Solitude
We are so grateful for the work of Practicing the Way for developing material to help us grow in our discipleship to Jesus and also to make it accessible to us for free. They have developed an awesome 4 week curriculum, which we will be following in March of 2026.
Here is our plan:
Andrew will be preaching a series on encountering God through solitude and we would love to invite you into moments of encountering the Lord through solitude with us and in community with each other. We believe that when you are intentional about your relationship with Jesus, He will show up in very beautiful and unexpected ways.
We are asking you to join with your Chapel Community, a community you choose if you are out of town, a group of friends, or by yourself and watch the weekly videos from Practicing the Way. (You can watch them before you meet or during, but we have found it most effective to watch together.) Then you discuss the material and engage in the solitude practice exercises…then get together the next week to see how it went. This will be a simple 4 week commitment.
To be ready and jump all the way in, consider purchasing or downloading the Solitude Practice companion guide. You may also want to go ahead and order the book Invitation to Solitude and Silence:Experiencing God’s Transforming Presence for a deeper spiritual exercise.
If you are planning to walk through these four weeks with a group in your town, alone, or with a Chapel community as a leader, you will want to log into Practicing the Way and create a group to get access to all the videos you will use for discussion. Follow this link and create a group. Don’t forget to associate with The Chapel at Seaside when it asks if you are a part of a church. If you want a video that walks you through the process, you will find that here!
Sermons
Guide Books
Solitude: Practice Guide
Free download from Practicing the Way site here. Or you can download it from your PTW home page.
Solitude: Practice Guide
Purchase from Amazon here.
Reading Recommendations
Invitation to Solitude and Silence
Much of our faith and practice is about words—preaching, teaching, talking with others. Yet all of these words are not enough to take us into the real presence of God where we can hear his voice. In Invitation to Solitude and Silence, Ruth Haley Barton invites you to meet God deeply and fully outside the demands and noise of daily life.
Buy the paperback book here!
Podcasts
Solitude Week 1: An Introduction to the Solitude Practice
In the first episode of the Solitude season, Bethany Allen and Bryan Rouanzoin interview John Mark Comer about the practice of solitude and why it’s essential for every apprentice of Jesus.
Listen to the episode on Spotify here!
Solitude Week 2: The Quiet Place with John Ortberg
Jesus regularly oscillated between rich time in community and beautiful time connecting with God in solitude in the eremos. The “quiet place” was an intentional space Jesus entered to be alone with God and himself. As apprentices of Jesus, we desperately need to set aside time for this too.
In episode 1 of the Solitude season, Bethany Allen and John Mark Comer interview John Ortberg. John Ortberg is a longtime pastor, speaker, and author, and the founder of an online ministry called BecomeNew.Me.
Listen to the episode on Spotify here!
Solitude Week 3: Encountering Our Self with Bethany Allen
Solitude is a place of encounter, where we confront the reality of who we are before God. There are so many voices, including our own false selves, that we use to curate who we are. But in solitude, we encounter our true selves — created and loved by God. And we are free to bring all of our selves before God for healing, prayer, and reflection.
In episode 2 of the Solitude season, John Mark Comer and Bryan Rouanzoin interview Bethany Allen. Bethany Allen is the pastor of spiritual formation and leadership development at Bridgetown Church in downtown Portland.
Listen to the episode on Spotify here!
Solitude Week 4: Encountering Our Enemies with Ken Shigematsu
In solitude, we not only encounter ourselves and who we are before God, we also encounter the voices of others. We can be met with fear, regret, and external voices that may be challenging to distinguish from God or ourselves. Is this why solitude can be so challenging? How can we tell the difference between God’s voice and the voice of the enemy? Why does solitude and silence facilitate this encounter with our enemies?
In this conversation, John Mark Comer interviews Ken Shigematsu. Ken is the senior pastor of Tenth Church in Vancouver, BC, one of the largest and most diverse city-center churches in Canada.
Listen to the episode on Spotify here!
Solitude Week 5: Encountering Our God with Emily P. Freeman
In this podcast season so far, we’ve discussed two encounters that we may experience during solitude — an encounter with ourselves and an encounter with God. In this final interview of the season, John Mark Comer and Bryan Rouanzoin interview Emily P. Freeman about how solitude enables us to encounter the living God. Through this encounter, we can experience his presence, hear his voice, and witness his power personally.
Emily P. Freeman is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of five books, including The Next Right Thing: A Simple, Soulful Practice for Making Life Decisions. As a spiritual director, podcast host, and workshop leader, her most important work is to help create soul space and offer spiritual companionship and discernment for anyone struggling with decision fatigue.
Listen to the episode on Spotify here!
Solitude Week 6: Question & Response
How often should I practice solitude? What if I don’t have a good time or the right place to practice solitude? What if solitude makes me more anxious? These are all questions that you, our audience, wanted help with! Join John Mark Comer, Bethany Allen, and Bryan Rouanzoin on this final Question and Response episode of season 4 of the Rule of Life podcast. You may just hear the question you asked.
Listen to the episode on Spotify here!