Ben Carson has put the success of his campaign down to a "force greater than myself."

In an interview with the Washington Post, the retired neurosurgeon refused to say whether or not he thought it was God's plan for him to become President of the US. However Carson, one the leading candidates for the republican nomination, put his success down to a higher power.

"I don't know what will happen to my campaign for the presidency, but I do know that up until this point it's been a force greater than myself," said Carson.

"And no one can really explain what's happened here. I was talking to a famous pollster within this past week and he said, 'We were all sitting around talking and, you know, none of us can explain why you're doing so well.'"

Carson went on to tell the Washington Post that he felt directed by God to enter and wasn't something he was interested in initially.

"I would put it this way. [The campaign] wasn't something I particularly wanted to do.

"And I finally just said, 'Look Lord, you know this is not on my bucket list. And the pundits say it's impossible anyways.'

"But, I said, if you really want me to do this, then you will have to open the doors. I'm not going to push them open. And the doors have flung open. So I don't know what the eventual end of it all is, but I promised that I would walk through the doors if they opened."

However despite saying he felt God had opened the door Carson said he would not be burdened or all that upset if his campaign failed.

"I would hope that it would be, if that happened, the American people making a decision that they're comfortable with," he said.

"I would hope that my candidacy had in some way helped to awaken large groups of people. And everywhere I go, people tell me, 'I have never participated, and now I have hope.' And those people will have come out. And that's good.

"I don't know what his eventual plan is. When I commit to something, you know, I go into it wholeheartedly. If I'm not president, it will not be a devastating blow to me."

The latest polls suggest Carson has slipped from a solid second place behind Donald Trump to a joint third with Ted Cruz as Marco Rubio climbed to second position.