¶ The Value of Silence and Solitude
It's not about being alone , it's about being with God . You empty your mind from all of the external distractions phones , internal distractions , the thoughts that are in your own mind and then you fill it up with the thoughts of God .
And one of the practical ways we can do that is , just before entering into that silence and solitude , either spending time in God's word or spending time praying through God's word , praying through the Psalms , praying through anywhere in the New and the Old Testament .
To turn God's words into your prayer words is a great way to prepare yourself to sit in the presence of the Almighty . To sit in the presence of the Almighty .
I'm a very humble man . Humble man , humble man , except with you guys Like . I have no problem when I'm wrong about something , or discover something about something that I at one time said wasn't what it was , but it ends up being what now it is . Now it is what , now it is .
Right , is this confession time with Easy ?
I had real bad garlic breath the other day Well , not real bad garlic breath , I ate garlic . It was bad . I don't know what I was going to do . I was going to do an interview or I was going somewhere , and so I'm like up , what do I do for garlic breath ? And it said drink milk . I hate milk , I love milk .
I don't remember the last time I had milk .
It's not milk . Milk , it's milk .
There's an eye in there yeah , anyway , I tried it and it wasn't as bad as I remembered .
Come on , so you just need garlic milk .
I bet you , there is .
Do you know I go through ?
two and a half gallons of milk a week . Stop , I do .
Normal milk . Yeah , no , you did some kind of weird funky . I've come back to cow's milk , full cream .
I think I'm going to die . I'm going to die . I'm going to die happy , that's right .
I knew that would happen eventually .
And back to the cereal right Two and a half gallons yeah cereal .
I don't know what I would do without cows , because we go through two dozen eggs at least every week . Cows don't give eggs .
Wow .
What kind of eggs ?
are those ? I was going to say how old are you , Oscar ? Those are big eggs .
I was going to say how old are you , Oscar ? Those are big eggs In .
Mexico cows produce eggs .
Oh no , you guys didn't know this Sí . Animal illiterate El burro los llantos el tipo de huevos .
How old are you now Milk ?
I don't know what I would do without cows , because I have a gallon of milk every three days and I also side note have nothing to do with cows and I also side note have nothing to do with cows go through like a dozen , two dozen eggs every week .
Oh , yeah , we know about your egg stuff , but I've mocked Mark for years about his milk drinking . I still hate milk , but it didn't taste as bad as I remembered .
It's nice . You know , one of my favorite things to do is to grab a hold of the gallon of milk , put it inside the freezer and pull it out when it's chunky . So when I have a guest over pouring it into the cup and it comes out in chunks and they're like you're not going to , looks like it's curdled .
Yeah , it looks like it's all curdled . I go , it's my favorite .
You understand how we get cheese , don't you and I go ?
through this whole thing . Oh , that's great . You should introduce it , as does anybody want chunky lemon it ?
does look lemony doesn't it . Yeah , but no , you've got to throw some chocolate syrup .
Oh , you're ruining it now .
Our chickens produce about a gallon of milk each week . How do you milk the chicken ? Ray trying to milk his chickens .
Give me a chicken , let me milk it .
Oscar , we're not going to forget that I know .
I apologize . Ray , have you ever tried to milk a cow ?
No . Have you ever tried to take a bull by the horn ?
Yes , seriously , I'd love to see Ray trying to milk a cow . I think it's a little bit disgusting actually . Don't they say it's dangerous to drink milk from a cow . That's not like .
I don't think so .
I don't understand how we're gonna get some messages I'm sure we will . Farmers write to us , please . And what's up with ? Like soy milk , almond milk , coconut milk , you're a guy you don't need soy . Yeah , we don't need that stuff .
Almond milk is good . I put it in smoothies .
Haven't you heard about ?
it . What About what ?
Almond milk . Is it really good ? No , no .
Oat milk turned out to be really bad , but almond milk is still good , is that ?
a question why are they doing all this alternative milk .
Yeah , because they think cholesterol and all that sort of stuff . Almonds are good for you .
Why don't we drink horse ?
milk Go ahead .
I give it a try . No , but seriously , we get used to things and our brains just can't . Goat milk , I know , but we have cow milk . Why not horse milk ?
Sue and I were talking about this last night , that I just couldn't drink a cup full of goat milk . I'd just be strange .
Oh goat cheese , I'm a cow milk . Oh , isn't goat cheese good ? Come on , Oscar .
Goat cheese .
Now , you just ruined it for me .
I love goats man .
They're funny , little goats are funny , they really are those noises they make ?
Is it goats that pass out ?
Yes , like when they're running , they get a fright .
Did I ever tell you guys about my goat friend in Mexico ? Stop , this is a true story . I was 12 years old it was the first time I ever went to Mexico and my great-grandma so my great-grandfather and my great-grandmother they built their house in the middle of the desert . They're Mexican Indians .
They basically stuck a flag in the ground and was like we're building a home here , so they have . It's very much like farmland . So , anyways , I'm 12-ish , maybe 10 . We go to Mexico .
I don't speak very good English . You don't speak .
English . Well , I'm sorry , I don't speak Spanish , man , I am backwards today . I don't speak Spanish very well at this time , and so I make a friend with this goat that's hanging out in the backyard of my great-grandparents' house , and so he's my buddy . I'm going back there , I'm feeding in , I'm having a conversation with it .
The next day , we show up at the house for my abuelita's birthday and we're eating tacos and they're so good I'm like seven or eight deep , and I'm like , oh , I'm going to bring a taco to my goat friend . So I walk outside and the goat's missing and I'm like where'd it go ? And they're like , oh , we're eating it .
And I , without hesitation , was like he's pretty good .
And I just kept eating it . You didn't get sad , it did not bother me at all , it was good . There's something wrong with you , oscar .
Speaking of goats , I had an experience the other day . Lucy , our dog got fleas and so I took a collar off her so we'd give a flea check . After we'd done the flea check I said look at Lucy , she's just sitting there with her mouth wide open . It was just weird , I mean inordinately wide , not saying anything , looking kind of weird .
And I told Sue , look at that . She looked and we saw this sort of red thing at the back of her throat and when I put a collar back on , I accidentally put it in her mouth and clipped it to the back are you serious that poor dog ?
you leave her on the bike for three hours but she didn't .
