I want to talk about a thing that I am terrible at. And my guess is that you are terrible at it, too. No, I’m not talking about whistling. I’m talking about solitude. It is a thing that Christians have done for centuries — millennia, even! Intentional solitude, usually with meditation or prayer, is a time-honored way of becoming a better disciple.

But in my house, there are four other people and Sirius the dog. I’m never alone! I don’t have time for that! And actually, I used to live alone, and there was a lot of quiet time. But I don’t know that I was ever alone then, either. If you’ve got ESPN on TV, or Paul Simon playing in the background, and your phone open to Facebook, you’re not really practicing solitude.

We are busy people! We have a lot to do. And then we fill the spaces in our lives with noise and information. Solitude is about making space, but that space is for God. The point is to get away from all the other inputs in our lives. We give ourselves room to focus on God. It requires intentionality. You don’t accidentally give yourself two or three hours of solitude. 

How often did Jesus seek out solitude? A lot, as it turns out! Just going by Luke’s version of the gospel, he names nine times that Jesus sought out alone time with God. And remember, the Gospel of Luke is a very selective account of Jesus’ whole time on earth. He was just recording the important stories from eyewitnesses. So, if Luke had heard about it nine times, one can assume it was something Jesus did all the time. Let’s look at some of them and see if anything instructive emerges.

Luke 5:15-16 is an interesting short passage, “News of him spread even more, and huge crowds gathered to listen and to be healed from their illnesses. But Jesus would withdraw to deserted places for prayer” (NIV). This is placed between a story about Jesus healing a leper and one about Him healing a paralyzed man. Clearly, these are good things that need to be done. So why does Jesus stop and withdraw to deserted places? Does He need a break? It seems almost blasphemous to say that Jesus, God incarnate, needed a break. But I think that’s it. Jesus had a sense of pace. He had a life balance. 

When you are in the middle of doing good things, do you take time out to retreat? In Luke 6:12-13, we get this story: “During that time, Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night long. At daybreak, he called together his disciples. He chose twelve of them whom he called apostles.” 

Here’s another reason to seek solitude! Jesus was about to appoint the Twelve. He had a big decision to make, so He spent time alone with God in prayer! Even Jesus, who knew exactly what He was doing, took time out to pray about it first. He wasn’t rushing into anything. 

When you are about to make a huge life choice, do you take time out to retreat? Luke 9:18 says, “One day Jesus left the crowds to pray alone. Only his disciples were with him, and he asked them, ‘Who do people say I am?’” This is when Peter declares that Jesus is the Christ sent from God. Jesus tells the disciples to keep it quiet. But then He lets them in on His plan. It’s a huge moment, theologically, in the gospel story. And it’s set up by Jesus practicing solitude. 

When you have a big, game-changing announcement, do you take time to retreat beforehand? Just a few verses later, in Luke 9:28-29, we get the story of the transfiguration: “About eight days later Jesus took Peter, John, and James up on a mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly, two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared and began talking with Jesus. They were glorious to see. And they were speaking about his exodus from this world, which was about to be fulfilled in Jerusalem.”

As miracles go, this one is way up there. It was the big reveal of who Jesus was, and God clearly saying, “This is my son, my chosen one. Listen to Him!” These are all things we know about Jesus, so they don’t seem shocking or surprising. But to Peter, James and John, this was big news!

When you have a big, unique event, do you start it off with prayer and solitude? In Luke 11:1, we read Luke’s version of Jesus teaching the Lord’s prayer to His disciples. “Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.’” Jesus was teaching an important lesson! We still pray that prayer today (although we usually use the Matthew version). 

Jesus retreated just before He was about to be betrayed. He knew what was coming, and that He didn’t have any time left. He wasn’t happy about it! He knew what He had to do, but he didn’t really want to do it. It reminds me of the definition of courage: “being afraid but doing it anyway.” Even Jesus had trouble doing the hard things! When you have something hard that you don’t want to do, do you take time to retreat? 

So, what did we learn from looking at these examples of Jesus retreating in solitude? I’m struck that they weren’t just scheduled activities. It’s not like He had a quarterly solitude retreat in his monthly planner. Jesus used solitude to recover from something big. He wasn’t just an introvert, recharging in a quiet room. He was connecting with the Father in prayer.

His solitude often led to something happening. I’m not sure that’s something we do. Do we take a time of solitude before a big event? More likely, we take that time to run around and get last-minute things done. Five thousand people are coming over for a fish dinner! We’d better scrub the stove! Get the fridge cleaned out! Vacuum the living room! Maybe that’s not the right approach. Jesus didn’t seem to think so.

I don’t do solitude nearly as often as I should. I don’t think I’m alone in this. And as I’ve looked at when Jesus did it, it seems painfully obvious that my life could benefit from it! We should be using solitude and retreat to recover, recharge, prepare, and connect with our Heavenly Father. I want to do more of that! What about you?

Pray about ways you can make time for solitude. When could you carve out time to be alone, to intentionally seek God? This week, start small. Take just 30 minutes and be alone with Him. Retreat. Pray. Recharge. You never know what good things could happen!

Photo via Nathan Mcgregor/Unsplash | This article was originally titled “Time to Retreat” in the January 2026 issue of The War Cry.