Why do people remember or pray to god only when they want some thing or in difficult times and times of sorrow and why not in times of joy and happiness? What should a person do to avoid this?

In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna says that there are four types of my devotees. “Aarto jignāsurathārthi gnāni cha.”

1. One who is distressed or pained.
2. One who worships God with an intention of knowing and understanding God and Godliness.
3. One who worships God with the motive of fulfilling his needs.
4. One who has known the ultimate Truth and because of it has become Lord’s devotee, renouncing all worldly pleasures. Because of his love for God he cannot remain without worshipping God, hence he worships him.

Lord says that from amongst all these four types of his devotee, the fourth one, the knowledgeable devotee is most dear to me, and it is natural. A devotee is one who is not disunited with God.

We can be united with God because of any one or more or even all four reasons mentioned above. We can relate ourselves with God by whatever way, which comes naturally to us. By whatever means and for whatever reasons, being united with God is definitely beneficent to us.

If difficulty unites us with God, then that difficulty also has come as our beneficiary. Therefore, in Shrimad Bhagavat, Shri Kuntaji (mother of the Pāndavas) asks Lord Krishna to give her sorrow and difficulties because every time Pandavas faced difficulties, Lord Krishna came running to help them.

These difficulties facilitated their meeting with the Lord and since Kuntaji loves Lord Krishna, she tells him that if that is the condition for your coming to us, then let there always be difficulties in our life so that we always get to be with you. If we call out God because of our difficulties, he redeems us from our difficulties. If we worship him for fulfilling our needs, he fulfils all our needs, money, property, etc. everything.

If we worship him with an intention of knowing him and understanding him, he blesses us by revealing his true nature to us, which enhances our love for him with a feeling of gratefulness towards him. Such people can never forsake God. But people who worship God only because of greed or fear forget him as soon as their requirement is met or as soon as their fear is removed.

They say “Thank you” and do not remember him in times of joy and happiness. In order that this should not happen, one should always continue to listen to saints, read and study religious books. By doing so one will always be inspired to take up good activities and stay away from bad deeds. We should always remember the many blessings that God has bestowed upon us and retain our faith and devotion in him.