“Locate special places that can be used for silence and solitude. Find them within the home, within walking distance, within a few minutes’ drive, and for overnight or longer retreats.

The prophetic Welsh preacher Howell Harris, a friend of George Whitefield, had a special place for silence and solitude in a church building. Writing about the time before the Welshman’s evangelistic ministry, Whitefield’s biographer, Arnold Dallimore, says,

Harris’s knowledge of Divine things during these days was small. He simply knew he loved the Lord and wanted to love Him more, and in this pursuit he sought out quiet places where he could be secluded with Him in prayer. One of his favourite retreats was the church at Llangasty—the village in which he then taught school—and on one occasion shortly after his conversion he climbed into its tower to be more alone with the Lord. There, as he remained in intercession for some hours, he experienced an overwhelming sense of the presence and power of God. That lonely church tower became to him a holy of holies, and afterwards he wrote, “I felt suddenly my heart melting within me, like wax before the fire, with love to God my Saviour; and also felt, not only love and peace, but a longing to be dissolved with Christ. There was a cry in my inmost soul which I was totally unacquainted with before. ‘Abba, Father!’ … I knew I was His child, and that He loved and heard me. My soul being filled and satiated, cried, ‘It is enough! Give me strength and I will follow Thee through fire and water.’ ”

Donald S. Whitney

Spiritual Disciplines For The Christian Life, 188-189

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Alone with God is where men and women most often meet Him in life changing ways: Jacob alone in the night (Gen. 32:24-32); Moses in the desert or on the mountain (Ex. 3:1-6); and Peter on the rooftop for prayer (Acts 10:9-16). Jesus often withdrew to lonely places to pray (Luke 5:16). Testimonies and biographies of vibrant saints through the centuries affirm that most often the Lord revealed Himself to them when they were alone with Him. How slow this distracted modern generation is to learn this vital lesson.