Imitating Jesus
What can we learn from Jesus about solitude?
Verse of the Day
“Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.”
Today’s Devotional
Hopefully we know that in our spiritual journey we are being obedient to God in an effort to allow the Holy Spirit to continually transform us into the person God created us to be. One of the ways we can be obedient is to study the life of Jesus Christ and do what He did. Today we will look at how Jesus practiced solitude. (This list of instances comes from Foster’s book, Celebration of Discipline.)
- Immediately after His baptism and God’s declaration of approval of Jesus, He went into the desert for forty days of prayer, fasting, and temptation. (Matthew 4:1-11) This was not a pleasant time of solitude. But it prepared Him for ministry.
- Before He chose the twelve apostles, Jesus spent a night alone on a mountain praying. (Luke 6:12-13) An important decision was preceded by a time of solitude.
- When he got really sad news about the death of John the Baptist, Jesus withdrew from the crowds. “As soon as Jesus heard the news, he left in a boat to a remote area to be alone.” This attempt at solitude was not successful: “But the crowds heard where he was headed and followed on foot from many towns. Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.” (Matthew 14:13-14) This is a great reminder that not all times of wanting to be alone with the Father will go the way we planned.
- After the miraculous feeding of the 5,000: “he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone.” (Matthew 14:23)
- After a long day of healing people, Jesus chose to give up sleep in order to be alone with the Father. “Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.” (Mark 1:35)
- Jesus instructed the apostles to seek solitude as they returned from a ministry tour. “The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught. Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” (Mark 6:30-31)
- We are told in Luke 5:16, after Jesus had healed a man with leprosy that “Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.” (Luke 5:16)
- With three of His disciples, Jesus went to a high mountain to be alone. This happened to be the setting for His transfiguration. (Matthew 17:1-9)
- In preparation for the hardest thing He would do, being crucified for our sins, Jesus sought solitude in the Garden of Gethsemane. (Matthew 26:36-46)
For a three year ministry, that’s a lot of instances of seeking solitude intentionally. How many times have I purposefully sought out times and places of solitude in the last three years? If we look for the motives or reason for Jesus seeking solitude, silence, and prayer (which tend to go hand-in-hand for Jesus), I see very relevant reasons for this practice:
- Preparation
- Confirmation of Identity
- Guidance in decisions
- Grief (and processing of emotions)
- After a powerful event, maybe for gratitude or perhaps to express awe and worship
- After draining work, perhaps for renewal and refreshing
- Rest
- Meaningful connection with the Father
- Before extreme difficulty
When I look at the potential reasons that Jesus sought to be alone with the Father, it is extremely humbling. If Jesus needed to be in solitude before the Father for all of these reasons, how much more do I need to be imitating Him? Which is the reason the verse from Luke 5:16 stands out to me. Jesus did this often. He withdrew. He shut out the noise of the world and the demands of the people around Him. He prayed. He listened. He took action to prioritize His relationship with the Father. It is so beautiful to me that it takes my breath away. Because we are each invited into the same kind of relationship with the Father.
I’ll leave you with the words of Foster: “The seeking out of solitary places was a regular practice for Jesus. So it should be for us.”
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
When have you ever sought out solitary places in order to connect with the Father?
What was your experience? Or, if you’ve never tried it, why not?
Where could you go to connect with God that would remove daily distractions, even for a few minutes?
How can you imitate this frequent practice of Jesus?
In what kinds of situations did Jesus seek solitude? What does that teach you?
Write a prayer asking God to help you to imitate Jesus today.