YouVersion Bible app’s most popular verse of 2019 is Philippians 4:6: “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done.”
Another prominent verse shared consistently in 2019 was Matthew 6:33: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you.”
The popularity of these verses shows that though cultural situations may be vastly different, the inclination to share verses that call individuals to point their minds to God is a commonality, said Trevin Wax, senior vice president of theology and communications at LifeWay Christian Resources.
“People that are sharing Bible verses in YouVersion look like they gravitate toward action verses where it’s something of a daily jolt or a reminder of what it is that we’re all to be about,” Wax said.
Philippians 4:6 is a command to be God oriented, to take whatever it is we encounter in our lives to the Lord; and Matthew 6:33 is a command from Jesus to seek the Kingdom.
Looking above
“What’s interesting to me is how many of these number one verses, regardless of what country they come from, are pointing upward … to things that are above, not things on the earth.”
In 2019 app users:
- listened to 5.6 billion chapters of the Bible
- read 35.6 billion chapters of the Bible
- spent 1.1 billion days in Bible plans
- made 2 billion highlights, bookmarks and notes
- shared more than 478 million Bible verses.
Since its release 11 years ago the YouVersion app has been downloaded more than 400 million times.
The global YouVersion community engaged in the Bible 30% more in 2019 than in 2018, according to YouVersion data.
Outreach outside the United States has grown tremendously with the app now offering more than 2,000 Bible versions in more than 1,350 languages. The app has been downloaded in every country on earth.
“What we are seeing in global engagement is exciting to us because with every verse highlighted, plan day completed or audio chapter listened to, that’s a person who is being transformed by knowing God more intimately through spending time in the Bible,” said YouVersion founder Bobby Greunewald.
Increasing access
More than a billion people globally don’t have access to a complete Bible in their “heart” language. Together with illumiNations, a movement of 10 Bible translation agencies, YouVersion is working to decrease that number.
The group’s goal is that by 2033, 95% of the world’s population will have a complete Bible, 99.9% will have a complete New Testament and 100% will have at least some portion of Scripture.
YouVersion’s goal for future Bible translations should be a reminder of the power of God’s word, Wax said. (BP, YouVersion)
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