Prayer
Prayers are communication between God and us. Everybody, no matter we are Catholics or not can also pray to God. We can share our feelings to God in prayers. Everyday, we encounter different events and different emotions are created. No matter we feel happy or sad; we can always speak to God. God is our friend, through prayers; a mutual relationship is developed between God and us. We always keep contact with our friends, and so we should always pray God to strengthen the relationship between us. We communicate with our friends by direct contact, telephone, or via other ways. We communicate with God with only one way---praying. God will have His own plan; He will listen to our prayers and give appropriate responds to us. Prayers can calm us down, soothe us. During our difficult and doubtful times, prayers for help from God will be listened and we will feel a lot better. When we want something from God, prayers can help us. God would help anyone who is in need, and those whose needs are for good intentions.
Among different kinds of prayers, I think Thanksgiving Prayers is the most substantial one. God gives us a lot of blessings once we are born, we should always appreciate that. Sometimes, people don’t realize that they are living a blissful life, and feel discontented. However, God has given us so many blessings that we aren’t able to notice all of them. People always pray because they want to ask something from God, but they often neglect thanksgiving. Not only God can give things to us, but we can also give Him things, that are our gratitude for his gifts and blessings. We can express our gratitude through prayers. God will receive our gratitude to Him eventually; He knows that those who thank Him respect His gifts and feel contented. Praying to God is an essential part in our daily lives. It can strengthen our spirit, as our soles are comforted and our worries are all swept away. God care us, help us, and love us, as we are His children. Prayers are channels of communication between God and us.
Self-Development
God created us, we all unique. No one can represent us. Often, people compare themselves with others, and they gradually become discontented. Some people even think they are useless when compared with others. God won’t create people and things that are useless. God must have a reason when creating things. We have to accept ourselves even we are unwilling to. Sometimes, we think we are useless, but in other’s eyes, we maybe special. We need to look ourselves in different viewpoints and learn to discover ourselves through different ways. Often, people look themselves in external appearances, and neglect their own internal qualities and personalities. I have learnt that our external appearances aren’t the most important, without good internal qualities, we won’t be respected by others. However, if we have good internal qualities, people won’t really care about your appearances. God created us and He wants us to understand everyone is unique and everyone should pay more attention on their own internal qualities instead of external appearances.
However, not all people see us in a good way; they may have negative comments on us. Others comments and scripts are not the most important, the most important are how we see ourselves. Our self-image is the most important. We will live a happy life if we see ourselves in a positive way. Therefore, I have learnt that I should see myself in a positive way no matter what happens. During difficult times, if we think ourselves pessimistically, then no one could help us because we are unwilling to take the first step---being optimistic. With an optimistic heart, everything will be much easier to solve. God will only help those who treasure His gifts and blessings, and those who make good use of his gifts. Everyone won’t be perfect at every area, but everyone must have their strengths and talents. God will provide help for us if we see ourselves optimistically and treasure his gifts---develop our strength.