can turn your phone off or put it on silence or on silent mode or go somewhere you know not at home so you're not going to be distracted by the dust you see building up on you know the cabinet don't go to the mall you'll just do people watching the whole time yeah don't do your science in solitude a did you walk past the pet store like the puppies yeah yes that's right have a smell of time I'm sure it does alright so you know so we said write down and and just realize that perfection guys is not the goal it's your goal is not to have the perfect you know chunk of time of silence and solitude him because that it's just not going to happen right as God doesn't expect perfect from us guess that's not surprised by your distractions that come up he's not going oh you fool why did you let that come into your head yeah no he understand he knows he gets it okay our limitation owes our limitations so just be prepared for distractions that are going to come up don't be surprised by them don't beat yourself up for them yeah and then just get back into it yep right distraction is just part of how the human brain works you're always gonna have to wrestle with those but you will get better at it with time you will learn to focus and it will get easier yes all right let's go on to some very practical how-to stuff now let's talk about how to begin the practice of silence and solitude first this is very simple CreateSpace you got a scheduled time with the Lord schedule time to be with him don't leave it's a chance don't you say uh yeah I'll just I'll sprinkle in some times of silence and solitude wherever you know I find some time you're not gonna find time you have to make time so schedule it say during this time during these slots in this you know during this part of my day I'm gonna spend this time with God and and and then realize along with it that it's okay to start small that there's there's nothing too small maybe you begin with five minutes of silence and solitude per day at five minutes now believe me find me that sounds like like nothing but five minutes of sheer silence if can feel quite a bit long you remember how uncomfortable you felt earlier in the episode that was but that was like 10 seconds yeah a silence or less yeah it can it can be tough at first so you're actually gonna have to acclimate it's almost like you know being in a different ecosystem you're gonna need to acclimate to the silence a little bit so a little bit can go a long way early on but you're gonna find it has some really great benefits for your relationship with God and and the practical ones we talked about earlier so create space create space and then choose a place we kind of talked just a little bit about this separate yourself from people so don't choose a populous place don't go to the middle of Times Square to have your time of silence in solitude a place that is quiet and comfortable you don't want to be up against you know a stick that's jetting out of a tree and you're just aware of that the whole time that bed of nails you made in college does not always don't pull that out of storage anyway that I can finally use my bed of nails not the time or place guys be mindful of your tendency to fall asleep so don't look at your bed and say that's the perfect place for silence in solitude so it's gonna be somewhere between bed of nails and actual temper comfortable yeah it's gonna be right in me you know stuff like a hotel bed yeah maybe it should in that and then bring a journal to record your insights because you just got that hotel bed thing and it's very funny okay so want to make sure you got credit for that going you appreciate it so you know sorry so as you as you are listening if God puts something on your heart it could be a a verse it could be a thought it could be an idea it could be a feeling whatever it is write it down good idea yeah here's one you probably didn't think about control your breathing pay attention to your inhaling and exhaling especially at the beginning of your time a silence of Solitude there's nothing magical about it you know I think like I think pop culture has made breathing exercises seem like like a really big sort of mystical thing that you can do but it's really it's really very physiological if you just take a little bit of time at the start of your silence and solitude practice of just some big breaths in some big breaths out it actually goes a long way and passer X talked about this one - how breathing can actually control anxiety and can kind of just chill you out as you entered at that time it will literally physiologically and mentally it will slow you down I actually have been this is a bit of a tangent but if it falls right in line with it you know I have a two-year-old named Jude and he's very much I don't want to say the terrible twos are real at my house but he can sometimes be a little terrible and this involves sometimes having meltdowns and stuff like that just because you know two-year-olds have all the emotions and none of the coping skills to deal with those emotions and you really have to help them and one of the things I've been doing with Jude lately is if if he's just melting down because like you know his sister stepped on a pretzel or something like that I just scooped him up and I I take him through some little breathing exercises and they're silly but man they work and I'll just say okay he can go from absolutely freakin Ellie laughs like full-on so grab that guy's yeah screams you have that expression he mail it and I'll just say okay but let's take some deep breaths and the whole idea of taking a deep breath in the middle of a meltdown is honestly in and of itself it's so jarring to him that it actually kind of gets his attention and maybe I'll have to do a few breaths without him before he kind of gets into it but it chills him out and I'll even one thing I've been trying out later you can try this with Ben when he's a little better I'll have him I'll have him do something silly once I get him breathing I'll say Jude I need you to blow in my ear and he thinks that's the silliest thing but just this breaking of his kind of crazy pace in that crazy moment is very blowing my other you're blowing my eye