He commented that the choice was deliberate since he was a fan of British rock music, and wanted that kind of attitude and quirkiness of the musicians in "Like a Prayer", as well as the other songs of the record.

He believed that the complexity builds up more after the second chorus, when the choir fully supports Madonna's vocals and she re-utters the opening lines, but this time accompanied by a synthesizer and drum beats.

"[22] Stephen Holden from The New York Times, while writing about Madonna's re-invention of her image, observed how her sound had changed from the "simple blaring dance-pop to the rich, fully rounded pop of 'Like a Prayer'".

"[24] From the academic world, positive reviews came from Michael Campbell, author of Popular Music in America: And the Beat Goes On, who felt that the soothing melody of the song resembles Steve Winwood's 1986 single "Higher Love".

Greeley, although focusing more on the accompanying music video, acknowledged the fact that sexual passion may be revelatory, and complimented Madonna for glorifying ideologies of female subjectivity and womanhood in the song.

[31] In a review for Madonna's first greatest hits album, The Immaculate Collection (1990), David Browne of the same publication wrote about the composition, which he felt "added poignancy to its spiritual lyrics".

[32] Also from Entertainment Weekly, Chuck Arnold wrote that "from the moment Madonna sings atop that solemn organ and the hushed tones of a choir, 'Like a Prayer' goes on to achieve a spiritual transcendence that makes this her supreme single [...] balancing the sacred and the secular to ecstatic effect, the whole thing takes you there again and again.

[41] "Like a Prayer" was ranked at number 25 on the Hot 100 Year-End chart for 1989, and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in May 1989, for shipment of one million copies.

[67] She wanted to address racism by having the video depict a mixed-race couple being killed by the Ku Klux Klan, but on further thinking she chose another provocative theme to maintain the song's religious connotations.

In January 1989, while the music video was still being filmed, Pepsi-Cola announced that they had signed Madonna for a US$5 million deal to feature her and "Like a Prayer" for the company's television commercial.

According to the company's advertising head Alan Pottasch, "the global media buy and unprecedented debut of this long awaited single will put Pepsi first and foremost in consumer's [sic] minds".

[85] While the "Like a Prayer" Pepsi commercial portrayed Madonna as a wholesome all-American girl, the treatment for her actual music video contrasted sharply with its provocative use of religious imagery.

Protests from a small Catholic organization in the country prompted Italian state television network RAI and Madonna's record company WEA to not air the video there.

[102] When the singer accidentally cuts her hand on the dagger, it was described as receiving stigmata by scholar Robert McQueen Grant, who believed that the scene marked Madonna as having an important role to play in the narrative.

[103] On the contrary, when the curtain falls and the scene shifts to a smiling Madonna among the burning crosses, professor Maury Dean felt that another explanation was inevitable.

[105] When the music video first aired in Spain, viewers initially believed that Madonna was playing the role of a modern day Saint Mary Magdalen on account of the scenes showing her first falling and then rising.

[106] The first live performance of "Like a Prayer" was on the 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour, with Madonna wearing a dress that looked like a cross between a Mediterranean widow's attire and a clergy's robe.

Madonna eventually removed a scarf from her head to display a huge crucifix hanging from her neck, and then rose and sang the full song, while her dancers gyrated around her.

[112] Madonna was dressed in a black Stella McCartney suit while backup vocalist Siedah Garrett sang the vocals during the intermediate verses; the backdrops displayed a series of Hebrew letters, indicating the 72 names of God.

[120] Helen Brown from The Daily Telegraph declared the performance as one of the highlights of the tour,[121] while Joey Guerra from Houston Chronicle compared Madonna rising on a platform with that of a superhero.

[127] Performed in an energetic gospel version, Madonna and thirty-six of her back-up singers played the role of a choir and wore long robes, as images of a gothic church and Hebrew letters appeared on the backdrops.

[130] The performance of the song at the November 19–20, 2012 shows in Miami, at the American Airlines Arena, were recorded and released in Madonna's fourth live album, MDNA World Tour.

[136][137][138] In May 2019, Madonna performed "Like a Prayer" and "Future", a collaboration with rapper Quavo from her fourteenth studio album Madame X, in Tel Aviv, Israel, during the finals of the Eurovision Song Contest 2019.

[140][141] It received mixed reviews, with much criticism going to the singer's voice; the Netherlands announcer Emma Wortelboer quipped she was "thankful for Madonna's autotune" during the results segment of the competition.

[144] During the Celebration Tour of 2023–24, the song was mashed up with Madonna's own "Act of Contrition", and "Unholy" (2022) by Sam Smith and Kim Petras, performed atop a rotating carousel with crosses depicting a chapel, with dancers as half naked crucifixes.

At the end, her son David Banda dressed as a Prince look-alike and played the guitar solo from "Act of Contrition" while the screens showed the message "I Would Die 4 U".

Nick Duerden from Spin complimented the performance and the track for being "so successfully pulverized that one wondered whether it wasn't written specifically to become the world's greatest heavy rock anthem.

[7] In the same month, Brazilian singer Luiza Possi covered "Like a Prayer" during the show Domingão do Faustão, in a similar performance to that of Blond Ambition World Tour.

For Marcus the main impact lay in the fact that the clip ultimately portrayed an empowerment message, questioning and "attacking" the Church's male prejudice and continuous female subjugation throughout history.

[25] In 1999, the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance held a seminar on the different implications and metaphors present in the song; it was headed by professors Martin Katz, George Shirley and Michael Daugherty.