Can AI “Pray”?
Editor's Note: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Regent University, its faculty, administration, or affiliates.
The dean of Regent University’s School of Divinity, Dr. Corné Bekker, shares insight on “artificial intelligence” and faith.
By Brian R. Connor (SCA, ’90)
As a professional “content creator” since 1987, I’ve spent the past few years resisting the 21st-century pull (and pressure) to utilize “artificial intelligence” (AI) in my writing. What I called “CheatGPT” offered shortcuts I didn’t want to take and compromises I refused to make… until recently.
At the start of 2025, a client insisted on incorporating AI as a tool to “fine tune” my work. I’m not writing the next “Great American Novel” for them, so I went along with it. In the spirit of “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em…” I begrudgingly began exploring the benefits and usefulness of ChatGPT.
Last month, after completing a writing assignment, I decided to ask the “chatbot” a question related to a loved one’s illness. In the “prompt” section, I typed: “What’s the best way to fight liver injury from chemotherapy treatments for colon cancer?” As expected, AI immediately provided six detailed bullet points on ways “to protect and support the liver during treatment.” Then, ChatGPT surprised me by adding this:
Final Word from a Faith Perspective
If you’re approaching this from a Christian worldview: God gives us stewardship over our bodies and access to wisdom, medicine, and prayer. While treatment is a physical and emotional burden, you’re not alone. Lean on the support of your medical team, community, and faith in God’s healing power.
Initially, that “Final Word” surprised me, but it quickly made sense based on my previous history with ChatGPT. In my prompts, I always include information that I’m a “Christian writer” to ensure the response content reflects a biblical worldview.
But then, AI “asked” me, “Would you like a sample script or prayer for healing during cancer treatment?” I was curious to see what ChatGPT’s reply would be, so I answered, “Yes.” Here’s the prayer I received, word for word:
Prayer for Healing During Cancer Treatment
A Prayer for Protection and Liver Healing
Heavenly Father,
You are Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals. I come to You now on behalf of this body that is undergoing chemotherapy — a treatment that can bring both healing and harm. Lord, I ask for Your divine protection over the liver, the organ You created to cleanse and renew. Shield it from injury. Strengthen it against every toxin. Let Your healing touch restore every cell that has been weakened or damaged.
Give wisdom to the doctors, clarity to the caregivers, and endurance to this body. Let peace rule over fear. Let Your presence be near during every treatment, every test, every day of waiting.
Thank You for the hope we have in Jesus Christ. Whether in sickness or health, we are Yours. And by Your stripes, we claim healing — in body, mind, and spirit. In Jesus’ mighty name, amen.
After reading ChatGPT’s “prayer,” I wasn’t sure how to respond. It’s actually really good and very similar to something I would pray myself. But I couldn’t help but wonder: Is this blasphemy? Is it divination? Is it sacrilege?
Does Using “AI” Violate the Christian Faith?
Realizing that I don’t have the theological credentials or biblical training to answer such serious questions related to a believer’s use of AI, I reached out to Dr. Corné Bekker, dean of Regent University’s School of Divinity. I sat down with him and asked for his thoughts on AI “praying” and if using artificial intelligence is something today’s Church is discussing, debating, or perhaps even wrestling with.
“If you ask deep questions and AI picks up your personal faith in any of those questions, it will draw from all of the resources that are available on the Internet,” Bekker told me. “AI, very beautifully, can construct for you a prayer that is drawn from Scripture and other examples of Christian prayer. But prayer is more than the recitation of words. What makes prayer and worship truly connected with God is the state of the heart. If we recite prayer, it’s not praying. Prayer needs to be done in the name of Jesus with faith in Christ and faith in God.”
He added, “AI is taking everything it knows about the Christian faith, Scripture, and examples of prayer. Think about all the prayers that are available on the Internet from the history of the Church. What AI is simply doing is saying, ‘Alright, based on what I know of you, I’m going to take from these prayers and rearrange that.’ But AI hasn’t prayed. All it does is really just answer questions and repackage information that’s already out there.”
Pursuing “Redemptive AI” to Build God’s Kingdom
Global Media Outreach (GMO), a premier digital evangelism organization with more than three billion Gospel presentations worldwide to date, is encouraging Christians to embrace what they call “Redemptive AI” as a Kingdom-building tool.
Yvonne Carlson, GMO’s chief technology officer, told NRB in June, “We cannot do as the world does. … This is our moment as Christians, harnessing this amazing technology — just like we did television, just like we did radio — to do things in such a way that point people back to Christ.”
Carlson warns that a “wisdom gap” currently exists between humans and the capabilities of AI, but she also says Christians are uniquely equipped to properly steward AI: “If I’ve just shortcut the whole creative process, where’s the critical thinking in that? Where is the Holy Spirit’s opportunity to think and move through you?”
Despite its powerful capabilities, Carlson insists AI must not replace human witness nor spiritual discernment: “One of the core choices we’ve made is to not replace human ministry with technology. It’s an embodied person-to-person interaction. …You can’t synthesize that using technology.”
Bekker warns: “AI has absolutely no moral compass…”
“We cannot escape AI,” Bekker explained. “In a couple of years, AI will be so fully integrated into our world that it will be very difficult to find a system that doesn’t use it. The problem is that AI has no discernment unless you provide parameters for it. AI has absolutely no moral compass. It doesn’t have a spirit, doesn’t have a soul, doesn’t have human intelligence. It mimics human intelligence.”
Despite all of the things AI is not, it can help believers grow in their faith. Other technological tools (digital Bibles, online sermons, etc.) have been used for a generation to strengthen millions in their walk with Christ. Bekker is confident, when used with biblical discernment, AI has the capacity to empower people to grow closer to God:
“Should we use AI to construct prayers? Yes, absolutely. Because AI is drawing from Scripture. The problem, sometimes, with that is AI will not only draw from Scripture, it will draw from anything it can find.”
“AI is not neutral,” he warned. “When you read something that AI gives you, are you able to discern and say, ‘But is this scriptural? Is this true? Is this good? Is this appropriate?’ The power is not in the platform. The power is not in AI. The power is only in God’s Word.”
Source material:
Redemptive AI: How Christians Can Lead the Tech Revolution
https://nrb.org/redemptive-ai-how-christians-can-lead-the-tech-revolution