and pretty soon he's laughing my point is breathing has powerful physiological effects that we can see even at you know in very young children it does not go away even when we're grownups another another simple thing too that you can do as you as you start your your time with God with breathing it's interesting that especially in the while both in Hebrew and Greek there's this association with the Spirit of God is often conveyed using imagery of wind or breath and as you're taking those deep breaths you can take a moment and and recognize the Holy Spirit's presence in that moment recognize and as you're taking these deep breaths the Holy Spirit is present within you it reinforces that truth we conveyed earlier that you're not alone in these times of silence and solitude God is with you he is in you he lives within you and you are entering into this abiding life with him so those breasts can be a kind of an object lesson for the Holy Spirit's presence in that moment talk about it in holy spirit part two I believe in foundations anyway don't we just do and then so the fourth thing you do is you rinse and repeat you rinse and repeat the process until it becomes a habit right we've talked about habit a bunch but you guys new habits do not form overnight okay so discipline is required and that's making this a part of your daily routine if you want it to be a daily habit or how often you wanted to do it but to making it that kind of habit so one thought is to try stacking the practice of silence and solitude with a current habit an example add it to the beginning of your quiet time so for the first few minutes or whatever just practice a period of silence and solitude and then you can engage in your quiet time or spending the first five minutes in your car instead of hopping right in and turn it on whatever radios are radio stations there are I'm so out of touch I don't know and instead of just needing that fix right away then it's um it's just being silent in solitude it's just spending those first few moments silent the car is really a pretty good place for it because this you know when you're driving you're your brain tends to kind of wander anyway so mixing in some sense at all to it can be great so that habit stacking idea if you want to learn more about that taking as taking a habit that you want to start bundling it with a habit that's already successful and how that can help you you want to learn more about habit research and how you can succeed better with the new habits you might want to create go back and listen to our habit episode which I'll also link in the show notes we had Rob Jacobs on for that one and it's a good little super nuts and bolts practical episode well how about some doodles it's that time indeed it is all right here a couple simple ones for you first spend five minutes in silence and solitude with God each day this week next seven days five minutes a day it's not very hard people remember make space find a place just get quiet and enjoy this time with God by the way this is different from your quiet time through Bible reading and prayer you do not necessarily need to bring a Bible into your quiet time you might want to have one in case God starts saying something to you and the Bible can supplement that but for the most part you kind of want to show up to your your silence and solitude unscripted so just have a moment one good way to do that like Jason said can be to just incorporate it in the top of your quiet time so add five minutes of silence to the beginning of your quiet time that could be a good way to do it so five minutes for the next seven days and just see what it does for you see how see how that experience goes in fact we'd like to hear about that so maybe comment below or send us an email it's a debate calm let us know what your seven days of silence were like yeah before I forget and we hit the next doable I don't want to forget this one so on the website satellite comm slash retreats we are actually going to have a downloadable PDF for free that you can do your own silence and solitude a little retreat it has prompts and everything for you to do on this time so that's coming I don't know if it'll be available by the time this episode is released but keep checking it out it'll be there soon yes and another one check out a book called spiritual disciplines for the Christian life by a guy named Donald Whitney think we referenced it last week yeah we talked about it last week this is a good one both the fasting subject that we talked about last week and silence and solitude are contained within that book and it just offers some great sort of elaboration on these things so if you want to dig more deeply into these that's a good way to do it we'll link to that below as well spiritual disciplines for the Christian life by Donald Whitney I had fun with you Jason it's been a pleasure as always I've always real roll of my bed and nails okay yeah everybody thanks for watching thanks for listening we love you we'll see you next time if you're a podcast listener and you enjoyed this episode consider giving us a rating or a review on iTunes if you do you'll help other people find us in the future and if you're thinking hey listening is great but is there a way I can watch these episodes yeah there is subscribe to the Saddleback Church YouTube channel for video versions of these conversations plus lots of other video content and if you're already watching us on YouTube subscribe to the podcast so you can listen in the car or wherever else you go lastly you can always get in touch with us by emailing maturity at Saddleback comm send us your thoughts send us your questions your Bible questions your life questions whatever who knows your question just might inspire an upcoming episode thanks again for tuning in to doable discipleship I'm Doug Jones and I hope you'll join us again next week [Music] you

Channel: Saddleback Church

Views: 5,427

Rating: 4.9080458 out of 5

Keywords: silence, solitude, bible, bible study, saddleback church, slow down, how to be still, how to be silent, how to know God, rick warren

Id: pUpmMQW5Xpw

Length: 41min 12sec (2472 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 02 2018