It seems that it’s just about everywhere we hear about college students losing their faith. The church seems to be in a frenzy about all the millennials leaving the church, and many websites cite college as a reason for this. It is in college, after all, that we get our first taste of the freedom that comes with living on your own and managing your own schedule. And for young Christians who desperately want to hold on to their faith, this may seem scary.
College is a busy time for sure. I don’t think I even fully realized this until I was swamped in the middle of all the expectations placed upon me. I had to do all my homework, work a part-time job, maintain a social life, get enough sleep, eat regular meals, and maintain my relationship with God on top of it all. The demands of college are unique because almost everyone in your life is asking something different of you. Each professor has specific requirements for his class and they don’t always mingle flawlessly together with every other professor’s demands. As this busyness hits you like a concrete wall, it’s easy to let the little things slip through the cracks. So the question is raised: How do I make time for Jesus in my life?
The story of Mary and Martha comes to mind as a good model to follow. Martha is worried and troubled about checking off everything on her to-do list. This isn’t a bad desire at all, but Jesus encouraged her to fix her eyes on something (read: someone) else. Her sister, Mary, no doubt has a million things on her plate too, but when Jesus comes to visit she sets it all aside to sit at His feet. Takeaway: disciples make time for Jesus. In this beautiful dialogue, Jesus says that though Martha is troubled about many things, only one thing is necessary. There are times in college when we have to let go of the to-do list and sit at Jesus’ feet and there are times when we have to make space for Jesus in our everyday hustle and bustle. This is no easy task, so here are ten tips for how I did this in my college life:
1. Use Your Mirror!
Sometimes making space for Jesus means building Him into our daily routine. A mirror is a great way to do this because most dorm rooms are equipped with a mirror that you use as you get ready for the day. Throughout my college experience, I often took advantage of my mirror. Sometimes I wrote a verse or quote on my mirror with a dry erase marker. Other times I stuck a note or Post-It up with something I needed to remember. This is a great place to put truths about who you are in Christ so that you can start every day reminded of your true worth before you even start comparing yourself to others.
My favorite notes I ever put on my mirror were actually prompted by one of my professors. He said, “Every morning you should wake up and say, ‘Good Morning, Saint!’, and every night go to bed saying, ‘Good Night, Beloved!’” I stuck these on my mirror so I could be reminded of who I was every day.
2. Set Pre-Semester Goals
Sometimes, the best way to build Jesus into our busy schedule is to be intentional. This starts by sitting down at the beginning of the semester and asking yourself what practical steps you’re planning on implementing to make Jesus a priority. Some of my most God-centered semesters were because I made a plan at the beginning of the semester and stuck to it.
Life in college changes every semester. Some semesters your first class might be at 11 o’clock, so you’ll have plenty of time to chill with Jesus in the morning. Other semesters you will have a 7:30 am class, which you’ll barely roll out of bed in time for. These are things to consider when planning your time with Jesus. Find the time that will work the best for THIS semester and then stick to it. Reserve that time so that nothing else creeps in and fills it. Carve it out as a sacred time where you sit with Jesus without the distractions of homework or phone notifications.
Sitting down at the beginning of the semester is also a good time to reevaluate what your goals and priorities are. What are the things you want to be a part of your life? Who are the people you want to spend time with? What were the things that distracted you the most last semester? What do you want to change this semester? Write these things down and put them in a place where you’ll see them.
This is also a good time to write a prayer to dedicate your semester to the Lord or ask Him the questions or requests you have. I always liked to write questions I had for Jesus on an index card and hang it up where I could see it. Then throughout the semester, I could keep praying about these things and listening for His guidance. These questions included, “Who do you want me to invest in this year?” “What do you want me to do with my summer?” and “What do you want me to learn this semester?” Being intentional from the beginning of the semester helps to fight against the busyness that sometimes creeps in without your permission.
3. Find a Spot
The thing about living in a dorm room is that your room becomes the space for everything. It’s the space where you sleep, eat, hang out with friends, do homework, pull all-nighters, watch Netflix, and procrastinate on Instagram. The problem I found with this is that there was no separation between activities. What was stopping me from watching Netflix while I was doing homework? Or scrolling through Instagram while I was supposed to be studying? What kept me from taking a nap while I was reading a textbook? Because my dorm room was the space for everything, it was hard to be productive in anything.
