Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?' "'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

I am the fig tree and Jesus is the one who tends the garden. He came and dug around me and fertilized my life with His blood. It is up to me now. Do I accept His message and produce fruit, or do I do nothing and not produce fruit? He is giving us time. He does not wait forever.

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.' "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!'" And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"

I have never noticed before how many stories in Luke are about praying. The Bible tells why we should pray, how we should pray, what we should pray for, and when we should pray. With so many verses and stories talking about prayer, one must think prayer is important.

Therefore, we need to understand what prayer is. According to Webster it is The act of addressing supplication to a divinity, especially to the true God; the offering of adoration, confession, supplication, and thanksgiving to the Supreme Being. I like to think it is talking to God. We are to pray without giving up, like the widow who did not give up. We are to have faith that God will hear our prayer and, according to His will and our good, will answer our prayer.

But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Have you ever noticed that Jesus chose His twelve apostles after a night of praying? Luke tells us that after a day where He was dealing with the Pharisees, He went out and spent the night alone in prayer. It was the very next morning that He chose the twelve apostles. He chose twelve people to carry His message. We all know who these men are: Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon, Thadeus and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

To make a choice of whom He was going to spend His time with - the choice of who was going to carry God’s word - He spent the night in prayer. How often do we spend hours in prayer over a choice? I wonder what a difference it would make.

Many times, Jesus retreated to a place where he could be apart from others to pray. How often do we pull away from the noise of this life to go to a solitary place to commune with our Father? I have prayed in the car, I have prayed at the supper table, I have prayed in a crowd. I have no doubt that, in each of these places, my prayers are heard. I know God is always with me. He never leaves me. I can always have His full attention. However in a quiet place, God gets my full attention. Isn’t that what He wants?

When I was dating my husband, we spent quite a bit of time in a park, on an overlook, talking, listening and just being together. Our love grew by leaps and bounds during these times. It is the same with our love, loyalty, devotion and reliance on God. It is in the quiet times that His word makes a deeper impact. It is the quiet times when you learn the most. It is the quiet times when your bond grows deep.

How often do you withdraw to a quiet place to pray?