She didn't say anything , she didn't bark , she didn't growl , it was just , she just sat there with a mouth wide open .
Dog needs rewards . Yeah , heaven , is there a cps for dogs ?
dog protective services need it all right friends here .
Cool , classy comment . This is from a friend of ours , actually Sarah Bruce . You guys know Sarah and Daniel Bruce . They've come down to Santa Monica no , santa Monica , huntington Beach a lot , and in fact I saw Daniel at the Redeemers men's conference recently . So shout out to you guys .
Did you say shout up to you guys .
Shout up to you guys . Sarah said my daughter is very shy . She doesn't normally want to talk to people or give anyone anything at all . It had probably been two years since I helped her give people tracks when she was just barely walking around on the ground . She's only three On your podcast .
Mark encouraged listeners to create a challenge for yourself , such as giving a track to someone with a red shirt . She loved that idea . It changed everything for her After hearing that podcast . A couple weeks ago she started passing tracts by herself , using that as a springboard . About a week ago , we went out to our local college campus to share the gospel .
However , I was having some health issues that permitted me from having conversations and I had to sit down . I was fully expecting to not get into any conversations or even have many tracks passed out at all , but God worked for His glory in my weakness through my three-year-old as I sat there paralyzed . Mom , can we get them ? I love this , mom .
I want to give one to them . Thank you , living Waters , for your great podcast . God is using you through three-year-olds for His glory .
Wow , sarah and Daniel , what a great thing that red was a red t-shirt . I can attract the next person with a purple bowler hat there is a challenge .
Here's a part two to that is you go out for the night and you go . All right , I'm going gonna try to share the gospel with somebody wearing a red shirt , or hand a gospel tract to somebody wearing a red shirt . Part two would be how , about anytime you go out today , if you see somebody in a red shirt , you gotta give them a gospel tract .
Oh , that's good , right , yeah , and then you can expand it out like Ray .
If they're breathing , they may seem silly as you first think about them , but they work and they encourage you and motivate you . So thanks for writing in Sarah .
That's a blessing . Praise God , our three-year-old . They're going out sharing the gospel .
Yeah love to your three-year-old .
Yeah , and now a radically revolutionary resource . This podcast is brought to you by the Vault .
The Vault- man , I'm so glad we have the Vault . What's ?
the vault Ray yes , make sure you're revolting .
Yeah , what is it ? It's a box that's silver , it looks like a vault and inside are $100 million bill Gospels of John Ah love those things . Yeah , we get people writing in and saying how blessed they are to be able to give those out . We forget that we gave away a million free of charge , remember , and we paid for the shipping , sorry .
Yeah , we had a video .
We had a video throwing them on Driveway .
That's such a fun video . Do you remember I handed you your phone ?
Oh yeah . Yeah , you're true , I gave it a throw out , so where is that video ?
I'd like to grab it . It's yeah , so check it out , friends . Don't forget the Living Waters mug , the Evidence Study Bible , living Waters TV , oh , and the Living Waters YouTube channel , where we have over 300 million views . What are you going to say , ray ?
There was nothing in my mind . You looked like you were ready to go . I was breathing .
Don't forget also about the Ray Comfort Just Witnessing YouTube channel . Oh yes , we've got a channel called Just Witnessing .
Oh , and hang on a minute .
We've been
¶ Milk, Goats, and Silly Tangents
encouraging people to send their own witnessing videos . I think we've got two or three up on Just Witnessing and they do a very good job .
Yeah , if you get a good witnessing encounter , send it in . We may use it .
Good audio we also started a Living Waters podcast YouTube channel .
This is true .
Which has highlights and video of us I'm sorry about that Of us on YouTube , so check that out . The Living Waters Podcast YouTube channel we just launched it .
It's got thousands of subscribers , which is true . We won't say how many thousand , but it's growing , so check it out and you get videos of us All . Right , friends ? Today's topic is why Christians struggle with silence and solitude Because they know you . I give no unrest , do I ?
So we've got a whole program talking about silence and we do nothing but talk for the whole program .
Let's sit silent .
the whole program 40 minutes of silence starting now .
Ray , I wonder what the longest is . You can actually sit quietly .
It's not very long . I remember many years ago Daniel was in the car we're coming back from a restaurant and he says I bet you couldn't be quiet until we got home . He said that and I had to put a track between my teeth .
Hold it . I bet you can do it for five seconds . No , I can't . I can't Five seconds . Try One .
Yeah , right , right . I was going to tickle him when he got to three . Oh boy , I'm glad I stopped that yeah . But that's . I've just got to say something . The reason Mark's saying I'm going to tickle him is because I freak out when I get tickled . I scream . It's not funny , it almost kills me . I have a heart attack .
Same with your wife , oh yeah , Rachel .
In fact I've said it , I've shared it before . I've had to stop tickling her .
You're not allowed to . It's very difficult .
Yeah . It's painful , it's the job of every husband to tickle the wife . I know Don't even say the word . I may reinstate it .
Don't even say the word .
My wife gets me back though , and she has fingers like talons . She she grabs my ribcages when she tickles me . It's violent .
Why can't you tickle yourself ?
I know there's a reason I've thought of that .
You just go huh .
Even scratching your own back doesn't feel as good If you went near my ribs , I'd go crazy . Tickle yourself right . Try to tickle yourself right . You want help .
No problem .
So yeah , guys , the lost discipline of waiting on God , it's something that , when we look back , I think in church history , at least in the writings of men of old , it was something that was emphasized . It was almost kind of a given you wait on God .
I mean , you look at the journals of some of the greats and they were filled with indicators that they sat with the Lord , they waited on the Lord , and it's difficult . I mean , I'm guilty . I have a hard time sitting in solitude . I've had to discipline myself to be consistent in prayer . I have accountability , I have a brother and I .
We text each other prayer hands every day after we've spent time in solitude and in prayer , because there's just something about FOMO , right , the fear of missing out . That's why I love reading on planes .
FOMO I've never heard that . You've heard of FOMO ? No , I fell as I've missed out all these years .
They haven't told me Fear of missing out . Yeah , so it's something that we , as believers , must get back to , I think , to have walks with God that bear that depth and that richness .
