We can get so distracted and bombarded that it is hard to focus on seeking God and spending time in His word. Here are the top 5 apps I've found to help me learn, stay focussed and deepen my time with God.
Disclaimer: I truly believe that the best way to not get distracted and help yourself focus is to leave behind the phone and tech and go into the paper bible. Sometimes though we don't know where to start or what to read. This is where these apps can come in handy.
1. Youversion Bible App
If you don't have Youversion already, get it! Youversion is one of the best and is free to use.
It has all the translations of the Bible, so you can switch between them and see how different authors have phrased the passage.
It has reading plans to help you focus in on particular topics and take the decision fatigue out of reading your Bible. You can also do these reading plans with friends to help keep you accountable.
It also has text-to-voice, which means you can listen to your Bible while driving or cleaning, or even listen to it whilst you read along.
2. Abide Christian Meditation
This app has free or paid plans. I use the paid plan, which gives you access to hundreds of sleep meditations and spoken bible stories. The free plan has a select number of sleep stories, which is still more than enough to help you get off to sleep. I use this app when I want to fall asleep to the Bible and His word. It has an adjustable sleep timer feature built in so that it will turn off after you've gone to sleep.
3. Inspirations
Inspirations focuses itself on a verse of the day, and a reflective prompt.
The app itself is very simple, which helps keep things easy to do your reflection without feeling overwhelmed.
Inspirations is a free app to use.
4. Olive Tree
Olive Tree is a Bible app that allows you to purchase a concordance and other study materials. A concordance is a book that looks up the original Greek or Hebrew word used, its original definition, and also find where else that word is used in the Bible. I use Olive Tree when I don't understand the meaning of a particular phrase or word. I can tap on the word or phrase, search it in the concordance, and find the original definition and word. This has helped me understand more in depth what was truly meant by the original authors.
5. Blue Letter Bible
Blue Letter Bible is a website that has a HUGE amount of resources on it.
BLB also has a concordance, like Olive Tree, that you can access for free. I find Olive Tree easier to use on my phone, but BLB is great if you want to save some money.
BLB shines when I am struggling to interpret or apply a passage into my life today. I may be confused about what Jesus meant, or the context of the situation, or feel it is contradictory in some way. BLB allows you to find sermons and commentaries that talk about the passage. This allows you to see how others have interpretted the scripture and what contextual insight they have into the Jewish culture. I often walk away with a deep and fresh understanding of God's word.
