Trying to make time for Jesus? Try scheduling it in.

You run into a friend whom you haven’t seen in quite some time. You love seeing each other, and both agree that you should meet up again soon, but then you don’t actually commit to a day and time. Later in the week, you think to yourself, “I really want to get together with them!” So you text them and make plans to have coffee next week. 

This is similar for Christians, who have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Making time in your schedule is vital for keeping you focused on Jesus and grounded in him. 

It’s essential for you to have a particular time set aside every day for your spiritual practices that keep you mindful of Jesus’ presence. You can’t wing it. Making a plan is so important. If you can’t wing it with your friends, you can’t wing it with Jesus either. 

As a busy university student, who wants to love and serve Jesus, are you able to make time for practices that lead you to him? Does your schedule allow for rhythms of spiritual practices that help you focus on him in the day and throughout the year? 

Paul says the days are evil, and Christians ought to be “making the best use of the time” (‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭5‬:‭16‬ ‭ESV‬‬). Or, to put it differently, use your calendar for the best possible means through rhythms of spiritual practices that lead you to Jesus. Paul may say today, “Give your schedule to God.” 

The tension is real, though. How could there possibly be more time for these things?  

Let me try to help you make the time. 

Deciding your priorities

A well ordered daily schedule is key for your spiritual life. But first, before we get to that, what are your spiritual priorities? What are the practices you’d like to incorporate, and are able to incorporate into your busy schedule to help you focus on Jesus? 

What will you do? Christians have generally been encouraged to partake in a number of personal spiritual practices. An exhaustive list cannot be compiled here, but here are some suggestions for you. 

Bible reading and prayer are at the top of my list. And it has been at the top of the list of spiritual practices for centuries, from the very beginning of the church, really. 

There are other practices like a day of rest once a week, and being part of a Christian community with its own rhythms of spiritual practices, specifically, such as regular participation in the Eucharist. Also, caring for the poor, hungry, and oppressed, or giving money towards this, has been an important part of the church’s rhythm for centuries. 

So, it’s up to you, in cooperation with the Holy Spirit and, perhaps, with a trusted friend, mentor, or pastor, to decide your priorities—community is just as important in your relationship with Jesus. What will you choose? 

Read more: What does it look like to daily grow with the Holy Spirit?

Making a schedule

Let’s use Bible reading and prayer as examples for creating a schedule for intentional times of focusing on Jesus. These are high on the list of spiritual practices, anyway. 

How do you make a schedule that includes Bible reading and prayer? You might say to yourself, “I will wake up at (such and such a time) in order to pray and read the Bible.” Or, “I will stop all my tasks at (such and such a time) for Bible reading and prayer.” To make this happen, you need to make sure you are able to have room in your calendar for such and such a time. When are your classes? Are you meeting up with somebody early in the morning? Do you have a meeting after classes? Or you have to get to work? Keeping track of all these things is important for integrating spiritual practices into your day. Maybe you will want to wake up early, or, if that doesn’t suit you, try in the evening. 

Your first step, then, may be to create a schedule for your day, if you don’t already have one. Google Calendar is really helpful for this—and you can shift things around throughout your day too, if things aren’t going quite according to plan. Or a good old fashioned paper day planner will do the trick too. 

The important thing is simply creating a schedule every week. What will each day look like? You may have noticed something here: This is just basic time management. And that’s the point. You have to know what your schedule looks like so you can make room for time with Jesus. And you have to make space in your schedule for time with Jesus. 

Making a plan

After you have a general sense of your schedule, start planning how your days and weeks will look with your practices going on your calendar. 

Let’s go back to the things I’ve suggested already. Pray, make a plan, and I mean, sit down with a pen and paper, or a digital note, to write out what you want to do. 

Here are some examples to work with: 

• “I will get up and read my Bible at 8 a.m.” 
• “I will pray after reading my Bible at 8:30 a.m.” 
• “I will read through a psalm every day at lunch time.” 
• “10 p.m. will be my time to read through a chapter of the New Testament for the next 6 months.” 
• “I will say Morning Prayer at 8 a.m. and Evening Prayer at 5 p.m.” 
• “I’ll pray when I get on the bus to head to campus.” 
• “I will listen to Romans every day while I cook.” 

Read more: In your day-to-day life, what helps you connect with God?

It may seem strange to schedule time for these things. Isn’t time spent with Jesus supposed to be spontaneous? Yes, times with Jesus happen all throughout the day, like in the car, or while sitting in the waiting room, or wherever else. But spontaneity isn’t always the most consistent way of growing any relationship. 

Remember the encounter with your friend? A spontaneous coffee meet-up did not happen. You had to intentionally plan something, with a date, time, and location. So there’s nothing wrong with doing the same thing when it comes to your relationship with Jesus. For me, if I didn’t make a plan in my calendar for Bible reading and prayer, I would not do it—at least, not consistently. 

Don’t be hard on yourself

Give yourself grace when you fail. You will probably miss a day here or there. I certainly do. And that’s really okay. Try again the next day. Besides, you are not doing these things just so you can say you did them. These things are meant to point you to Jesus. You are participating in spiritual practices to enjoy a relationship with Jesus. 

And he’s not waiting to condemn you when you fail. His arms of embrace are open wide, ready for you. Earning his love doesn’t come by marking off a checklist of practices. Jesus just loves you. And through Bible reading, prayer, and other spiritual practices, you’re invited into experiencing his love. 

Read more: How to live in the true story of being beloved by God

Don’t push yourself too hard if you feel like you can hardly do the minimum, like what’s already suggested (Bible reading and prayer), because of time constraints. But it’s easy to get lazy, too, and you may need to push yourself a bit as well.

So finding the balance is key. Everybody has different capacities, and that’s okay. You learn to work within your own capacities and abilities. And that’s where a trusted friend, mentor, or pastor may be helpful as a guide in this journey. We aren’t islands. We need a community to help us in our relationship with Jesus. 

There are some practices I try to fit in throughout the week and sometimes don’t get to them. One of those practices is lectio divina (“divine reading”), which is a way of slowly reading, meditating, and praying through a piece of Scripture. It’s something I really enjoy, and have it scheduled in my calendar for three days a week. I may get it once or twice in the week, or only on my day off, on Saturday. That’s when I can really dig in, because there aren’t usually other pressing matters for the day. It’s not a priority like Bible reading and prayer, so I feel it’s okay if I don’t do it exactly when my calendar prescribes it. 

The same may be true for you, too. And that’s okay. Simply try to make something work for you. 

Read more: Despite interruptions, this is how I live each day and dream with God

It’s a long-term investment

You may be wondering if there’s any benefit to these things. Let’s be honest, we all ask ourselves, “What can I get from this?,” when it comes to any endeavour. The truth is, there may not be an immediate reward to Bible reading and prayer. 

Some days, it may feel like these things may be the most useless things you can do. From the Christian perspective, that’s not true. It’s about the long term effects on your soul. These practices are meant for you to open up space for Jesus to work in and through you, especially as you do it for a long time. It’s about having a relationship with Jesus. 

By prayerfully seeking Jesus throughout your lifetime, especially by focusing on and responding to him through Bible reading and prayer, you will be transformed—slowly but surely.