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wa alaykum assalam
The shaykh is stating that not being able to pray and supplicate (for whatever reason) is harder for him than his prayer not being answered.
Why is this? When one prays, it indicates that he has submitted to Allah, that he has some recognition of Allah. When Allah gives us the tawfiq to pray, it is an indication that Allah has blessed us with possessing faith in Him and submitting to Him, that He wishes to converse with us and draw us closer. When one is deprived of prayer, such as a heedless person, it shows he lacks recognition of Allah, true faith in Him, and is on a path that will not end well.
Being deprived of this is worse for a believer than merely being denied something that he requests from Allah in prayer.
Salman
