Written by Ajhada Gabriel:
College: the place where students seek to “find themselves,” learn independent life navigation, narrow in on their career path and make lifetime friendships.
The place that is infamous for being academically, intellectually, and physically challenging. Where “time” becomes something students can’t seem get a hold of and “busy” is the word of the day, every day, for 4 years.
The place where one perpetually falls into occupied rabbit holes of typing up papers, memorizing textbook pages and attending club meetings---the list goes on.
But where does God fit in this environment?
For Christian students, it becomes a struggle to maintain a close relationship with God amidst university life. Even for those who were raised in the Christian, the pressures of college, influences of peers, new interests, and presence of obligations makes it easy to put faith on a backburner.
However, while navigating God and school is proven to be no simple task, it’s not impossible.
Here are five tips for prioritizing time with God as a busy college student:
1. Remember that God is number one, don’t try to fit him in your schedule, instead build your schedule around him:
In the Bible, God is described as the one and only God, creator of all things, and being first and above all rule and authority. Matthew 6:33 says “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
“The lie that we believe often in college is that we have to love other things first. I think it’s an attractive idea that we’re self-sufficient and I think its’s a really hard thing to remember that God is the ultimate source of life and knowledge and truth,” said Megan Morrison, A 4-year staff member of the campus ministry conglomerate “Crusaders for Christ” or CRU, at the University of Miami.
“College is an environment where you have to be self-sufficient, you have to be the source of knowledge, and this institution is the source of knowledge, so you have to put yourself and the University first. Whereas in a Christian world you would say, if you put God first, then those things come after, Morrison added.”
Because college is so demanding, it’s easy to forget why he is important in your life. Many get sucked into the false belief that spending time with God is not something they need to do every day because they’re too busy. Similarly, students may feel the need to schedule time with God and place other commitments before him, instead of making him a priority that sets the tone of every day.
If this is you, some ways to ensure that God remains number one, is by creating a morning and night routine that begins and ends with him. Whether the time spent with God is through morning and night prayer, reading the Bible or worshipping to gospel music, by giving God this attention, you are continually inviting him into your life and leaving room to grow your relationship with him.
Start with Jesus and he will take it from there.
2. Prayer and Gratitude is a must!
Part of maintaining a relationship with God is checking in with him constantly, one of the ways that can be done is through praying and expressing gratitude. Prioritize headspace to reflect and think about the blessings of God upon your life. Talk to him while walking to class or keep a journal to jot down some things God has done for you throughout the day.
Doing this constantly keeps you aware of the ways God is at work in your life, and that ultimately compels you to spend more time with him----drawing you closer to him.
Like Psalm 136: 1 says, “Oh give thanks unto the Lord, his mercies endure it forever”
3. Worship, Worship, Worship!
Music is not called the universal language for nothing, nor is it excluded from unwritten rules of ways to commune with God. Worship sessions alone or with friends are a great way to spend time in the presence of Jesus. Gospel music reflects the ideology of Christianity, listening to it can promote faith and fill your heart with the spirit of the Lord.
Don’t know what to listen to?
Spotify, Apple Music, and even YouTube has great worship and gospel playlists spanning across many genres, to suit any musical taste. Linked below are some playlists to jam out to when you wake up, while you walk to class, or hanging out with friends.
Playlists:
4. Join Campus Ministries
In Matthew 18:20 of the Bible, Jesus says “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I with them.” This scripture explicates the need to fellowship with others. If you feel distant from God, communing with other Christians is a great way to mend that gap.
As a Christian, it’s important to be surrounded by people who are as passionate about God and are as eager to grow close to him as you are. A great resource that many college campuses have are campus ministries.
For example, my college, the University of Miami, has organizations like the aforementioned Cru and the Baptist Collegiate Ministry.
Cru is defined as a “campus ministry that is passionate about connecting people to Jesus Christ.” They have over 2300 locations that engages more than 101,000 students and faculty members on U.S. college campuses. Both BCM and Cru promote missions, ministries, evangelism and spiritual growth. These groups meet weekly and also hosts weekly Bible studies.
Megan Morrison, who have served as Cru faculty since graduating from College four years ago, says organizations like Cru provides a needed sense of community for students.
“I think it provides that community instead of having to go out and try to find it yourself,” Morrison said.
“I also think that if you’re truly following God, you know that is just part of your story, the University. Organizations like Cru and BCM kind of help you figure out how to be a part of God’s bigger story, not just my [your] own story”
Third year University of Miami student, and Cru Student President Caleb Heathershaw, says college is an ideal space to hand-pick your own communities and Cru and BCM are great opportunities to choose Godly.
“College is a space where we choose our own communities, and your community really shapes what you want in college, Heathershaw said. “So as we as Christians are looking to grow closer to God, we need to find communities that help us grow that way”
Campus ministries also usually partner with local churches, this is great for getting involved in church ministry.
5. Read the Holy Book
My last tip for spending time with God as a college student is to get down I the scriptures. The Bible is Jesus’s instructions for us on how to live. It is essential for knowing God and his will for our lives. It shows believers God’s character and holds his revelations, in which he reveals to us as we read. God is directly speaking to us through scripture, so it’s important to let God in by picking up the Bible.
Reading the Bible can seem intimidating, but don’t let it scare you. Think of it as your favorite book that you want to read cover to cover. Also, starting small is important. There are many different ways you can feed yourself the word. There are physical Bibles of course and there are Bible apps---You Version specifically, has an audio Bible option and with thousands of different versions in various languages.
You Version also has devotionals and study plans specific to certain topics, goals, and Bible books. When a plan is started, the app tracks your daily progress and even has an alarm function that sends reminders---this especially is great for college students.
Other tools like podcasts and online church sermons are all ways of pouring the word into your heart mind and soul.
How should you get started with reading and interpreting the Bible?
Pray. Read. Learn and Write. Apply it to your life.
Pray first and ask God to open the eyes of your heart, read some scripture and take notes on what you learned. Ask God to help you apply it to your life.
Do not worry if you understand something, pray for understanding it and the Holy Spirit will reveal it to you.
Summary: Tips for spending time with God as a busy college student
- Make God a priority, build your schedule around him instead of trying to fit him in your schedule.
- Pray often and give thanks to God continuously
- Listen to worship music
- Join campus ministry
- Read the Bible
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