ROME — The hugely popular Bible App has announced that Philippians 4:6 is the biblical “verse of the year” based on the number of times users accessed that passage.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God,” states the verse, inviting Christians to overcome anxiety through confidence in God.
The Bible App is a product of YouVersion and had 400 million users worldwide in 2019 — more than in any year since its creation in 2008. The app allows people to read or listen to the Bible on their cell phone and offers a user-friendly “Verse of the Day” as well as Bible reading plans, among others.
Created by Oklahoma-based Life.Church in 2008, the Bible App furnishes more than 2,000 versions of the Bible in over 1,350 languages.
“We’re encouraged to see so many people turning to the Bible in response to their worries, remembering what God has done in their lives, and choosing to trust in His faithfulness,” said Bobby Gruenewald, the founder of YouVersion.
“We’re humbled by the opportunity to see lives changed in every country around the world,” Gruenwald said.
At the same time, more than a billion people around the globe still don’t have access to a complete Bible in their native tongue, a situation that YouVersion hopes to remedy.
Much of the Bible App’s recent growth, in fact, has come from outside the United States.
Among the countries where the App experienced greatest growth in 2019 were Poland, with a 75 percent increase, India, with 51 percent growth, Vietnam, with a 37 percent bump, followed closely by Cambodia, which saw an increase of 36 percent.
“Every year, when we dig into these numbers, we’re overwhelmed by how God is using this app to deliver His message of hope and love to a hurting world,” Gruenewald said.
“We also can’t help but recognize how much more work there is to be done together as the global Church to reach every nation,” he added.
“Our desire is to help people grow in their relationship with God by encouraging them to read the Bible and seek Him every day,” Gruenewald said.
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