“Then Jesus called out to them, ‘Friends, haven’t you any fish?’ ‘No,’ they answered. He said, ‘Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.’ When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.” (John 21:5-6, NIV)
The disciples had been fishing all night with nothing to show for it. Then Jesus, who they didn’t immediately recognize, asked one simple question that changed everything. Not “Why aren’t you catching fish?” or “Have you tried different bait?” Just: “Haven’t you any fish?”
That question led to instruction. The instruction led to abundance.
When someone struggles with AI prompting, they’re casting their nets over and over, getting frustrated with empty results, convinced the tool is broken. But like the disciples, they’re often fishing in the wrong spot with the wrong approach.
The art isn’t in the casting, it’s in learning to ask better questions and knowing where to throw the net. Obviously, the disciples knew how to fish and this story isn’t really about fishing, it’s about obedience and trust, but I’m trying to use a metaphor and I’m not really that good at them.
The Problem With Most AI Interactions
I see this pattern constantly. Users approach AI tools the same way they approach search engines: throw in some keywords and hope for the best. But AI isn’t Google. It’s more like a really smart intern who needs context, direction, and clear expectations.
The disciples were experienced fishermen. They knew how to cast nets, repair equipment, read weather patterns. Most people struggling with AI aren’t lacking technical skills, they’re lacking the right framing.
Jesus didn’t give them a fishing tutorial. He asked a diagnostic question, then provided specific direction: “Throw your net on the right side of the boat.”
That specificity matters. “Right side” isn’t arbitrary, it’s based on understanding conditions they couldn’t see from their position in the boat. Jesus had a vantage point they didn’t.
The Anatomy of Better Questions
When I work with teams on AI integration for sermon prep, the breakthrough moment isn’t technical. It’s when they stop asking “How do I make AI write my sermon?” and start asking “How do I help AI understand my congregation’s needs?”
The difference:
Fishing in the wrong spot: “Write me a sermon on forgiveness.”
Throwing the net on the right side: “I’m preaching to a congregation that’s 60% over 50, many dealing with family estrangement after the 2020 election divisions. They’re tired of political sermons but need biblical hope for restoration. Help me write a 20-minute sermon on forgiveness that acknowledges real hurt without being preachy, using Matthew 18:21-22 as the primary text, with two personal application points they can act on this week.”
The second prompt gives AI the context it needs to be helpful. Like Jesus with the disciples, it provides specific direction based on understanding the full situation.
Why This Matters for Digital Discipleship
The disciples’ empty nets weren’t just about breakfast. John tells us this story in the context of restoration, Peter’s reinstatement, the commissioning to “feed my sheep,” the establishment of early church leadership. The fishing miracle was functional, but it served a larger discipleship purpose.
AI in ministry works the same way. The technical capability (generating text, analyzing data, creating content) serves the larger mission of discipleship. But like the disciples, we need to learn where to cast the net.
At Bible Gateway, we’re seeing this play out with 23 million monthly users across 200+ translations. The users who get the most value aren’t necessarily the most technically sophisticated — they’re the ones who understand how to frame their spiritual questions in ways that digital tools can support.
A user searching “hope Bible verses” gets generic results. A user searching “Bible verses about hope after job loss, specifically for someone who feels God has abandoned them” gets targeted, actionable content that can actually help with discipleship.
The difference isn’t in the search technology, it’s in learning to ask better questions.
The Jesus Method of AI Prompting
Jesus’s interaction with the disciples gives us a framework for effective AI engagement:
Start with diagnosis. “Haven’t you any fish?” establishes the current state. Before jumping into solutions, AI needs to understand what you’re actually trying to accomplish. Not just the task, but the context around it.
Provide specific direction. “Throw your net on the right side” isn’t vague inspiration. It’s actionable guidance based on understanding the full situation. Good AI prompts are similarly specific about desired output, tone, length, audience, and constraints.
Trust the process. The disciples could have argued about which side of the boat was better. Instead, they followed the instruction. AI works best when you iterate based on results, not when you debate the approach.
Recognize the bigger picture. This wasn’t really about fishing, it was about discipleship. Using AI like this isn’t really about efficiency, it’s about enabling better ministry, better products, better service to people who need what you’re building.
Practical Applications for Ministry and Product
This principle scales across everything I work on. Whether it’s helping pastors with AI sermon preparation or building features for Bible Gateway’s global user base, the pattern holds: better questions lead to better outcomes.
For pastors: Instead of asking AI to “help with Bible study preparation,” try: “I’m teaching a small group of new believers, mostly in their 20s and 30s, about spiritual disciplines. They’re interested but overwhelmed by traditional approaches. Help me design a 4-week study on prayer that feels accessible and practical, with weekly exercises they can actually complete.”
For product teams: Instead of asking AI to “analyze user feedback,” try: “Review these 200 support tickets from the past month. Our mobile app’s Bible reading plans have a 40% completion rate, but we don’t know why people drop off. Identify patterns in user complaints that might indicate specific friction points in the first two weeks of plan usage.”
The difference is specificity informed by context, which is exactly what Jesus provided the disciples.
Why the Right Side of the Boat Matters
The disciples caught so many fish they couldn’t haul the net in. Not because the fish suddenly appeared, but because they were fishing where the fish actually were.
In the wisdom tradition, this is about alignment and understanding how things actually work rather than how we think they should work. AI isn’t magic, but it is powerful when applied with wisdom and clear direction.
The abundance wasn’t in the tool (the net) or even the technique (the casting). It was in the guidance that led them to the right place at the right time with the right approach.
For those of us building digital discipleship tools, this matters enormously. We’re not just solving technical problems, we’re helping people encounter God through technology. The quality of that encounter often depends on learning to ask better questions.
Sermon Illustration
The disciples had been fishing all night with empty nets. They knew how to fish — they were professionals. But when Jesus asked if they had caught anything and told them to throw their net on the right side of the boat, everything changed. Suddenly they caught so many fish they couldn’t pull the net in.
Sometimes our prayers feel like those empty nets. We’re asking God for help, but we’re not seeing results. Maybe the issue isn’t God’s willingness to provide, maybe it’s learning to ask better questions. Instead of “God, help me,” try “God, help me understand what You want me to learn through this situation.” Instead of “God, fix this,” try “God, show me how to respond faithfully right here.” The abundance might not be in getting what we think we want, but in learning to ask for what we actually need. And like the disciples, we might discover that the breakthrough was there all along, we just needed better direction about where to cast our nets.
Photo by Ankit Manoharan on Unsplash