How to abandon prayer?

Prayer is the greatest pillar of Islam after the two declarations of faith. The majority of scholars are of the opinion that whoever abandons it out of negligence and laziness does not commit disbelief that expels him from the fold of Islam. However, he commits the gravest sin after shirk and is put to death as a legal punishment. The difference between him and the one who denies its obligation is that the denier is killed for disbelief and the rulings of Islam do not apply to him, whereas the one who abandons it out of negligence has the rulings of Islam applied to him. Some meticulous scholars have stated that whoever abandons prayer out of negligence and laziness is a disbeliever, committing major disbelief that expels him from the fold of Islam, and this is the more preponderant opinion.