How to form a prayer life as a university student?

[Ahlman]

I was received into the full communion of the Catholic Church at Pentacost this year, and the following fall I started to study on a civil engineering program at the university. The last year, during which I went to a priest to be educated in the catholic faith, I attended I much less time-consuming course at the university. Thus, I had no problem to get time for both studies, attending daily Mass and pray the complete Liturgy of the hours every day, and still have plenty of spare time. However, nowadays studies take up a lot more time, and it is not longer possible for me to reserve as much time for prayer as before. Therefore I have to give priority to some prayer forms before others.

At first, I will try to make my studies itself into a prayer, since I am sure that it is God’s will that I should attend the university program I do, and to make an effort to succeed with my studies would be a good way to honor God with my intellect (according to St. Josemaria Escrivá). And I think it is important to take time for inner prayer (contemplation) every day, where you just rest in the presense of God and leave everything up to him. And of course I will try to attend Mass as often as possible, but it takes about 1½ hour to get to the Church and back home again, so this is really the hardest thing to combine with the university studies. And what about the Liturgy of the hours? How many prayer hours would be “normal” for a lay university student to pray every day? And if I don’t have time for both the reading office and “free” reading of the Bible or other spiritual writings, which should I give priority to?

I guess it at the end is up to what you feel yourself in your conscience that you should do, but I have become very stressed recently because of problems to combine prayer life and student life, so it should be helpful if anyone could give some advice.

 

[puzzleannie]

what I can tell you, from experience as full-time student, also full-time mom with a full-time job, is that if you give God an hour a day devoted to conversation and contemplation with Him, He will bless the remaining hours and you will have plenty of time for everything you need to do. That could mean getting up an hour early, or a half hour for morning prayer while things are still quiet plus a half hour before bedtime, or during that dead time that sometimes hits in late afternoon in a university schedule.

Minimum should be morning and evening praise from LOTH (15 min. each), some time with the daily Gospel, rest of the readings if you have time (10-15 min.) daily examen before bed with act of contrition and Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be (15 min).

If you have time to walk, and you should find time for your health, most college students do a lot of walking or bike riding on campus, pray the rosary. a ring rosary works great for bike riders.

What you will not find time for is idle TV and computer time, partying, and other time wasters and mind/body destroyers.

If you find yourself in a real time crunch, exam time etc., if you don’t give yourself time for at least a decade of the rosary morning and evening, you will never make it through the rest of the day. Better an OF, HM, GB faithfully said each morning and evening than an ambitious rigorous schedule of LOTH and scripture study which never gets done. Fidelity is the key, so start small.

 

[Ahlman]

And what about the daily Mass? How should it be given priority compared to contemplation and LOTH? It takes about 15 minutes by bike for me to get to the church (and I use to pray the rosary on the way).

 

[water]

I would say first thing to pray God to help you to love Him truly; pray to Him that no matter what the circumstance is, you will have time dedicated to Him; pray to Him to help you never let your work seem to be too much and that your daily devotion to Him can not be done.

You mention about doing rosary. This is the most powerful prayer. If you can’t make it to the daily mass everyday, do not let a day go buy without praying the rosary, and read a daily Bible readings.

If you can’t make it to the mass as often as you used to, you can still go on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday; and a pick another day during the week for daily Mass. You just make sure not to wear yourself out though. We all have limit in everything we do.

Being able to attend daily Mass is a blessing for you, and many others.

Putting God first is not an easy thing to do; however, if we pray and ask God for this; He is more than willing to give you the love for doing it.

I’d like to share with you my own experience. It was quite simple so I thought, but it is more than simple.

Not long ago, I had a job which was enough for me to support myself. I worked from 8 to 5, and I am very happy with it. Then, there was a job posting at my company; I had been waiting for this kind of job for more than 3 years.

It was because I was pleased with the current job, I did not want to apply for the one being posted. I prayed to God that although I love to apply for this job, but I knew this job would take away from me time being to the church; therfore, I told Him that I just wanted to keep my current job.

Two week passing by after the job being posted, the director of the division posting this job called me and asked me to apply for it. I hesitated to apply and kept talking with God about my concern. Next day, the human resource called me up and offered me more time to think about and apply for the job. At that moment, I knew God wanted me to go for the job.

I prayed and told God that if He wanted me to have this job, make sure I also have time for Him.

Now, I am currently with the new job - great job - and I even have more time with Him - I have time to go daily mass in the morning and other devotions after going home from work.

 

[puzzleannie]

And what about the daily Mass? How should it be given priority compared to contemplation and LOTH? It takes about 15 minutes by bike for me to get to the church (and I use to pray the rosary on the way).

if you can get to Mass, of course that takes priority. OP said it was an hour and a half each way and not possible now, so I did not bring it up.

 

[Augustine]

And what about the daily Mass? How should it be given priority compared to contemplation and LOTH? It takes about 15 minutes by bike for me to get to the church (and I use to pray the rosary on the way).

Of course it should, but you said that you cannot afford the 1.5h it takes you. In light of it, it seems that all you can give God without jeopardizing your academic performance is the LOTH, the Rosary, meditation on the Scriptures and contemplative prayer throughout the day. Perhaps you could go more than once a week to Mass, but you don’t need to sacrifice your parent’s efforts putting you through college (I assume). He doesn’t want you to neglect other obligations of your state in life, that wouldn’t be pleasant to Him.

