3 Prayers for the Graduate Moving Far from Home

In your new place, things are different. More than anything else, the people are different because you couldn’t take everyone from back home with you. Sometimes, when you think about it, that’s a good thing. But sometimes you just wish you could have the things and people that make you feel at home. I bet, if you think about it long enough, you’ve found new things and a few new people that make you feel at home.

If you haven’t done it already, take out the photos, play the music, and wear the outfit that makes you feel at home. If you haven’t home-i-fied your current spot, now is the time to do it. Through dishes you love (like literal cups and plates), a well-worn pan that cooks your favorite dishes just right, and the ingredients you need within reach to whip up your favorite recipes, make that house a home. If it’s your favorite video game (you brought it, right?), or a poster, or even your old bat that you only use every now and then to get in a few swings, be fully you in your new space. And also, remember this:

“If anyone loves me, he will keep my word; and My Father will love him and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” - John 14:23

I pray that you know you always have a home with Jesus.

When you need to be reminded of your home with Jesus, just set foot into God’s house. By God’s house, I mean a church. It may take you a while to find the church that feels like home or the closest thing to it, but don’t let your search for the perfect church for right now keep you out of church right now. Even a church that isn’t the long-term best fit can remind you of key promises from the scriptures. One of those reminders is in Ephesians 2:19, 

“You belong in God’s house with every other believer. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.”

So no matter where you are, remember that you have a home with God because He makes His home with you. And you are at home when you visit any church that names Jesus Lord.

A Prayer for When You Are Homesick at College

Dear God,
You are my home. You are the one who accepts me the way I am, and you’re the one who wants to be with me all the time. You literally won’t ever leave me. Help me to feel your presence in the outside, natural world around me, and in the comforts that help make this place my new home. Lead me to the places that remind me I’m loved, including a house of worship, your church. Fill me up so much with that feeling of home that I will look for anyone who might be struggling and feeling like an outsider, and help me to make them feel welcome in this new place. I trust you with the rest. "Hear my cry, O God, Attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry to You. When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy." (Psalm 61:1-3)
In Christ’s name,
Amen.

Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Vladimir Vladimirov