Smith's interview explains how reading a bit from the Purpose driven life to her captor helped her establish trust with him.

The times answered the question how did she do it as follows "The answer seems to be, at least in large part, her faith. After her husband had died, Smith had become a born-again Christian. Though much maligned in �sophisticated� circles, bible-belt Christians do subscribe to at least three beliefs that might be useful (to put it mildly) in such life-or-death situations. The first is that everything � even the terrible twist of fate that brings an alleged multiple-murderer into your home � is the will of God. And since God is loving, something good must inevitably come out of all horror, all tragedy.

The second is that it�s never too late to repent, to bring God�s purpose into your life. And the third is that God, not man, is the ultimate judge.
It seems clear that Smith made a conscious decision to bring God into the conversation. She brought out a book called The Purpose Driven Life that she had been reading, and recited a passage to Nichols. Written by a phenomenally successful Californian evangelist called Rick Warren, the book is a mixture of fundamentalist Christian mission-statement and self-help manual. It purports to show you how to transform your existence, provided you devote 40 days to �discovering God �s purpose for your life�.