Pastor Tricia's Ramblings

When we talk about living a Christ-centered life, the conversation often begins and ends with spiritual disciplines. Pray daily. Read the Bible. Worship regularly. Go to church. These practices matter deeply, and Scripture affirms them. But if we are not careful, they can quietly become routines we perform rather than relationships that transform us.

Jesus did not invite His disciples into a checklist. He invited them into abiding. A Christ-centered life is not shaped merely by what we do for God, but by how deeply we live with Him—and how fully we surrender our will to His.

1. Abiding, Not Just Believing: The Habit of God’s Presence

In John 15:4–5, Jesus says,

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”

Notice that fruitfulness is not the command—abiding is. The Christian life is not sustained by effort alone but by nearness. The habit that shapes a Christ-centered life most profoundly is learning to live aware of God’s presence.

Scripture consistently affirms that God is not distant from His people. Psalm 46:10 calls us to,

“Be still, and know that I am God.”

Stillness is not inactivity; it is attentiveness. Being in God’s presence means cultivating a posture of awareness—recognizing that God is present not only in prayer moments but in ordinary ones. This habit trains us to pause before reacting, to seek God’s nearness before seeking solutions, and to live each moment coram Deo—before the face of God.

Paul echoes this in Acts 17:28 when he says,

“In Him we live and move and have our being.”

A Christ-centered life is formed when we stop compartmentalizing God into spiritual activities and begin acknowledging His presence in every space we inhabit.

2. Prayer as Communion and Surrender

Prayer is foundational, but Scripture never presents prayer as performance. Jesus Himself warns against praying to be seen (Matthew 6:5–8). Instead, He models prayer as honest communion and surrendered trust.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prays,

“Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me. Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).

This is perhaps the clearest picture of Christ-centered prayer. Jesus brings His desire honestly before the Father, but He does not cling to it. He releases it.

Prayer, then, is not simply about asking God to align with our will, but about allowing our will to be reshaped by His. Philippians 4:6–7 reminds us that prayer brings peace, not necessarily immediate answers. That peace flows from trust, not control.

The habit that forms us is learning to pray with open hands:

• Listening as much as speaking (1 Samuel 3:10)
• Waiting on the Lord (Psalm 27:14)
• Trusting God’s wisdom above our understanding (Proverbs 3:5–6)

Over time, prayer becomes less about outcomes and more about obedience and intimacy.

3. Scripture as Transformation, Not Consumption

Scripture reading is essential, but Scripture itself warns against a shallow engagement with the Word. James writes,

“Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22).

The Bible was never meant to be consumed quickly and forgotten. It is meant to dwell richly within us (Colossians 3:16). A Christ-centered habit of Scripture asks not only, What does this passage mean? but What is God inviting me to become through it?

Hebrews 4:12 describes the Word of God as living and active, discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. This means Scripture does its deepest work when we allow it to confront us—when we read slowly, prayerfully, and humbly.

Jesus rebukes the religious leaders in John 5:39–40:

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about Me, yet you refuse to come to Me.”

A Christ-centered life is not shaped by knowing Scripture alone, but by encountering Christ through Scripture and responding in obedience.

4. Worship as Reorientation of Our Loves

Worship is often associated with music, but Scripture defines worship far more broadly. Paul writes,

“Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1).

Worship is the act of re-centering our lives on God. Every day, our hearts are pulled toward competing allegiances—comfort, success, fear, approval. Worship reorders our loves by reminding us who God is and who we are in relation to Him.

Psalm 95:6 invites us,

“Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker.”

This posture of humility forms us. It teaches us that God is God—and we are not. True worship loosens our grip on control and trains us to trust God’s sovereignty, even when circumstances feel uncertain.

5. Obedience as an Act of Trust

One of the most overlooked habits in the Christian life is obedience. Yet Jesus consistently ties love for Him to obedience:

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15).

Obedience is not legalism; it is trust expressed in action. A Christ-centered life is shaped not by grand spiritual moments alone, but by daily, often unseen choices to follow Jesus.

Luke 9:23 records Jesus’ words:

“If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”

Surrender is not a one-time event—it is a daily practice. Yielding our will to God’s will means choosing faithfulness even when obedience is costly or inconvenient.

6. Faithfulness in the Hidden Places

Scripture reminds us that God does much of His formative work in obscurity. Jesus Himself spent thirty years in relative hiddenness before beginning His public ministry. Galatians 6:9 encourages believers,

“Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

A Christ-centered life is not built on constant spiritual intensity, but on steady faithfulness. God shapes us through waiting, silence, repetition, and perseverance. These hidden habits form roots deep enough to withstand storms.

Conclusion: Yielded Lives, Not Perfect Routines

At its core, a Christ-centered life is not about mastering spiritual habits, but about surrendering to Christ Himself. Prayer, Scripture, and worship are not ends in themselves—they are means by which we encounter God’s presence and learn to trust His will above our own.

Jesus invites us not into busyness, but into abiding. Not into control, but into trust. Not into self-effort, but into surrender.

As we cultivate habits of presence, obedience, and yielded hearts, we discover that transformation is not forced—it is formed. And the more we surrender our will to His, the more our lives begin to reflect the One at the center of it all.