Silence is golden . I should write a song Silence is golden , oh dear , oh dear . You know I didn't appreciate silence until we had kids . I'm serious , it was something I took for granted . But once you've got kids , there's just noise everywhere , and when I became a grandfather- yeah , I was going to say when you really appreciate it .
I really appreciate it Because you buy all these toys for your grandkids . They come around and you go through the toys and say that one's going , so is that one . It's too noisy in that one . And there's two things that really annoy me about life . One is car alarms . Whoever invented car ?
alarms should be shot Seriously .
No one even pays attention to them anymore . No , it's like the neighbor's car's being stolen again and they go on and on and you think when's he going to come out and kill it ? And the other one is gardeners' blowers , you know right by your window , it's got a noise that just grates .
Is there really such a thing as noise pollution , Like that's a term I hear ? Yeah , you can hear it on this podcast , the new title for our podcast , but I mean , is it like a thing ?
It absolutely is . They have highly sensitive sound decimal readers that you can take and just walking outside , you don't realize . You hear the buzz of cars , of airplanes , of air conditioning units , of helicopters , Sure gunshots , Matter of fact .
When we Gunshots , stabbings .
One of my favorite things to do is when we used to go sailing . We would leave the coast on the sailboat and after you got about a mile or two away from the coast , suddenly all of that noise pollution would go away .
And when you came back home , it's like the closer you got to shore , the more you can feel the buzz start to escalate , you know , and so we don't even realize how much noise pollution there is .
But beyond that , I actually think one of the biggest moments in history was the invention of the printing press , and one of the most transformational moments in history in our day happened in 2007 . And I really think the history books are going to talk about it as a pivotal moment in the human condition .
And , of course , 2007 is not only the year the first iPhone was released
¶ Listener Feedback: A Three-Year-Old Evangelist
. It was also the first year Facebook went from being exclusively for college students to anybody can get access to it . It was also the year , formally , twitter became more than just a sub stack and actually became a social media place .
And so why I bring that up is because I think our modern lives , we have lost the spiritual practice of solitude , and it is so damaging to our souls . It disconnects us from ourselves and from God . As one author put it , he believes that , more than hedonism , distraction is why we're moving into secularism .
He says it like this modernity slowly weakened spirituality by design and accident . In favor of commerce , it downplayed silence in mere being in favor of noise and constant action .
The reason we live in a culture increasingly without faith is not because science has somehow disproved the unprovable , but because the white noise of secularism has removed the very stillness in which it might endure or be reborn .
If churches came to understand that the greatest threat to faith today is not hedonism but distraction , perhaps they might begin to appeal anew to a frizzled , frazzled digital generation . I think the reason why is because , in our solitude , we face the good and the bad of our own heart . We hear our desires , our hunger , our thirst .
We hear our lack for desire of God , our insecurities , our idolatry , our fantasies . We see all the ways we are working on our salvation rather than working out our salvation , and we lie to ourselves . We say that we want to be productive with our time , but ultimately what we're really doing is running
¶ The Vault and Living Waters Resources
from fears and worries and insecurities and the pains that's plaguing our souls and so like , as one author put it we use digital distraction as like one of those hammers of whack-a-mole .
Every time those insecurities and voices start to come up in our minds , we get distracted with our phones and we just whack them back down again rather than facing the darkest areas of our hearts .
I never thought of it like that , oscar . I love that contrast . I mean the way it's put . Hedonism isn't our biggest problem . Distraction In that , yeah , I mean , mark . When my dad passed away I found myself not wanting to slow down because it distracted me . It kept me from facing that pain . Do you agree with what Oscar's saying ?
Like there's times where we can do that with not necessarily death , but just other issues . We don't want to confront them .
Absolutely . I remember when Pastor Steve Mays from South Bay had passed away , excuse me , when his father had passed away , he reached out to his mother about a month later , wanting to get together and have a cup of coffee , and she said well , let me check my calendar . Now she's retired , right ?
And she checked her calendar and said you know , I can meet you , we can meet up . I need at least a month . She had filled her calendar with things to do to try to distract her from the death of her husband . Solitude is a beautiful thing , right .
Noise can be a weapon of the enemy and can distract us enough to where we don't do that , which is the most important . Jesus in Luke 5 , it says that he withdrew himself to a desolate place and he prayed . If Jesus needed solitude , why would we think that we don't need solitude ? We think of Susanna Wesley .
She's buried in a cemetery called Bunhill Cemetery there in London . It's such an amazing cemetery it's weird to word it like that , but it really is .
Some amazing people are buried there , from John Owens to John Bunyan to Isaac Watts , and right across from the cemetery where she's buried is the house where John and Charles Wesley were born and raised and lived Susanna Wesley , with 10 kids .
She would escape away from her kids by grabbing hold of the apron that she would wear all day long because she was always serving , and she would put the apron up over her head and her kids knew that when she had her apron raised up over her head . This is mama's solitude . Don't come knocking , don't come asking , easy . You should do that Right now .
Put your shirt over your head .
Spare us the sight of your face . Mark , I love that you and I went to a service this weekend together . We were visiting Mission Bible Church where our good brother Tony Wood , who's been on the podcast pastors and Granger Smith , was speaking and he talked about John Wesley and the impact that Wesley had , but how he came face-to-face with the Lord .
But you think about how many times , when that apron was over her head , she was praying for her sons and you think about that . What was it ? How many 6,000 hymns ? I think Charles Wesley wrote Something crazy like that . And then you think of John Wesley's impact . He's got to be one of the pillars of the faith in his time in terms of the impact he had .
So , yeah , but that's the thing you miss out on that solitude you translate into what is lost impact through being with the Lord .
So we're talking about something that's totally unnatural for human beings , because you put any human being into solitary confinement , often they go insane because they so need fellowship . We've got fellowship with God . We're talking about silence and how important it is .
It's something we should appreciate , and I didn't really appreciate the fact that I can actually have silence until I met a lady many years ago . She was an elderly lady . She was standing on a sidewalk and a guy started his motorbike and it wasn't a Japanese motorbike , it was American , which means it was very , very loud .
It burst her eardrum and she spent the rest of her life with screaming in her ear , 24 hours a day . Every time I met her she just said it's still there . It's still there . It's driving me crazy , so we shouldn't be afraid of silence , but be thankful that we can have silence . Just get someone be with the lord .
