Christ-Centered Prayer

This guest article is a chapter from David Broderick’s book, Christ-Centered Life.

If YHWH is the preexistent God, if Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, if the Holy Spirit is the agent who created everything—then prayer begins and ends with God. Prayer is God’s work, not mine or yours or anybody else’s. We do not originate prayer, and it does not belong to us. Furthermore, mature prayer is unknown to us until we learn it. With regard to prayer, we have to learn that we have a lot to learn.

“Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

Do we really believe that Jesus meant that? If we can do nothing separated or parted from Jesus, that includes prayer. When we first come to Christ, it may be hard for us to face up to our utter helplessness, because we are so used to living independent lives and looking after ourselves. At that time, we may well have seen Christ as merely a good addition to our lives. But utter helplessness is the way of fruitfulness. Still, we don’t do utter helplessness very well. Fruitfulness in prayer is about developing a relationship through prayer. It is not primarily about an abundance of words or about getting things done.

“It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless” (John 6:63).

Our natural selves are incapable of mature prayer. Learning mature prayer is, by definition, stepping outside our comfort zone. Prayer confined within our comfort zone quickly becomes a repetitive chore. Learning mature prayer means leaving behind that which we know in order to discover that which we cannot even imagine.

“The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you” (John 14:26).

If the Holy Spirit will teach us everything, then that includes prayer. Listening to Jesus is a vital part of learning mature prayer. Being led by the Holy Spirit is a huge learning curve for those who value their independence and self-sufficiency. Independent people struggle with being utterly dependent, but if we would explore mature prayer, then we must make ourselves utterly dependent upon the Holy Spirit of God to continually lead us into a deeper experience of prayer. We must make ourselves utterly dependent upon him, with the assurance that the Holy Spirit is not with us to chastise, criticize, or condemn but to lovingly lead us into all things that are ours in Christ. How do we do all of this? By personally continually meeting Jesus.

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words” (Romans 8:26).

In ourselves, we are so incapable of mature prayer that the Spirit must intercede in us and through us. True prayer comes from deep within us. It is much more than just our heads speaking words. This alone should cause us to be careful in our exploration and learning of prayer so that we do not miss or disregard anything—especially that which we do not currently recognize as prayer.

“When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:7–8).

Words are so very easy—and they are so very easily empty. Empty words do not prayer make, no matter how many words there are. How do we recognize empty words and phrases? What are they? Empty words and phrases come from the mouths of people who do not let God work his change inside them. Jesus was not rebuking the Pharisees because of the quantity of their words but because those words were empty. Words that flow from a heart that will not change are empty words. Therefore, we need to realize that mere words are, on their own, the shallowest form of prayer.

Beloved reader, we are so easily like children. Children constantly ask for things. (It is, of course, true that constantly asking for things is part of what it means to be a child.) But children who constantly ask for things are seeking benefit without cost, whether they realize it or not. We need to grow up in prayer and grow out of constantly asking for things from God. If prayer for us is only about constantly asking God for things, then we are merely seeking benefit without cost. It is so easy to pray for others with words, and it so often costs us nothing. True prayer always costs, because it always begins with “Change my heart, Lord.” Those words may not always be spoken, but you can be absolutely certain that the changing of your own self is the only starting point of true prayer. True prayer is always about relationships, never about results.

“Consequently Jesus is able for all time to save those who approach God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).

Jesus’s ability to intercede for us came at great personal cost to both himself and his Father. True prayer never seeks benefit without cost.

“This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5).

True prayer begins not with us talking to God but rather with us listening to God. It begins not with us giving to God but rather with us receiving from God. It begins not with us giving ourselves to God but rather with us receiving God himself. True prayer, then, is based in the heart, not in the head. Pray without ceasing, and use words only when absolutely necessary. Such mature prayer needs to be learned through a repeated pleading with God to change our own selves on the inside.

“I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him” (Ephesians 1:17).

If we are to know God better and better in order to exercise ever deeper prayer, then we need the Holy Spirit of wisdom and revelation. Our own spirits need to be open to receiving revelation—and the wisdom to understand and know what to do with that revelation. God is a God of revelation who loves to make himself known, but he does not make himself known unconditionally.

“All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Matthew 11:27).

How does Jesus choose whom he will reveal the Father to? God’s hand stretches all the way to us, but he will not force-feed us. God is a God of revelation, not secrecy. He wants to be known. But the exploration of knowing God involves the exploration of knowing ourselves. That is why true prayer always involves change for us. We cannot truly pray and yet stay the same. If we pray and stay the same, it isn’t prayer. Speaking words of prayer for others while we are unwilling for God to change us only proves that what we speak is not true prayer.

The first and most important principle of prayer is this: prayer changes the person praying. Prayer changes us. Is change what we really want? We can say very easily that we are willing to change. But change equals cost.

Whenever God comes near to us, change is imminent, and therefore cost is imminent. There is always a cost to be paid for change. Is change what we really want?

“No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me” (John 6:44).

Relationship lies at the heart of prayer. Prayer is not learned from a distance. Drawing people to himself is the primary activity of a God of love.

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (James 4:7–8).

Prayer is discovering that God’s heart is for you. Prayer is not an attempt to establish a relationship with God; it is the expression of a real and growing relationship. We can only truly pray with the God we truly know. How we know God determines how we pray. As we grow in Christ and Christ grows in us, so should we grow in our maturity in prayer. If we are not growing in our maturity in prayer, then we are unwilling for our own selves to change. Maturity in character brings maturity in prayer. Maturity in prayer is not the same as quantity of prayer. A constant growth to maturity is critically important for us as the people of God. We need to understand the paths of growth if we are to mature in prayer.

This chapter comes from Christ-Centered Life: Deep Calls to Deep (WestBow Press, 2013). Used by permission of the author. Later included in the Fall 2021 issue of The Pneuma Review.

As of the time of publication, The Authors Show interview that Broderick recorded in March 2015 is still available to listen to online at: http://www.wnbnetworkwest.com/WnbAuthorsShow.html. It is repeated on the programs at least once every month and is always available in the archived interviews lower down the page.