Thank you for writing this Joseph, I agree with everything you have written. TBH if JC were with us in person today I could well imagine him storming into a data centre and unplugging all the servers à la the Cleansing of the Temple. Prayer (and faith) are uniquely human experiences that should never ever be optimised. 🙏
Haha, yes Sam, I could definitely see Jesus doing that.
Prayer is communication with God. As you rightly said, it needs to remain a human experience only.
As Frank commented separately, it should be a really simple answer. Unfortunately, some will justify almost any kind of behaviour in one way or another.
The question you keep pressing, “Can AI pray, or can it only assemble prayer-shaped sentences?” is the right one, and I’m grateful you didn’t treat it like a simple technical debate. As a Christian thought leader, it is good for you to surface and share these insights that many are wrestling with. You are walking through the “why” without condescending or criticizing, but with care, kindness, and compassion.
Scripture is clear that prayer is personal communion, “through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father” (Ephesians 2:18), and Paul reminds us the Spirit Himself helps us when our words run out (Romans 8:26).
AI can hand me a draft, like sheet music on a stand, but it can’t worship, repent, adore, or plead.
And that contrast is oddly clarifying: it pushes me back into the simple, human act of pouring out my heart to a living God, like the psalmist says, “Pour out your hearts to Him” (Psalm 62:8).
Thank you for naming the boundaries with courage and pastoral care, and for calling us to keep the “amen” connected to an actual soul!
In all my writings here, I am not looking to criticize or attack people but to get them to think through why they do what they do.
Prayer is a basic building block of faith but also so important as a connector to God. We get this wrong and it is like choosing the wrong fork in a fork in the road. We won't get to the destination we wanted to get to.
Agreed, and you are doing a great job of aligning the technology with a Biblical perspective as well as a pastor’s heart to navigate the topic rather than avoiding it (which tends to be the norm).
"Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain."
1 Cor. 15:58
I appreciate your passion and calling to this important work!
Thank you for writing this Joseph, I agree with everything you have written. TBH if JC were with us in person today I could well imagine him storming into a data centre and unplugging all the servers à la the Cleansing of the Temple. Prayer (and faith) are uniquely human experiences that should never ever be optimised. 🙏
Haha, yes Sam, I could definitely see Jesus doing that.
Prayer is communication with God. As you rightly said, it needs to remain a human experience only.
As Frank commented separately, it should be a really simple answer. Unfortunately, some will justify almost any kind of behaviour in one way or another.
Thank you for reading! 😊
The question you keep pressing, “Can AI pray, or can it only assemble prayer-shaped sentences?” is the right one, and I’m grateful you didn’t treat it like a simple technical debate. As a Christian thought leader, it is good for you to surface and share these insights that many are wrestling with. You are walking through the “why” without condescending or criticizing, but with care, kindness, and compassion.
Scripture is clear that prayer is personal communion, “through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father” (Ephesians 2:18), and Paul reminds us the Spirit Himself helps us when our words run out (Romans 8:26).
AI can hand me a draft, like sheet music on a stand, but it can’t worship, repent, adore, or plead.
And that contrast is oddly clarifying: it pushes me back into the simple, human act of pouring out my heart to a living God, like the psalmist says, “Pour out your hearts to Him” (Psalm 62:8).
Thank you for naming the boundaries with courage and pastoral care, and for calling us to keep the “amen” connected to an actual soul!
Well done!
>Curtis
Thank you Curtis for your encouraging words.
In all my writings here, I am not looking to criticize or attack people but to get them to think through why they do what they do.
Prayer is a basic building block of faith but also so important as a connector to God. We get this wrong and it is like choosing the wrong fork in a fork in the road. We won't get to the destination we wanted to get to.
Agreed, and you are doing a great job of aligning the technology with a Biblical perspective as well as a pastor’s heart to navigate the topic rather than avoiding it (which tends to be the norm).
"Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain."
1 Cor. 15:58
I appreciate your passion and calling to this important work!
>Curtis
I appreciate your words. This post could have been real short, though. The answer to your question on your title is an easy, No.”.
Sure, but people come at topics like this from many angles. What seems clear and simple to us is not always so clear to someone else.
Thank you for reading!