Jesus also had to get away from the crowds and he would slip away and pray all night

because he needed his father's encouragement he needed to talk to his father and

that's so important for us to send the crowds

away it would be our busy schedules our activities our thoughts send them away and just get with God.

And that's what we lack so desperately in our culture today.

That's Ruth Bell Graham explaining how loneliness or solitude can actually be a good thing for us.

And we're looking forward to hearing more of her insights today on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly.

Thanks for joining us. I'm John Fuller.

It's incredible that we live in the most technologically connected age

in human history, and yet many of us feel alone.

We don't like feeling that way. We don't even want to admit it

when we feel lonely. But research is clear as we shared last time with Ruth, nearly

half of adults in the U.S. report feeling lonely

and younger generations especially feel like they have no friends. And that is tragic. And it reflects the truth found in Genesis 2 where it says

it is not good that man should be alone. God created us to be part of a meaningful

community in our families with our friends and most importantly

in the church.

And as we shared last time, Ruth had some great insights on this topic like her reach acronym where you need to be

intentional about reaching out to others and to God when you experience loneliness

and learn to trust God to help you connect and serve other people.

And yesterday, Jim, what I appreciated was Ruth reminding us that even Jesus got away.

He was so surrounded by activity and demands, but he got a way to get time with God,

...