"Prayer"

I'm reading the Philip Yancey book on Prayer ("Does It Make Any Difference?"), and the following story struck me. Here is a paraphrase of it from chapter 7:

A hospice patient was in the last stages of cancer and feeling guilty becuase he'd spent the previous night ranting, raving and swearing at God. The following morning he felt horrible and asked to see the chaplain. He imagined that his chance of eternal life had now been lost forever, and that God would never forgive one who had cursed and abused him. The chaplain asked the patient, "What do you think is the opposite of love?" The man replied, "Hate."

The wise chaplain replied, "No, the opposite of love is indifference. You have not been indifferent to God, or you would never have spent the night talking to him, honestly telling him what was in your heart and mind. Do you know the Christian word that describes what you have been doing? The word is 'prayer.' You have spent the night praying."

This story made me wonder if I'm more apt to talk to God no matter what I'm feeling, or ignore him completely. I think too often, I avoid praying for whatever reason (lack of anything meaningful to say, lack of time, lack of belief, distractions, etc.) and I don't even realize that that is the ultimate slap in the face to God. All he wants is for us to carve a little time out of our day for our Creator, and so often I can't (won't) even give him that.