Pray Without Ceasing

You wanna know something that frustrates and confuses me?
I noticed something terrible the last couple of days. When I felt like I got really close to having something I have desired quite a bit I began to pray to God that I may have it. It was seemingly just within my reach, which provided me with great hope and expectation. So I began to earnestly seek God for it. Asking that He would fulfill the desires of my heart. I prayed for this thing constantly throughout the day.

Now it has become very evident that I have received an answer to this prayer. And that answer was a resounding NO. Now that I have received an answer to my prayers I should move on, and keep praying for Gods will in my life. I should keep praying, and asking God to fulfill this desire, shouldn't I?

The truth of the matter is that my prayer life has been really slack. It was before I came close to this thing, and when I thought I was near it my prayer life got way better. But now that its gone my prayer life has gone back to the way it was before, really slack. Why am I, and not just me but people in general, so willing to seek God and pray fervently when we think we have already achieved what we're praying for? Why is it that I am so willing to cling to God when I want to get something out of it? Why do I not seek God all the time, and not just when I want something from Him?

This bothers me. I am terribly flippant in my faith. If I can't go to God all the time why should He answer my prayers when I just pray because I want something from Him. I don't blame God for saying no. In fact it was well deserved by me. I would have told me no too if I was God.

Bottom Line:
I need to be always in prayer, not just when I have something to gain from it. I'm trying to learn to be always in prayer.