Um , when we talk about waiting on god , what do you get from waiting on God ? Is he , what do you get ? Yeah what do you get ?
Well , I think your strength gets renewed , like the word talks about .
The wings as eagles .
Yeah , you get revived , you get perspective , you get healing . Like Oscar was talking about confronting those things that you just don't want to confront , to let the Spirit convict you and put His finger on things in your heart and in your mind .
You know we talk about God speaking to us through His Word , but do you hear the voice of God when you're waiting on Him ? Is there a time when you hear God speaking to you ? I don't mean audibly , but just about things in your life .
Yeah , I mean , I think , conviction through the Spirit , like you're saying , not in an audible way or in a way where it's like revelation , but yeah , just I think the Lord does it through natural means , as we're seeking him , as he brings things back to mind and heart and gives us , you know , thoughts and ideas that relate to our lives .
But , ray , I am curious to know because you know I think it was was it Elon Musk ? It was some genius person who just said the thoughts will not stop , like creativity and thinking he said you wouldn't want to swap brains with me .
It's just driving me crazy .
Ongoing nonstop . Do you deal with that , Because I know you have a really creative mind .
I don't have a genius mind , but I do have a mind that won't stop yapping and thinking of things . Just constant . We all do , yeah , constant . Right now it's just thinking what's easy , asking a stupid question for how ?
do we get rid of A's ? Eh yeah , but , ray , because you do practice solitude , you do confine . I mean you've done it for years . How do you do it ? How do you fight that urge to ?
Very difficult because I've got a wandering mind . It wanders all over the place . I was born under a wandering star .
Ooh , why the voice , though , right there ?
Because the guy that sung that song 400 years ago had the deepest voice you ever heard , like Grand Canyon . Yeah , it's discipline , you just have to . Nobody caught that .
Did you ?
catch that I got a deep voice like Grand Canyon .
I don't listen to Ray . I don't listen to Ray .
But the subconscious is an incredible thing how it yap , yap , yap , yap , yap , yap and how there's like a chain of links . You go back on the thoughts you have when you're sitting quietly for the last 10 minutes and you just go all over the place and thoughts are linking from one thing to the other . You think of the dog , I think of easy .
I think of a cat , I think of easy . I wonder how much space I occupy in your brain . Yes , I do have a lot of room .
Yeah , you know , I was thinking about this recently , how we were never really off , in the sense that I mean , imagine the insanity of life without sleep . Right , sleep's for the world . I hate sleep Madness , crazy . What do you say , ray ?
Why are you talking in a Russian accent ?
You're giving insanity . But no , I mean , imagine though we had no break . But even when we sleep , our brain is still going . We're dreaming , it's thinking .
It's doing like we were talking about the other day . I dreamed that someone was going to break my arm with a crowbar and they said it's very important we do that . And I woke up and actually my arm was crushed under me and it was gone all pins and needles and that's why it produced a dream , which is just strange how that happens .
It is . It's really , really weird , and one of the things I was thinking about recently is that sometimes we don't realize the noise around us until it stops . In other words , we think we're in quiet . Sometimes in my office , my fridge will do this buzzing noise , but it's going and then it stops and you realize it .
I'm like , oh , that's what quiet really is , you know , and I think the same way too , like we think we're being quiet in certain ways , or we're just relaxing or whatever , but we're on our phone . We think we're being quiet , but that's noise , even if it's not volume .
But we're reading something , or we're looking at this graphic , or that , oscar , what does it mean to sit silently and to have solitude with the Lord .
Psalm 46 , 10 comes to mind when you asked Ray that question .
There it is , that's great .
Beautiful , flavorful . Be still and know that I am God . I love that . So , first off , we need to define . What does it mean , what does the psalmist mean , to know God ? This is not information transaction .
You can gather information and data about God by going online , by listening to podcasts , but think about it this way Demons probably know God's word front and back better than you ever will , and so , in that sense , when it comes to information , a demon knows air quote God . But is that what Psalm 46 means ? Be still and know that I am God . Surely not .
What does it mean to know God in this way ? I think the psalmist means to abide in him the best way to describe it , and maybe I've even said this on the podcast before . But it's like you guys know my wife .
You guys know that she rides horses , you can pick her out in a crowd , you know what she looks like , you know how many kids she has , you know things about my wife , but only I know her . Only I know her fears and insecurities . I know her quirks , I know the things that bring her joy . So everybody knows about her fears and insecurities .
I know her quirks , I know the things that bring her joy . So everybody knows about her fears and insecurities .
Now , because you've just told everybody , I know my wife , you know , when we sit down and we talk to each other and we explore our days and dreams and ambitions . I'm knowing her . I'm abiding her . I'm seeing her face to face . I'm looking at her . I'm abiding her . I'm seeing her face to face .
I'm looking at her , looking at me in love , and in that same way , silence and solitude invites us into looking at God , looking at us . It's coming to know him , not just know about him , but actually know God .
Oh man , looking at God , looking at us , that's so profound . I've never thought of it that way , Like pausing to consider that the Father is actually conscious of us , like that . You know , I was talking about that . You know , when you think about that , right , Like we think of God as being so big and so busy and so much going on in the universe .
But it's that same Father who thinks of all of His children , who fashioned the universe Like right , everyone looks at the same sun , everyone looks at the same moon , has , throughout history , every single person looking at it and it's the same thing he's thinking of us . Like to pause and contemplate .
It's mind-blowing , isn't it To think ?
that .
God could even know us , let alone how many hairs are on our head , and thoughts of the heart .
I heard an interpretation of that in Psalm 46 . First you know , be still know that I'm God . Interpret it properly . Cease your striving and let me show you that I am God . That show you that I am God . That's good . I like that no .
I don't remember . It was a
¶ Why Christians Struggle With Solitude
commentator for many years ago . Yeah , yeah , was it Psalm 139 ? How precious also are your thoughts to me , o God . How great is the sum of them ? If I should count them , they would be more in number than the sand . That's a lot of sand . That's a lot of thoughts . Yeah , it's really mind- . Blowing . So how do we get there , guys ? Look at Mark 1.35 .
