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In today’s time-starved world, time with God is often placed on the back-burner. But for many of us, using our phones mindlessly every few minutes has become an unconscious habit, to the point that our screen time is steadily going up while we ironically feel like we have less and less time for important stuff at the same time. Like prayer, or reading God’s word, or finishing a devotional.
One of my most popular posts on the blog is about inspiring Christian Instagram accounts to follow. I’ve found that following accounts like that on my social media channels have helped me to incorporate and remember to worship/praise/honour God at every moment of my day.
To accompany that post, I thought of introducing some of the handy Christian apps that will help you (and I) deepen our faith journey, and are free to download too.
These are the apps I personally use and have enjoyed using. I hope they will help you walk closer with God daily!
1. The Bible app (iPhone and Android)
There are a ton of free Bible apps out there, but I like YouVersion’s offering most because of these reasons:
A wide variety of different Bible translations in a very clean, accessible interface that are also accessible offline
Loads of handy devotionals about Christian living (I’ve downloaded and read ones on Lent, Advent, marriage and work)
A built-in graphic design tool so you can share your favourite Bible verses with beautifully designed graphics in a pinch
The app description also says that it has audio Bibles for select versions, which I suppose is pretty cool if you’re driving/commuting to work daily and looking at the phone screen is not an option.
2. Solid Joys (iPhone and Android)
I’ve had this app for many years and found it to be very useful in having a clearer understanding of the Word. Presented in the form of daily devotionals written by John Piper (typically extracted from his past sermons or books) or members of the DesiringGod team, the devotionals here focus a lot on unpacking the character and nature of God, and explain the meaning and intention of verses in Scripture in a clear and engaging manner.
3. CenteringPrayer (iPhone and Android)
I first heard of this app late last year from my pastor, Ken Shigematsu, who mentioned that he used it to meditate on the Word and quiet his spirit every day. I downloaded it to try it out, and found that it really helped me to align myself and my thoughts to God’s before the day’s hectic busyness began. (This is something that Shigematsu champions in his book, Survival Guide for the Soul, which I had the joy of reviewing prior to its release.)
My suggestion for folks who might be uncomfortable with extended periods of silence or find their thoughts straying every minute: Start small (I started with 3 minutes of meditation time), and then increase it slowly as you get more familiar with quieting yourself before God. As the app interface suggests, it also helps to have a sacred word in mind for the week or month. For example, I felt led to pray about “peace” sometime ago, and during the time of meditation, I asked God to reveal what He wanted me to know about peace.
Also, I think it’s important to realise that this time of meditation isn’t about you mentally visualising all the situations in your life that require <insert sacred word or phrase>, but allowing God to speak to you in the silence, surrendering to Him and asking Him to do a new work in your heart, mind, and spirit.
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4. PAYG (iPhone and android)
Another app that I heard about through my pastor is PAYG, which stands for “Pray As You Go”. It’s designed to help you pray during your daily commute, with material for each day lasting between 10 to 13 minutes. With components ranging from music to scripture and questions for reflection, folks who prefer a more structured approach will enjoy using this.
Personally, I found it a tad draggy at some points (I confess that I don’t listen to the music fully all the time), but the richness and depth of the content in this app is a big draw.
5. Logos Bible Study Tools (iPhone and Android)
I’ve only downloaded this recently and haven’t managed to fully immerse myself in it yet, but it’s already blown me away in terms of the quality of the resources it’s packed in.
This app is perfect for the believer who wants to delve even deeper into Scripture. It provides informative excerpts on the background and authorship of each book in the Bible; enables you to compare verses across different Bible translations; provides you with access to classics like John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress (which I’ve been wanting to read and now finally have a copy!); and even has an exegetical guide built in (my seminary friends would approve). I can’t wait to dive deeper into this!
I hope these Christian app recommendations have been helpful for you! Whether you’re looking for an app to help you build your prayer life or help you understand the Bible better, I’m confident that these apps will absolutely serve your needs.
What are some of your favourite Christian apps? Leave a comment below, I’d love to hear from you! :)
pin for later!
xx,
iz
a singaporean-canadian couple on serving God faithfully