Gas money and prayer

Imagine getting to the gas station, putting the pump in your car's gas tank, only to realize that you forgot your wallet at home. Or imagine ordering your meal through a drive thru restaurant, and pulling up to the 2nd window where the person asks for $5, only to remember you don't have your money with you. How often does this happen? Rarely, if ever. Why is that? Because we are generally well prepared when it comes to aspects of our daily life. 

Now imagine the Day of Judgement, there you are standing before your Lord about to be accounted for your deeds. He first asks you about your prayers. Have you prayed them on time? Did you take the time to perfect prayers or were they rushed? This is the one situation where you definitely want to have your "wallet" with you. 

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: "The first thing the servant of God will be accounted for on the day of judgement is his prayer. If it was perfected then he has succeeded. And if it was defected, then he has lost."

It continually blows my mind that we tend to belittle the first thing we will be asked about on the day that matters most. Why is it that our "money" is always ready for wordly matters yet the "money" that goes to our hereafter is kicked to the curb? 

Just as you hang on to your credit card once entering the gas station, don't forget to hang on to the one deed that will matter most. The last thing you want to happen is getting to that Day and realizing you have no money. Put your prayer first before anything. Don't rush, but focus. Don't speed up, take your time, and one day you will be forever thankful.