Have you ever felt like you needed peace or you just needed a rest from the everyday hustle that we call life? Most people feel guilty or ashamed that they cannot do everything all the time. This need for rest is normal and necessary for all different types of people. The best way to rest your soul is with our faith. The first thing most people think of is hanging out with a friend or settling down with a movie but those things do not fully satisfy your need for rest. God does many wonders and one thing that can truly help us is adoration. There is a certain calming peace that comes from sitting, praying, and just being with God. He helps us in so many ways that we don’t recognize or give Him credit for. Adoration is a common way of rest for some Catholics that others don’t even think about. Some Catholic teenagers and even adults may think adoration is boring or a waste of time but, really, they’re just not putting any effort into their time with God. It can take about ten minutes to become comfortable in adoration and get into the mindset of prayer. A lot of these people don’t try it for more than ten minutes and that’s why they have a bad experience with it. Forge.com tells us that sitting in prolonged silence can lead to more meaningful connections and a generally healthier life experience. Your relationship with God and the relationships with the people around you will improve immensely just by sitting quietly in adoration. People don’t always realize all the benefits of just being there. We’re too caught up in our own busy schedules and lives and forget that our wants are really not that important overall. I recently spent three days at National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC). At this retreat, most of the teenagers come back saying adoration was the highlight of the whole trip, talking about how powerful and meaningful it really is. While I love that we do adoration every Friday at school, I have noticed that when classes only spend a few minutes with the Blessed Sacrament they don’t learn to appreciate it. Let’s face it, some students really don’t want to be in there and ruin it for the kids that really enjoy their time with God. After experiencing adoration with over 10,000 other people who believe and value the same things as I do at NCYC, I will never quite see things the same. Being in the stadium with that many people, it was breathtaking how quiet it was; you could hear a pin drop. It was the most respectful and reverent thing I had ever witnessed and I think everyone should experience something like that. However, these people have to choose to have faith; they have to want to feel that love from God. After a good adoration, you feel this absolute sheet of calmness sweep over your body and mind. It’s like nothing has ever mattered more than the time you just spent with God. The enormous waves of relief and love could not possibly be any stronger. Most don’t realize how real this feeling is simply because they just don’t believe in it. Adoration is so powerful that your heart feels like it is literally glowing, as if God had just reached out and touched your heart; you experience true happiness. He takes such good care of the people He loves but, if we don’t take time to recognize and appreciate that, we cannot feel that love He has for us. I have never felt such unimaginable and extraordinary love from anything other than adoration. There are not enough words to describe how wonderful, accomplished and motivated one can feel because of adoration and their time with God; it is truly spectacular. You should not fit God into your schedule; you should fit your schedule around God. Every Catholic of all ages should go experience adoration the way it is meant to be experienced. Don’t just sit there; pray and actively talk to God. Personally, I like to pray for other people in my life and ask God to put their worries and sorrows on me. This act not only helps you become a better person but it helps others during your prayer. Someone once told me that they like to spend their time in adoration going down the line of all the other people in adoration and praying for them individually. You can get really creative with how you pray during adoration; there aren’t any certain rules. If sitting and praying sounds scary at first, you can take scripture or prayer guides with you to help you learn how to spend your time praying in adoration. Another helpful guide is the five finger prayer: pray for your family and friends, teachers and students, leaders and medical professionals, the less fortunate, and yourself. If you still need help, talk to a family member, friend or someone whose faith you look up to and ask them how they enjoy spending their time with God. No matter how you are praying, God is listening and He more than appreciates you talking to Him. Make an effort to show God your faith in Him and He will bless you with His thrilling peace, in return.