How you view prayer makes all the difference when it comes to having a consistent and effective prayer life.
If you view prayer as an obligation where you robotically bring your grocery list of needs to God... well that's going to be hard to sustain... and eventually you're sure to end up with a cold heart.
But if you view prayer as an adult conversation with God... where you're a partner with Him in the enterprise of bringing His kingdom to the world... well that's a different story...
and practicing such prayer engages you as you discover the ways the story of your life intersects with the story of what God is doing in the world.
So it's this latter kind of prayer we need to learn to put into practice... if we're going to benefit from prayer in the way God intends.