GIVEAWAY: The Barber Who Wanted to Pray (Family Bookshelf)

Some of you may be familiar with the story behind Martin Luther's little book A Simple Way to Pray. He wrote it in response to his barber's request for advice on how to pray. In The Barber Who Wanted to Pray, R.C. Sproul has taken this true story and turned it into a beautifully done children's book.

The story begins with a child asking her father to teach her how to pray. In response, he tells the story of Martin Luther and his barber and outlines the basics of Dr. Luther's simple method for praying. That method, Dr. Luther explains to his barber, is to memorize three things: the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and the Apostles' Creed, and then pray through them daily. What does he mean by praying "through" each of them?

...what I mean by praying through the Lord's Prayer is something like this: Think about the first petition in the Lord's Prayer, 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.' When you think about these words, allow your mind and your heart to give careful attention to what these words say, and let them move you to deeper prayer....

He goes on to give specific examples of how this might sound, and explains how, by using the Lord's Prayer, Ten Commandments, and Apostles' Creed as a framework and applying them personally like this, "we can pray and pray and never get tired of praying." The full text of all three are included in an "appendix" at the end of the story.

What a wonderful book! The story is well told and the explanations are clear, simple, and easily understood by all ages. The illustrations are just gorgeous. You can see sample pages at both  Crossway and Amazon. This is a book to be enjoyed by all ages! Children will appreciate the beautiful illustrations and story and will pick up important principles about prayer along the way. Adults will be inspired by Dr. Luther's simple prayer model too, and might even be motivated to pick up a copy of A Simple Way to Pray. 

I'm blessed to have an extra copy of The Barber Who Wanted to Pray that I'd love to bless one of you with! Here's how you can have an opportunity to win this copy for your own family:

• Leave a comment on this post letting me know how much you'd like to have a copy of The Barber Who Wanted to Pray.
• Subscribe to Home With Purpose using Google Connect (in my sidebar), Feedburner, Networked Blogs, or by email.
• Like the Home With Purpose Facebook page.
• Post about the giveaway on your Facebook page.
• Tweet about the giveaway.
• Display my button on your blog's sidebar.

Here's the fine print:

• The contest will be open until midnight CST Monday December 12, 2011 and the winner will be announced by Wednesday December 14, 2011.
• US/Canada residents only please.
• Winner will be chosen at random, and a separate comment must be left for each entry. 
• Disclaimer: Crossway provided me a complimentary copy of the book to review and one to give away. All opinions expressed are my own.