I don't know if that's the one you quoted , mark , but now in the morning , maybe it's a parallel one . Now in the morning , having risen a long while before daylight , he went out and departed to a solitary place and there he prayed .
You know , what's really cool about Mark 135 is that it's right between it's . It's right between two busy seasons .
Yes , that's what's so amazing .
It's like he's doing all this stuff and he's like , okay , I'm out , I'm busy , and then he comes back and he does this stuff again and he goes . So even just the recognition that jesus god incarnate values silence and solitude so greatly over even efficiency and effectiveness , because think about that he could have been like we got to press the gas on this .
We're gaining a following , let's go , go , go go . I don't think he would have mentioned gas .
That's true . We got to press the camel's whip . That's a push , the camel . But , instead Milk the camel , so it can lay eggs .
Thank you , I feel seen , but instead , in the midst of the momentum , he's like actually the most important , the most God-glorifying thing I could do right now is be alone with my Father , so he was involved in ministry at that verse 34 ?
Yeah , is that correct ? Because he got up a great while before day and there's probably a reason he did it to sneak away because crowds followed him . Yeah , it's to get away from the people .
Yeah , well , you know , what strikes me in addition to this verse is the fact that it's included . I mean , obviously not everything Jesus did was in Scripture . John said that the world can contain the books , but the fact this was highlighted , I mean you would think it's just okay . Jesus got up and went and prayed Well , what's the big deal ?
But it's highlighted , for us , for a purpose In this passage in Mark , chapter 1 , I like how Oscar points out the busyness of what's happening because it says that he healed many right , goes away and has a place of solitude and then says that the whole town came out . Did he go out now and heal the whole town ?
No , he said he wanted to go into the next town and to preach the gospel . It is for this reason that I have come . We look back and we go , spiritually speaking . How amazing this is . Quickly go heal all of the multitudes , go do spiritual work . It says there's nothing more spiritual than me preaching the gospel to this next town .
That's where I need to go . And with a heart set as a flint , he didn't turn back .
Do you know why ? It's set as a flint ? A flint's one of the hardest stones you can get , and when you hit it you get a spark . And that's what you should get if someone tries to deter you from preaching the gospel , as Jesus gave a spark to Peter when he says don't go to the cross and get behind me , satan . That was a spark .
Yeah , yeah . And you know what's interesting is we get to Mark , chapter six . And right , this is right after the missionary journey that Jesus and the disciples went on and they , it said , they said people were coming and going . They didn't even have time to eat and Jesus said come away by yourselves and rest a while .
So I mean , jesus wasn't just practicing solitude himself , he was demonstrating its importance to the disciples by really facilitating it for them .
I think King James says come apart , and the saying is come apart before you come apart .
Before you fall apart . Yeah , that's what it is .
That's good , yeah . Lamentations 3 , 25 to 28 . Beautiful , I can't believe we got a letter when someone included that after signing a reference that was so good , we're going
to start a whole thing , It'll be in politics . Some politician will say hmm , the Lord is good .
There's going to be a Living Waters version of the study Bible and after every verse .
It's the meditative Bible . We're just a bunch of idiots , man . No , the know-it-all .
Bible the Lord , Lamentations 33 , 25 , 28 . The Lord , Lamentations 33 , 25 , 28, . The Lord is good to those who wait for Him , to the soul who seeks Him . It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord . It is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth .
Let him sit alone and keep silent , because God has laid it on him . Ah , so good you know to live that way , to discipline ourselves toward it . And , ray , really everything basically in the Christian life comes down to discipline .
Certainly does . I was just thinking how you're so evident . You love Scripture and God's promises . You know just I think of David's words . I rejoiced your word over one who finds great treasure or great spoil , and I was looking at Psalm 62 , verses 1 and 5 . Truly , my soul waits silently , waits for God . From him comes my salvation .
So if anything should make us wait silently on God , is meditation on the fact that God brought salvation to us , salvation from death , expressed his love through the cross .
That should keep us silent . Yeah , and you know , we read that . You know that verse in Mark , I think Mark highlighted Luke 5 . So he himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed often , you know . So it wasn't just that he did it , but we see that there was regularity .
That's how Judas knew where Jesus would be at the garden , wow .
Oh , that's an interesting thought . Yeah , that's true , he had that habit of life .
Well , it would be great to write an autobiography of Judas speaking after he betrayed Jesus . Ooh , just from what his emotions were .
Book idea . Can you watch around ? That's how Ray remembers things .
I put one together a biography just like that and I can send that to you Really ? Yeah , it's really great .
Oh was it .
Judas yeah , with Judas
¶ Scripture and Practical Steps for Waiting on God
. I did it with chat . I asked it to put together that very thing and I put together a really cool thing .
Wow , yeah , imagine Judas being interviewed right after that . After he throws the money on the floor of the temple .
It wouldn't be regret , it would be remorse .
Such a powerful word remorse Describe the difference .
Ray , regret is when you regret something , but when you have remorse , what actually happens is that you have remorse .
So you have morse again . That's it . It comes again .
Remorse .
Yeah , itorse , so you have morse again . That's it . It comes again Remorse . Yeah , it comes back . What's ? Morse right , it's really bad .
Remorse is reapplying the really bad yeah there's actually a code that's gone out Morse code you send it again . It's when you send it again .
Oh , that'd be a good title . The remorse code D . End it again . Oh , that'd be a good title . The Remorse Code Diedrich Bonhoeffer said silence .
Actually , that's a good title , yeah , isn't it ?
Ooh , write it down . Silence is nothing but waiting for God's Word and coming from God's Word with a blessing . Wow , waiting for God's Word , did you ? Say that again I wasn't listening . Silence is nothing else but waiting for God's Word and coming from God's word with a blessing . Wow yeah , sitting and waiting .
You know I love the incorporating of scripture in prayer . In our times of Salted Oscar that's a big part of a lot of worship traditions where scripture is incorporated into worship .
It's done every day by millions through the Lord's prayer . Yeah , that's true .
Right , Oscar . Yeah , that actually brings it back to the question that you asked earlier , which is practical steps . What do we do ? And I think it's important to recognize there's a difference . You know , right now , one of the most downloaded apps of 2022 , I think was the mindfulness app , which is more Eastern view of silence and solitude .
