Words to a Barber

How can I pray more effectively? That question is asked quite a few times - prayer can be somewhat mysterious after all.

(Personally, I wish it would be asked more than it is. The questions pastors get more often have to do with the time and date of the next potluck, why we sang a particular hymn or didn't sing another one, or how so-and-so is doing. How I would love to hear - more than I do now - questions about prayer, Bible study, ministry, service, evangelism, and a host of other things that involve living as a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ! Soapbox over.)

Martin Luther's barber asked him about praying that was less distracted by the things of the world. Luther wrote a 40-page response in which he outlined a method of both prayer and Bible study. Peter, the barber, was told that as he meditated on God's Word he should ask 1) What does the Bible teach me to do? 2) What does it teach me to be thankful for? 3) What does it teach me to confess? 4) What does it teach me to ask for?

That's a pretty good outline as far as I'm concerned!