Midyear Reflection: The Necessity of Solitude with God
We’re already halfway through 2026 and our AACF’s Leadership Training Conference and Mount Hermon Summer Conference are right around the corner!
The first half of 2026 for me has been a blessing that’s been filled with retreats, meet-ups with pastors and college students, and quick ministry trips to AACF Chapters and churches up and down the California coast. God has truly blessed my time with many significant and unexpected conversations that have both encouraged and challenged me. However, in the busyness, I’ve also experienced a huge downside.
When I’m busy, I get out of my daily routines and especially my rhythm of solitude and prayer. When that happens, I end up forgetting a lot of things that happened the previous week and even the day before.
One encounter I forgot was a timely conversation I had with a childhood friend. I had not seen this person in decades and the odds of us running into each other where and when we did were, in my opinion, absolutely God-ordained. We ended up talking for hours and he reminded me of something that happened years ago that I didn’t recall. Providentially, God used my friend’s recollection to affirm something I had been wrestling about with God. At that moment, I sensed that the Lord was directly speaking to me and so I recorded it in my journal.
However, in my busyness, I totally forgot about it! So lame of me, eh?
Unfortunately, it’s sort of easy for me to move from one event to another and let the needs of the hour take all of my attention. It’s also scary easy to let my attention be “grabbed” by my smartphone or the hundreds of interesting channels on Youtube or mindless reels on Instagram and Facebook.
The end result is that my mind gets focused on whatever is happening in the immediate present and I don’t dwell with God nor meditate on his Word. Nor do I even remember what he has impressed upon me throughout the day. My thoughts are only thinking about the present moment or what I’ll be doing in the next hour or next week.
In Luke 5:15-16, we read, “15 Yet the news about him (Jesus) spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. 16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. (NIV)”
Luke notes that Jesus often sought time to be alone with the Father. Why did he do that?
Jesus was sinless and he had a perfect, unhindered relationship with God. His communion with the Father was continuous and he even describes his intimacy with the Father as being one with him (John 17:20-21).
So, why did Jesus, who was in perfect communion with the Father still need to withdraw to quiet places to talk with him? Couldn’t he just block out the noise and focus on God? I would think he could do that.
Or, could it be that intimate communion with God requires solitary time alone with him, and that’s just part of being human in this Fallen world? I think that might be the case (1 Kings 19:11-12, Psalm 46:10, Mark 6:31). And if that’s true, then a busy schedule and a busy mind may be one of the main hindrances that’s blocking our relationships with God from growing in depth and intimacy.
For if Jesus often withdrew to lonely places to pray, then perhaps solitude is not an optional practice for some, but rather a necessary part of every Christian’s relationship with God. A time to spend alone with him, one-on-one, remembering what he has said and responding to him in loving trust and obedience.