So there's definitely a desire , a secular desire , out there . Nowadays , if you buy an Apple Watch , it's got like a breathing mindfulness app built into it . So everybody's looking for this . So then it begs the question what does silence and solitude in a worshipful way ? How does that sound different than just mindfulness ?
The practice of mindfulness that's more rooted in Eastern traditions . Right , and I think we've talked about this too which is to empty your mind , is mindfulness , but silence and solitude before the Lord . There's a next step to that . It's not about being alone , it's about being with God .
You empty your mind from all of the external distractions phones , internal distractions , the thoughts that are in your own mind and then you fill it up with the thoughts of God .
And one of the practical ways we can do that is , just before entering into that silence and solitude , either spending time in God's word or spending time praying through God's word , praying through the Psalms , praying through anywhere in the New and the Old Testament .
To turn God's words into your prayer words is a great way to prepare yourself to sit in the presence of the Almighty .
If somebody says I don't know what to pray , pray in the Word of God . I mean almost any text you come across you can pray in . You come across something like Judas went and hung himself and you go . Lord , help me not to ever get to that place where I feel like my only avenue of escape is to go do that dastardly deed .
It doesn't matter what text it is you can pray in the text and you can be focused . I did this kind of unusual exercise today on the way to work , where I was thinking imagine if the Lord granted me the ability to pray anything I wanted to pray from the moment I left my house to 30 minutes later I'm at work .
And he was going to say yes to everything . I'm about ready to pray and I consumed my mind and my thought with this could be my very last day , my last opportunity to pray , and I found myself so focused on my prayers and careful with what I was praying .
It's like somebody says well , give me a hundred million dollars , you'll see what I'll be able to do . Careful what you pray , right , don't say anything .
I know Ray wants to buy tracks for the whole world , but the idea of what we're praying right , that God , that we have the bent ear of God when we talk to God , you can't get that in the midst of the commotion . Right . Silence your commotion , because God's not going to compete with your commotion . Right ? A bit of a gentleman , if you would .
Blaise Pascal the mathematician . He said all of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone . Now , obviously I don't agree entirely with that , but I like what Tozer said . He said the devil's greatest weapon against Christians is busyness . If only I could do more things , more things , more things . But that's not the answer , right ?
Imagine if you had and I was thinking through my drive here today . I was thinking imagine if you had the fastest car in the world . But the way to activate that car . You had to do two things . One , you had to push a button in order to activate that , otherwise it goes at the speed of a Volkswagen bus . What's wrong with that , that's right . Ray .
But secondly , the only way to activate that and push that button is you have to actually pull over , stop the car and then push the button . So imagine if somebody comes up next to you and you're driving . You're going 50 miles an hour and you're racing for pink slips , whatever it may be .
He's driving a Bugatti and you're thinking , man , I can sell that , give the money to feed the poor . He takes off . But you know you have to do these two things . I got to push the button , but in order to push the button I got to pull over and I got to stop .
Would you still try to race the Bugatti or would you pull over , stop the car and then push the button ? Well , that's kind of the way God works with our society , with our Christian lives . We come up with our to-do list and we say God bless our to-do list , bless this list of all the things I need to do today .
And God says I don't see the part where it says flat tires or a flooded house . I don't see the part where you , whatever you do , oscar and you can go down to Mexico , your friend , right ? But God includes the mundane and the weird things and the distractions of life in order to speak to us , right ?
Just like CS Lewis , pain is God's megaphone to awaken a deaf world , a deaf world that we have to go through these times . And when we're silent and when we're quiet is really when God speaks . And then , finally , jim Carrey , the actor .
He said you can fail at what you don't want , so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love , and sometimes that means stepping away from the noise .
You know what ? Sorry , you go ahead .
No , you're more important than me .
Anyway . I was just thinking this morning about . I just can't get these thoughts out of my mind . I've been here for about two or three weeks . 3,000 people in the Southern California area , who were mainly rich , lost everything . And I just think about that . Losing everything . Could that be the beginning of a revival ?
Could they , for the first time in their lives , as rich people , self-secure , suddenly be thinking where is God ? So we just don't know . But it's just made me think .
It reminded me , ray of Job Naked . I came from my mother's womb naked . I shall return . We don't think about that . We constantly apply value to our lives on the basis of what we have or what we've accomplished . But we've said this so many times on the podcast our value comes from the fact that we have the imprint of God's image upon us .
We are made in the image of God , we're image bearers , and the fact that God intricately wove us together in our mother's womb you know . We need to remember that , because what that does is it . I think it will create in us this yearning to be reconnected with the one whose image we bear . It's like Lord .
That image is marred , though , in us because of the fall . Like Lord , I want you to work on refining that image , and the only way that can happen is if I'm in proximity to the one whose image I bear . Then I become more refined to reflect that perfect image I was meant to reflect originally . Imago Nite , imago Dei . What was that , ray ?
Imago Nite , imago N originally Imago Knight .
Imago Day . What was that Ray ?
Imago Knight , imago Knight , imago Day .
I love what you were getting at , mark , because it's I was thinking about that . I heard this comedian talking the other day and he was like introducing people nowadays to growing up in the 80s and 90s .
And he's like .
Imagine you're waiting for your parents to pick you up from soccer practice and you don't have a phone . You just stare at your shoes . You just stare up at the sky . Imagine you're on the bus . What do you do ? You just stare at something . Or you might have a book to read , and it kind of reminded me of the reality . Well , there's this author .
In this book called the Common Rule , justin Eerly suggests that our spare moments should not be so fulfilled by aimless online wondering .
He says those moments are reserved for staring at walls , which is infinitely more useful and I was thinking about that , because the reality is is that there are times where it's so wild the way our brains work , like we are truly addicted to digital distraction , and I'm bringing this up because to practice solitude , you have to recognize that you're probably addicted
to digital distraction and you're gonna need to wean yourself off of it . But this is really valuable to our spiritual vitality , and so the way I know that I can be digitally distracted and I can be physically distracted Addicted is when I'm sitting around and I got nothing to do and the first thing I do is grab my phone .
Of course , I'm waiting in line at the grocery store . I can't just wait there and be present . I got to grab my phone . Of course , I'm sitting on the couch and my kids are over there and for some reason , after 30 seconds I feel this urge to grab my phone .
