Recently I used AI to help prepare a Bible class on finances, I already had a lot of the thinking recorded. What it took away was the blank page—and me having to fight a bunch of formatting.
I had taught a longer course before and was filling in for another teacher for one session. I supplied my outline, my goals, the regular teacher's notes, and links to new resources I wanted to cover. I also pointed it at my previous notes, worksheets, and leader guides, including things I had thought through but never said in class.
It took my outline and filled in supporting material from those sources. It summarized things, linked back to the original documents, and suggested rough wording for things I could say. I got a structured class outline to work from. Then I refined it, changed things, and took things out.
Much of my judgment was already present in the material I gave it: what I wanted to cover, why, and how I wanted the class to fit together. That direction let it find relevant notes instead of deciding the purpose of the class for me.
I've used it for formatting Bible Study notes too: here are previous materials, here are my thoughts, organize them this way. Then a second request: make a handout, remove my references and leader notes, leave the questions, and format it for the person receiving it.
Less repetitive document work, with the critical judgment and guidance of the Holy Spirit still where they belong. I wrote more about that responsibility in The Fear of the Lord in an Age of AI.
Try it with One Set of Notes
You don't need to organize your whole archive first. Pick one study, sermon series, or class. Gather the relevant documents and write down what you want to make from them. The same approach can help collect scattered material for a book, but start with an outline and its supporting notes rather than asking for a whole manuscript.
A prompt is your request. Context is the background and material you supply. Here is a starting prompt, not a transcript of my original request:
I'm preparing [a class or study] for [audience]. Here is my outline and what I want people to take away: [simple bullet points or brief outline and goals]. Use these previous notes and these new resources: [files or links].
Keep my outline and assemble the relevant supporting material beneath it. Summarize where helpful and link back to the sources. Tell me which documents you couldn't read. Flag gaps or suggested changes for me to decide, and don't invent quotations or references. Give me a draft to review, not a finished lesson.
After reviewing and changing that draft, you can ask:
Make a student handout from this approved version. Remove my teaching notes, answers, and source list. Keep the questions in order, with space to write beneath each. Don't add new material or change the questions.
Check the result before sharing it—especially that private notes and answers really are gone. Check Scripture quotations and their context too. A well-formatted document can still be wrong.
Getting started with ChatGPT and Google Drive
- Use ChatGPT in your browser or install the official desktop app.
- Put a few readable documents in a Drive folder. Keep clear titles and original references.
- In ChatGPT, open Apps or Plugins, find Google Drive, and connect the correct Google account. Review its permissions. Availability varies; uploading selected files directly is another option. See the current connection guide.
- Give it the file or folder links and ask which documents it actually read. Connecting Drive doesn't mean it has read the whole collection, and naming a folder doesn't restrict the account permissions you granted.
- Under Settings → Data Controls, turn off Improve the model for everyone if you don't want new conversations used for training. This doesn't make confidential information safe to upload.
For quick formatting, start with Instant. For combining substantial notes, use Medium or High where available; Free accounts have a Think option. You don't need Pro to start. Check the current model guide rather than worrying about model names.
Work is ChatGPT's current agent experience for multi-step assignments and documents. Give it a specific outcome and a stopping point for review; only grant the access it needs. Deep research is useful for a cited investigation across sources. Neither is necessary for a simple handout. See the Work guide.
I do recommend disabling training for your account so they don't use your inputs to train future models.
Keep each conversation focused. The context window is the AI's working space, not unlimited memory. A Project can keep a series' files and instructions together; use a fresh chat for each lesson, with the relevant sources and your current decisions. If a chat gets tangled, have it summarize the decisions, check that summary, and carry it into a new chat. Save approved documents in your own notes or Drive.
Start with a worksheet you already know well. Have it make a student copy from your leader version, then put the two side by side. You'll have something concrete to judge—and a small piece of repetitive work you may not need to do by hand next time.
As with any tool or book, these are not Scripture and don't replace one bit of prayerfully walking the Lord through what He wants you to teach.
AI will confidently be wrong, challenge it's assumptions, this leads back to one of my belief's about it: It's a great tool to get a general intro to something, or a scalpel in a master's hand. But for those in the middle ground; the unconsciously incompetent, it is incredibly risky to use it before great subject expertise is established.