Have you ever told God – I want to grow… I want to know you more… I want to make an impact… I want to reach more people?

Maybe you attended SEEK and prayed this prayer. Maybe this year has gone well for you and you want to see it get even better. Maybe this year hasn’t been so great and you’re left wondering how you can turn it around.

Well, no matter what camp you fall into – I have good news for you.

This summer is a huge opportunity for you.

But, the feelings you have about growing closer to the Lord and making a bigger impact can’t just remain feelings; they need to turn into an action plan.

Here are five critical steps to growing closer to the Lord and making an impact this summer:

1. Have a Prayer Time with God – Everyday!

Maybe you picked up a prayer life this year on campus – I hope you have. At school, it is much easier to create habits with a set schedule. But, all of a sudden, when you get home, everything goes out the window.

I’ve been there. I’ve promised to pray each day during the summer and then found myself getting home late at night and promising God that tomorrow’s the day…. Only to find out that I’m pretty good at saying this day after day until the idea slowly fades. Don’t let this happen to you.

Step 1 – Make the decision that your personal prayer time with God is the most important thing you can do each day. If you are going to make an impact, you can’t give what you don’t have.

Step 2 – Pick a time to pray each day.

Step 3 – Be willing to make real sacrifices to make this happen. This includes going to bed at a decent hour and passing up opportunities. You have to make sacrifices to grow.

2. Frequent the Sacraments

Find times to go to daily Mass. Make confession a priority. Get the grace you need to live out your faith this summer and share it with others. Find a local parish near your house or work place that works for you.

3. Pray for others

The Holy Spirit is ultimately the key agent of evangelization. We need to pray for others before we begin to do outreach. FOCUS has developed an easy to use tool called The Spiritual Multiplication Depth Chart.

In short, the Depth Chart is a simple way to write down the names of people you know and who you meet, so that you can pray for them.

Potential people to add:

• Other young adults home for the summer
• Old high school friends
• People at your work place
• Family members

4. Start a Bible study

The summer is a perfect time to start a Bible study. Most folks have three months of summer. Even if you only had 5 weeks, you could still lead a study. Bible studies are a practical method for inviting people to discover who Jesus is and to watch people grow as they study God’s word. Don’t know what to lead? Grab a free Bible study here.

5. Help others reach out

The summer is a great time to disciple other people in your area to reach out to others as well.

• If you are thinking about discipling someone and have been already discipled by someone else, think about using the Disciple Road Map.
• Also, check out all of the other discipling resources on FOCUSEquip.org.

Hopefully those 5 tips give you a start to making an action plan. Be sure to make your own plan and find someone to keep you accountable. The summer is not only a great opportunity now, it will also prepare you for the future. You won’t be in college forever. These summer experiences give you a tremendous opportunity to live life-long mission while you are still in college. Don’t miss the opportunity.