So I started developing spaces for different things. I went to the library or the student lounge to do homework. I went to our dorm lounge to hang out with friends. I made my dorm room the place where I rested. And I found a spot for me and Jesus to spend time together.
This was so important for me! When you have a specific spot or area you go to spend time with God, then that area is set aside for that purpose. It’s easier to guard against distraction when you know exactly what you are in that place to do. It also adds a sense of consistency and sacredness when you keep going back to that spot to spend time with the Lord.
I know that many times when I tried to have my quiet time in my dorm room, it was way too easy to start looking through my planner, writing my to-do list, or even one of my friends from down the hall to walk in on me. Having a spot makes it easier to set aside the time and space for this one specific thing with limited distractions.
4. Make a Prayer Wall
Speaking of space, this was something I did most of my semesters at college. I made a prayer wall, usually on a wall that was nearest to my bed. I wrote down prayer requests I had for myself, for others, and for the semester. Sometimes when my heart was weary, I would write a whole prayer on notebook paper and hang it up on the wall. As the semester went by, I would sometimes forget about my wall or glance over it without a thought, but then when I came back to read my requests, I would find that God had answered many of them. Afterrealizing this, I would write a check mark on them with a big fat marker.
Having this prayer wall was a constant physical reminder that God was working in my life, and I could come to Him. It also showed my friends that I was a praying person, and they would come to me with their prayer requests. Often they would say, “I know you pray, so can you pray for me?” I became someone that people knew they could come to, and part of that was just because I set aside part of my wall for my prayers and God’s answers.
A bonus on this is that it’s really fun to keep track of the ways God answers your prayers. I always loved when I got to go back to a specific Post-It note and write down how God answered it, or what date I prayed it versus what date it was answered. When you keep track like this, it helps to remind you of God’s presence in the moments when you’re not sure if He’s there.
At a place like a college, when you’re trying to figure out who you are and how God fits in, something like this really makes a difference to remind you of His faithfulness!
5. Get Verse of the Day Notifications
Okay- I admit that I didn’t start this until the summer after I graduated from college, but I think it would have been important then too. If you download the YouVersion Bible App, you get the option to have it send you a Bible verse every day. It will just pop up in your notifications. At first, I thought I would just try it, because a little extra Bible couldn’t hurt, right? But I have come to love it.
The reality is that our phone is often the first thing we touch in the morning. We turn off our alarm, and then if we have time, sometimes we start scrolling through stories and feeds. What I love about this app is that the first thing I see on my screen after I turn off my alarm is a Bible verse. It takes two seconds to read, but then I think about the verse as I brush my teeth and get ready. It’s a really practical way to start your day in the Word. And there have been many times when the verse that shows up on my screen is exactly the bit of truth I need to hear that day.
6. Pray As You Walk
I found myself walking a lot during college. I had to walk to class everyday, and sometimes my classes were in different buildings around campus. Because my school was in a city, I also walked when I needed groceries and I walked to work. I learned to make a habit of praying as I walked.
As I walked to class, I would talk to God about how I felt about the test that day, or how I really didn’t feel equipped for the class discussion that day. As I walked the twenty minutes to work, I would share with Jesus anything that was on my heart. I would tell Him I thought the tree I passed was really pretty. I would wrestle through things I had questions for Him about. I would share my frustration with him about different people in my life. I would ask Him for opportunities to minister to those around me. Many of the best conversations I had with Jesus in college were conversations I had as I walked from place to place.
This is a really practical way to make space for Jesus in your life because the time you spend walking is often empty time anyways. Yeah, maybe I could have listened to music or podcasts on my way to work, but walking with headphones in isn’t super safe anyways. So I couldn’t think of a better time to spend talking with Jesus than when I was walking.
7. Build Godly Habits
Habits are important. These are things we do every day, sometimes without needing to think about them, because they are such a regular part of our lives. We make space to brush our teeth everyday, but this no longer takes much effort because it is our routine. The same should go for our spiritual practices. It might seem like a lot of work to stick to a spiritual routine of spending time with Jesus everyday, or making sure you take time to read your Bible, but if you put in the effort up front to build this habit, it will become as regular as when you brush your teeth. Some of your spiritual practices could take two minutes – they really aren’t that difficult or time consuming. It just takes intentionality to build them into our lives and make them a regular part of our routine.
