Do you want comfort in this world and the Hereafter?.
The prayer is the path to ultimate happiness in the worldly life and the Hereafter for it contains spirituality and connection with Allah that bring peace to the heart and it allows one to escape the troubles of this world to tranquility and closeness to Allah, and Allah's Messenger (PBUH) considered it a source of comfort, as Salim bin Abu Alja'd narrated: "A man said, Mis'ar said I think he was from the tribe of Khuza'ah, would that I had prayed and got comfort, the people objected to him for it, thereupon, he said I heard the Messenger of Allah as saying O Bilal! Call Iqamah for prayer, Give us comfort by it" (Sunan Abi Dawood 4985).
The prayer brings psychological comfort, tranquility, peace of mind that one cannot find in anything else, and it is the highest form of worship and a pillar of Islam, and the prayer restrains from immorality and evil as Allah has stated in Aya (45) of Surat Alankaboot {And Establish the prayer, indeed, the prayer prohibits immorality and evil}, so the prayer forbids all shameful and evil acts and words such as murder, adultery, theft, lying, and so on; Because establishing the prayer five times a day makes the servant in constant contact with Allah, and if he wishes, he will perform voluntary prayers, so he will be shy of committing immorality and evil deeds.
The prayer is a means to ward off the worries and troubles until the end of the day, as Abu Aldarda' and Abu Dharr narrated that the Messenger of Allah said: "Allah, Blessed and Most High said Son of Adam! Perform four Rak'ahs for Me at the beginning of the day, I will suffice you for the later part of it" (Jami' Altirmidhi 475).
Just as prayer is a path to happiness and comfort in this world, so it is in the Hereafter as it is a great means of forgiveness of sins and entry into Garden of eternal bliss, as Abu Hurayrah narrated that Allah's Messenger (PBUH) said: "If there was a river at the door of anyone of you, and he took a bath in it five times a day, Would you notice any dirt on him?, they said not a trace of dirt would be left, He (PBUH) said that is the example of the five prayers with which Allah blots out evil deeds" (Sahih Albukhari 528). And Ubadah bin Alsamit narrated that Allah's Messenger (PBUH) said: "Allah, the Exalted, has made five prayers obligatory, if anyone performs ablution for them well, offers them at their right time, and observes perfectly their bowing and submissiveness in them, it is the guarantee of Allah that He will pardon him, if anyone does not do so, there is no guarantee for him on the part of Allah, He may pardon him if He wills and punish him if He wills" (Sunan Abi Dawood 425).
Because of the importance of prayer and its great status in Islam, it is the first thing that Allah Almighty will hold a servant accountable for on the day of resurrection, as Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet (PBUH) said: "The first thing about which the people will be called to account out of their actions on the day of judgement is prayer, our Lord, the Exalted, will say to the Angels though He knows best, Look into the prayer of my servant and See whether he has offered it perfectly or imperfectly, if it is perfect, that will be recorded perfect, if it is defective, He will say See there are some optional prayers (supererogatory) offered by my servant, if there are optional prayer to his credit, He will say compensate the obligatory prayer by the optional prayer for my servant, then all the actions will be considered similarly" (Sunan Abi Dawood 864).
On the other hand, Allah's Messenger (PBUH) strongly warned against abandoning the prayer, and informed that between a man and falling into polytheism and disbelief is abandoning the prayer, as Jabir bin Abdullah narrated that Allah's Messenger (PBUH) said: "Indeed, between man and polytheism and disbelief is abandoning the prayer" (Sahih Muslim 82). So abandoning prayer while denying its obligation is considered disbelief, and abandoning prayer out of negligence or laziness is considered disbelief that expel one from the fold of Islam according to many scholars.