Not to downplay it, but as a lay person and especially a recent convert you don’t have to acquire so many devotions. Of course they’re all good and you’re encouraged to have them, but you’re a faithful in the world with mundane duties, yet duties, to you and to your family.

Take this up to God about your desire to spend more time with Him and still be able to go through your academic obligations. And life is still a child. Take your time to grow in the faith serving God when you pray and make your duties prayerful offerings to God.

 

[Ahlman]

Of course it should, but you said that you cannot afford the 1.5h it takes you.

I am sorry for being a little indistinct in my first post. I didn’t say I can’t afford the 1.5 h it takes to attend Mass every day (that is, from leaving home till returning). But when I do, I get stressed because I have to study extremely effective during the time that is left for studies. And if I fail with this and feel that I am not coming anywhere I get bad conscience for spending so much time praying (with my mouth, at least) and going to church. I guess there is a risk when you are newly converted to be a little too zealous and enthusiastic about your new confession. And I have always been the person that either does something 100% or not at all. Therefore it becomes a big issue to decide what kind of devotions I should give priority to. What is the best way to worship God “in spirit and truth”?

 

[Augustine]

I am sorry for being a little indistinct in my first post. I didn’t say I can’t afford the 1.5 h it takes to attend Mass every day (that is, from leaving home till returning). But when I do, I get stressed because I have to study extremely effective during the time that is left for studies. And if I fail with this and feel that I am not coming anywhere I get bad conscience for spending so much time praying (with my mouth, at least) and going to church. I guess there is a risk when you are newly converted to be a little too zealous and enthusiastic about your new confession. And I have always been the person that either does something 100% or not at all. Therefore it becomes a big issue to decide what kind of devotions I should give priority to. What is the best way to worship God “in spirit and truth”?

Don’t get me wrong, it’s awesome that you desire to spend as much time as possible with God. But it would displease Him if it were at the expense of your obligations. Were you married, if you neglected attention to your spouse and children so that you would spend more time in church or praying, you’d actually be displeasing God. You have academic responsibilities and it may be that you can only pray so much time in a day.

If your profession is being a student for now, you must fulfill your obligations and give your best to do them well. As a matter of fact, you can turn your studies as offerings pleasing to God, doing them exemplarily and being a Christian model to your colleagues.

You displayed some acquaintance with St. Josemaria Escriva and he developed a spirituality for the lay people around our daily obligations, whether at home as a wife or a husband, at school or at work. If this is indeed your desire, you might even try to find if there’s an Opus Dei or Neumann center in your area. Many students go to them and they provide an environment friendly to academic life.

 

[Corinne]

As others have suggested, you should pray for time to pray. I truly believe that God will grant this time.

He answered my prayer very directly in the past. I once had such a busy day and was feeling pretty stressed. I felt a tugging at my heart that I needed to just pray, but I didn’t feel like I had any time. I had someone coming over within minutes to work on my house, but I just knew that God wanted me to pray right then. So, I pulled out my rosary and I started it by asking God to please somehow grant me to time to get through it. I closed my eyes and didn’t look at the clock and just started praying the rosary. It typically takes me about 20-30 minutes. I somehow managed to get all the way through, and the very second that I said my final “Amen”, the doorbell rang. God gave me exactly the time that I needed. I have no idea how it worked, but I know it was a special sign that He was listening and I was doing what He wanted.

 

[Ahlman]

Don’t get me wrong, it’s awesome that you desire to spend as much time as possible with God. But it would displease Him if it were at the expense of your obligations. Were you married, if you neglected attention to your spouse and children so that you would spend more time in church or praying, you’d actually be displeasing God. You have academic responsibilities and it may be that you can only pray so much time in a day.

If your profession is being a student for now, you must fulfill your obligations and give your best to do them well. As a matter of fact, you can turn your studies as offerings pleasing to God, doing them exemplarily and being a Christian model to your colleagues.

No, I am getting you exactly right. I think you have put into words exactly what God has been trying to teach me the last months.

 

[PhyllisA]

Good Morning

I am 44 & just now learning how to live a “Working Adult Program” Colllege life, it seems, whenever i start a new class, life is different every time. I do know, as long as you can say a Rosary & like others have said, make Mass @ least 3-4 times a week~it helps tremendously!

I will keep you in my Prayers. 0-{: }{}

Phyllis @};-

 

[wjp984]

I think the best idea is what you are already doing. Offer your studies up as a prayer to God. I try to open every one of my many hour a day study periods with a prayer and since I am studying law, and God is timeless, there are several opportunites to offer prayers for all the people and their familes that I read about. I’m fortuntate since mass and adoration is right by school so I can attend them relatively often. It serves as a nice study break. I never used to go to daily mass or adoration before I started law school. I know that had to be a large reason why I did so well my first semester and why I am confident I did well on my finals and will be in the top 5-10%. So in your case, just offer your studies as a prayer as you are doing and then try to take some time to offer up to God if not going to mass. This break will allow the things you study to soak in, or at least that is my experience.