Another part of building godly habits is choosing what you don’t want to be a part of your life. You don’t want to spend time looking at inappropriate things on the internet? Build habits of discernment in which websites you visit and how long you spend scrolling through your newsfeed. Don’t want to fall asleep while trying to read your textbooks? (Guilty as charged.) Don’t read your textbooks in your bed. Don’t want to end up at a party where sketchy stuff happens? Build habits of spending your time with people who build you up and respect your limitations and boundaries. One of the best pieces of advice I could give you for college would be to be very intentional with how you use your free time. There are ways you can fill that time that aren’t truly restful and might harm you in the long run, or there are things you could do that recharge you and make you feel ready to launch into the next day or the next week.
8. Find Christian Friends
Now I went to a Christian university, so this wasn’t all that hard for me, but some of you might be going to a state college or a secular university. They always say that the friends you make in college will be your lifelong friends, and as someone who has graduated I can attest that this is true. This means that the people you hang out with in college will not only make or break your college experience, but they will influence you for the rest of your life. Who do you want these people to be?
Having Christian friends in college is really important because you can encourage each other and keep each other accountable in ways that no one else can. I have never known a time in my life when I or my friends had more mental breakdowns. Sometimes it was because we were doubting God, sometimes it was because we didn’t feel like we could get all our homework done, sometimes it was because we didn’t know who we were, and sometimes it was because of a breakup. We needed no one else more in those moments than our Christian friends to gently listen to us, cry with us, encourage us, and remind us of the truth of who God is and who we are.
You will have at least a few mental breakdowns and identity crises throughout your college experience. The question is, who do you want to be there with you in those moments? You want someone who can remind you of the truth.
9. Find a Good Church
Especially if you don’t go to a Christian university where this is the norm, it can be way too easy to just sleep in on Sunday morning. Finding a solid church to be a part of is essential for someone wanting to grow in their faith and be a part of the Body of Christ. Finding a good church is important to help you grow, and continue to learn more about God, as well as providing a community you can lean on.
One unexpected thing that I faced in college is that I got tired of only being around people my age. Going to church and being surrounded with older beleivers and little children was refreshing for my soul and my faith. Hearing stories of how God had worked in other people’s lives helped me to trust God in my own life. Being surrounded by a community of people who loved God helped me to remember why I wanted to make Jesus an everyday part of my life. There were times when I was in need of various supplies or rides and people from my church were able to provide those things for me. There were also times I got to go to the church potluck or a family’s house for lunch, which was WAY better than college cafeteria food. Being involved in a church body provided me with what felt like a second family away from home.
This is so important that I am going to write a post later this month talking about what college students should look for in a church. Stay tuned for that!
10. Don’t Let Shame Hold You Back
This point could apply to so many areas of our lives, but I think it is especially present in our faith. If we skip a day of our Bible study or realize we haven’t spent time with Jesus all week, it’s easy to let shame creep in. This shame is crippling and often draws us even further away from God. This is something I had to learn to overcome in college. There would be times when I realized how long it had been since I sat down with Jesus, but instead of letting shame keep me away longer, I learned that Jesus has grace for me and He is delighted when I come to Him. So even when I hadn’t talked to Him for days, I still came before Him with the knowledge that He delighted in my desire to spend time with Him. He didn’t scold me and send me away again to sit in a corner and think about what I’d done- He drew me into His pressence with open arms.
You will make mistakes in college. You will do things you regret. You will make decisions that aren’t good for you. There will be times when you are confused and angry. There will be times when you feel too busy to even breathe, let alone sit down with your Bible.
Know that this is a season. It will not last forever. So for now, do the best you can to build Jesus into your daily routine and make time for Him in your busy life. Then have grace for yourself when things don’t go as planned. Know that Jesus has grace for your mess ups and He is waiting for you with open arms, no matter how long it’s been, or how many mistakes you’ve made. Accept His grace, and move forward knowing that including Him in your college experience is the best decision you could make!
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