Could you imagine being a brain surgeon Grabbing the ?
phone .
Sorry , I got a text Truly the reality is that our phones are meant to keep us on this serotonin high and when we remove ourselves from that , we are gonna experience a serotonin low and we are gonna want a quick fix .
And so , practically speaking , we can practice solitude , definitely by spending time away , but even in our regular lives , like I wrote down four things First , try going on a regular walk without your phone .
Yeah , ask and I'll talk .
You and your wife go on , or if you're single , you go on a walk regularly without your phone , with your dog , with your dog , sure , 30 , and again this is like my dog has a phone .
Raise , can I borrow your phone ? Let me say give me your phone .
Again , this is probably like an addict . We might need to wean our way into this . But figure 30 to 60 minutes of no digital content before bed and when you first wake up in the morning . Imagine just taking 30 minutes when you first wake up , or the 30 minutes before you go to bed and there's no screens , no phones . Imagine what that would do to you .
I've got a couple of emails here .
Imagine what that would do to you .
I've got a couple of emails here the next one is leave the house without your phone or intentionally leave it in the car , like the other day . We went grocery shopping , I took the kids and I very intentionally left my phone in the car what if ? Something happens , you'll be fine . What ?
if something happens like a drug addict I got to say something here , oscar is saying all this stuff with the knowledge in his mind that he has his phone on his watch .
I'll leave it , I'll leave it , so he still uses it .
I mean this is absolutely brilliant , it's beautiful . What if something happens , acronym is whoosh , that's true .
What if something happens ?
Truly , though , we think that way but I think we also think like addicts You're not that important to have that phone .
That's exactly right . Yeah , it'll wait , it'll be okay .
Finally , go into God's creation with nothing , or nothing but a book , to be able to go on a hike , to go to the beach if you live near the beach , like we are blessed to do to be able to spend time in God's creation , not being tempted to take a picture to prove you were there but , just simply being there .
Kindle book on your phone .
We can't handle this all script . Raise out dude , what are you doing ?
No , it's so true man , there is this sort of low-grade maybe with Ray high-grade panic full-blown at the thought of not having our phones . I mean , there are times when I have walked out and I always tap my pocket right . That's always like I got my phone and I'm like where is it ? And it's man , it's a problem .
And , mark , I love what you talked about before .
You could put your phone on silence . He's trying to find every way to keep his phone on silence . There's got to be a loophole . Yeah , that's it Solitude .
But , mark , you were talking about having to pull over to hit the button on the car . But the whole principle is sharpening the ax . That's right . You pause . You could keep going . No , no , I gotta give it . But it's like you pause to sharpen that ax , you're gonna end up cutting that tree down quicker , right ?
Really upset the neighbor , and that's what prayer does . Right his mind does not . Slow down , does not stop . Richard Baxter the Puritan , the theologian . He said noise is not strength . A still and quiet Christian is often the strongest . Spurgeon he said
¶ Breaking Free From Digital Distraction
there is no better cure for the soul than to be alone with God , and solitude is not an absence of something but a presence of someone . When Oscar was talking about you know , the world says we need to empty our minds and then they leave it at that . That's not what the Christian does .
We're not saying go aside and rest and empty the mind and leave it at that . No , it's kind of like repentance . Repentance , right , it's a pursuit of God and everything else is left behind . The Christian comes aside , rests a while , we get recalibrated , but we fill our mind with the promises and the beauty of God .
That's where we're going , that's what we're going to do , and there is a rest , let's not forget . There is a rest that remains for the people of God . That rest is there for you . You know . Jesus said come aside and rest . Jesus fell asleep on the pillow in the midst of the storm . Resting is a great thing . Sleep is actually a beautiful thing .
I know Ray and I especially Ray he jokes about if he had a superpower , it would be well that I never rested , I never slept . He'd be able to get more things done . He's probably got like six months , maybe a year left of his life .
He wants to redeem ? Why do you want me to visit the Grand Canyon ?
I rebuke that .
Why are there banana peels all over the ground on the way to my office , grand , Canyon Insurance Company but silence before God . It's not an inconvenience , it's an invitation . It's an invitation to come aside , rest a while , recalibrate , and let's do this together , not you by yourself .
Recalibrate I've talked about that word before . That is , I think , one of the most pivotal words when it comes to spiritual health .
Recalibration right , we know this , and anything that deals with measurement , whether it's weight , or it's a machine that deals with length or whatever if you don't recalib , it's a machine that that you know deals with length or whatever if you don't recalibrate with a standard that is definite , then you're gonna , you're gonna veer off course , you know .
And so that that's what it is . It's that recalibration , right , it's like my watch , it's . It's . It's linked to the atomic clock in boulder , colorado , which is perfect time , so each night Clock in Boulder , Colorado , which is perfect time .
So each night at midnight . So you believe , yeah , really yeah , we went there and moved the . No , no , no , you guys are always late .
But at midnight you see this satellite image pop up on my watch . It means it's recalibrating , so that if it got off like a hairline in terms of the you know zepto seconds , even it's going to recalibrate . Just get an Apple Watch , it's always calibrated . No , it has to recalibrate to the atomic clock in Boulder , colorado , done .
Who started the Boulder clock in Colorado and how do you ?
know they measured it right .
What do they measure it on ?
Now I'm going to go crazy thinking about this . Mark to your point . I love this quote from Richard Foster the soul Are you going to do it with quotes ? Now , love that quote . The soul of the spiritual disciplines is not about doing more , but about creating space for God to do more in us .
That's great . There's a lot of space out there .
Yeah , lots of space . What are you going to do about space ? There are clouds up there . They weigh trillions of pounds . What are you going to say , Ray ?
The soul is never . This is what Samuel Chadwick said the soul .
Isn't it great .
I hope you enjoyed that . The soul is never less alone than when it's alone with God . Isn't that good ? That's deep .
Never less alone .
Oh , less alone .
Never less alone than when it's with God . In other words , you're not alone when you're with God ever . That's so good yeah .
So how do we ?
Have you got something there ?
Easy , or was ?
it just . You're just checking the bucket out to see any thoughts . No , no . So , how do we ? Yeah , yes , how do we ? There's nothing there .
He hasn't thought about it , yet how do we ?
How do we ?
