Judaism places a lot of demands on you. 613 mitzvot can seem overwhelming, especially considering that they affect every aspect of your life, cut into your free time, are often costly, and sometimes seem pointless.
In learning about Sukkot (talking about how many of the mitzvot around Sukkot seem strange), I learned why this is not the case.
Imagine that I give you $24,000. Not a loan, I just give it to you out of the goodness of my heart. Now imagine that I come to you a week later and say "look, I hope the $24,000 was helpful to you, but something has come up and I'd like to borrow $1000 of that back." You would, of course, give it to me (maybe even not as a loan). After all, not doing so would be no way to show your gratitude for my kindness.
G-d gives you 24 hours of life every day. If he asks for 1 hour in return (in the form of prayer, study, good deeds), how can you refuse. Giving the 1 hour back to him is just showing your gratitude for the 24 hours he gives you every day.
After all, G-d never asked anyone without a house to hang a mezuzah. G-d never asked anyone without clothes to wear tzitzis. G-d never asked anyone without an arm or a head to lay teffilin.
G-d gives you a house and asks you to hang a mezuzah, clothes the naked and asks that you wear tzitzis, gives you a baby boy and asks that you perform a Bris. A small sign of gratitude for such a huge gift.
Suddenly saying a 5 second prayer before eating my lunch does not seem so daunting.
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