When all else fails , sing . That's what I always say . But no how do we get ourselves to that place where we do the hard things that are going to lead to solitude ? Because this is the thing , like I know you guys right , oh , what was that thing ?
I said , oh , I sent you that meme , ray , where it was a wife talking to her husband and he said , no , it doesn't even go into one ear . But I know you guys , everything I say goes in one ear after the other . You're going to be excited . Now . What did EZ say ?
I don't know , See , if he had a point we would listen we get excited , we get revved up .
I know some of you listening right now . Friends are like okay , solitude with God , solitude with God .
And like in 20 seconds . That just insulted all four of them .
But in 20 seconds a text is going to pop up , a notification is going to pop up . Don't tell me you guys get notifications for . Like your emails on your phone , yeah , but not on my watch , no . Like does your phone buzz anytime you get an email ? Only work emails , oh man , yeah , I couldn't do that . You would fire me .
That's true , that's true , you have to keep it , but I don't . I'm very good at not answering texts right away .
Yeah , I've seen that one about the money's coming . The lawyer said he had contact within an hour , within an hour .
Yes , yeah , I didn't get that Send . I'm pretty slow in responding to texts when you guys send texts out , because I really try to be in the moment . I love what Oscar's saying . You asked what is the hard step . Well , the first hard step is removing the phone . Set up some boundaries .
I'm not going to get to the phone in the first half hour I'm awake or the last half hour before I fall asleep . That is a great practical .
I get to the phone before I wake up . This is Ray's phone .
Ray goes like this oh yeah , Ray's phone is a way .
I just threw it over to Oscar .
Take his iPad .
I have got other phones .
He's like I got my iPad I have phones of which you know , not of Backups . Yeah , but yeah .
I hide them around the house and in my office .
No , look , here's what I'm going to recommend .
Oscar , would you pass it back ? I can't handle it .
Here's what I'm going to recommend . You must , as I've shared before , you must , implement external devices to help you with your internal weaknesses . What do I mean by that ? Again , it was the whole thing with the alarms . I had a hard time getting up , set five alarms trailing from my bed to the bathroom . I had to get up , shut them off .
That's an external tool to help me with my internal weakness . And so you go to like bare minimum , right , Bare minimum . What you need right now is accountability , which means , if you're convicted by this right now , solitude with God , shutting out the noise , sitting with the Lord . You must communicate about this with someone right now . So that's your first step .
I'm going to talk to a brother , I'm going to talk to a sister , I'm going to talk to my wife , my husband , and I'm going to say I have this problem and I want to get it right . Will you please hold me accountable . Ray , do you have something ? to say , yeah , ray , no , nothing at all .
Yeah , and then from there what you do is with that person you chart a course Again , just like this brother and I . For six months now almost , we have had a commitment to send each other prayer hands every time we finish our prayer time , and it's become a routine and it's beautiful . So we established an accountability mechanism .
So do that and then , from there , begin to weed out the things that distract you , identify them Again . It's not about getting rid of your phone altogether . It's about how do I not let my phone control me , how do I not let social media control me , how do I not let work control me ?
For those of you workaholics out there , you must put the priorities in order the rice and the walnuts in the jar . You put the rice in and then the walnuts . They won't fit . Put the walnuts in , then the rice . It'll go in between all the cracks and crevices and then fit .
It's a Lebanese idiom Put the cow eggs in a bowl .
Yeah , the cow eggs . You got to get the cow eggs right .
So does that make ?
sense , or am I crazy ? I think you're crazy .
But I mean , if you're listen , if you're used , to watching a movie every single night , spread that movie out over a week . Say , I'm going to be watching 20 minutes of this movie every night and I'm going to fill that time with a devotion , yeah , or just reading something . You know something similar to that .
What we're talking about , just away from a device , yeah , well , I mean , ray has his little saying no Bible , no breakfast , no feed no read , that's not original . Yeah , I know Nothing is Ray , but I think you apply that too to entertainment . You haven't had time with the Lord ? Well then , you don't watch TV .
If your day's been packed and you don't have your normal time with the Lord let's say you do it in the morning well then you say what's priority ? If something's got to go , it's my TV time or my movie time or my recreation Time with the Lord . Sitting in solitude is primary .
So isn't it all summed up in seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness . And all the other things will be added , so this whole podcast wasn't necessary . Read your Bible , that's it , and we should actually change the name of the podcast to get rid of your phone . Yeah .
Listen , there's also very practical stuff that you can do , and that is you can put a time limit on social media apps and other things on your phone .
Great thing , six hours , as a reminder , you , and as an encouragement . There's an addictive behavior in every single one of us , and when you start this new spiritual practice , it's going to be hard . It's not going to the fruitfulness of the reward . It might not be instantaneous , but but the reality is .
It reminds me of what Augustine Augustine say , which is that our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you , god , and so what , ultimately , we and the Lord mostly are inviting you to is to find the rest that your soul is desperately seeking , and that is something that is just . It's going to take time for you to understand Amen .
Don't give up because it's hard and you're dealing really with withdrawals .
There is an addictive element , so press on and you will experience the fruit of that there's a famous book that I've never read , called Practicing the Presence of God , brother Lawrence , I think .
Is that ? I don't know ? Yeah , something like that . Did you say ? There's a famous book I've never read .
Yeah , I've never read it .
Ray doesn't want to read it . He doesn't care . I have read the title .
Great title . All right , friends , we had a little glitch glitch that part was cut out , but Ray committed to give up his phone for one whole month .
Yay , Did you see his eyes go wide . He's behind me , never . All right , friends . There you have it . Don't forget the Vault 100 copies of the Gospel of John . You can get them individually too , but why not get 100 ? Don't forget the Living Waters mug , the Evidence Study Bible . Living Waters TV , living Waters YouTube channel . All that Living Waters .
Oh , we never did it today .
I was surprised it was .
Brother Lawrence LivingWaterscom .
Brother Lawrence , that's it , it was Brother .
Lawrence See .
Yeah , Good work EZ .
All right , friends , don't forget podcast at LivingWaterscom . Hey , we really , really love getting your emails and reading them . Thank you for joining us , friends . We'll see you here next time on the Living Writers .
Please work on that .
Podcast when we have no idea what we're doing .