Cision PR Newswire

Bible engagement data shows people call on God to overcome anxiety and daily struggles

OKLAHOMA CITY, Dec. 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In a record year for app installs and daily use, YouVersion is seeing more people seek God through His Word and in prayer. Reflecting this trend, the YouVersion Verse of the Year is:

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:6

With this Bible verse seeing higher engagement than any other verse this year, YouVersion Founder and CEO Bobby Gruenewald believes it shows that people are more likely to turn to God when they face anxiety and daily struggles.

"In many cases, our anxiety comes from holding onto worries that we aren't meant to carry," said Gruenewald. "To me, this verse being sought out the most this year is an illustration that our community is seeking God in prayer and choosing to trust Him to carry their burdens—and we're seeing that supported in the data."

Praying for Peace

In 2024, YouVersion saw increased interest in prayer around the world. Within the Bible App, people can share Prayers with their Friends, indicate that they prayed for others, and complete Guided Prayer sessions that connect people with God through Scripture and prayer prompts. All together, engagement with these YouVersion Prayer features went up by 46% this year compared to last year.

The words "prayer" and "peace" were among the top in-app search terms this year, two themes that we also see in the Verse of the Year. This year, YouVersion's Prayer Team volunteers responded to prayer requests in 20 languages. Even as these requests came from different countries, there were many common themes, including prayers for finances, healing, family, marriage, and anxiety. 

One of YouVersion's more than 4,750 global partners, 24-7 Prayer International, is seeing a similar trend in prayer. In addition to its YouVersion Bible Plans, the ministry facilitates 24-7 Prayer Rooms that enable communities and churches in more than 65 countries to come together in person in an unbroken chain of prayer, every hour of the day and night. This year, they saw a 37% increase in the number of 24-7 Prayer Rooms they're supporting.

"Throughout 2024, we have seen a rise in the number of people dedicating themselves to night and day prayer in different nations around the world," said Carla Harding, International Director of Products for 24-7 Prayer International. "Our hope is that through continual prayer, the global church would be ignited in the presence of God and carry His love with greater compassion and power to the communities around them."

Global Trends

Every month of 2024 is on the list of highest months in YouVersion history for both app installs and daily use. Across its Family of Apps—which includes Bible App, Bible App Lite, and Bible App for Kids—YouVersion saw an average of 11.2 million new device installs per month and about 14 million people engaging in the Bible every day. 

This notable growth points to an increased hunger for God's Word, which extends beyond YouVersion with partners like Tara-Leigh Cobble seeing similar trends. As the creator of "The Bible Recap"—which is a top-ranked daily podcast and the YouVersion Bible Plan with the most engagement this year—she's also seeing more people engage with Scripture daily.

"Thanks in large part to our partnership with YouVersion, The Bible Recap community has expanded to every continent, impacting some of the most unreached people and places in the world," said Cobble. "We're seeing people in more countries and languages read, understand, and love God's Word than ever before!" 

Regional Momentum

With Bible engagement on the rise around the world, YouVersion is experiencing the fastest growth in daily use in Central Africa, Eastern Africa, and Latin America.

While daily Bible engagement is growing at the highest rates in Central Africa (54%) and Eastern Africa (56%), the entire continent is seeing increased daily Bible use compared to last year. Specifically, countries like South Sudan (82%), Angola (68%), Mozambique (55%), Guinea (50%), Nigeria (35%), and Algeria (35%), saw a rise in daily Bible use in 2024. 

This year, Africa also saw the highest increase in daily use of the Bible App for Kids. With a 13% boost in daily use across the continent, Cote d'Ivoire (32%), Senegal (31%), and Nigeria (23%) had the biggest engagement spikes among kids in Africa this year. The Bible App for Kids, which is available in 70 languages, saw nearly 90 million Bible stories completed by children worldwide in 2024.

In Latin America, YouVersion has been intentional to add more partnerships and regionally-specific content over the last several years. As a result, YouVersion has seen steady momentum in Bible engagement across the region. This year, many countries across Latin America saw another surge in daily Bible use, including growth in Nicaragua (107%), Venezuela (74%), Bolivia (52%), Honduras (50%), Cuba (45%), and Argentina (30%). 

With this sustained growth in Latin America, YouVersion is currently working to open a Regional Hub in Mexico City to further enhance the Bible experience for its Spanish-speaking community. Earlier this year, YouVersion launched its first-ever Regional Hub in Belo Horizonte, Brazil in support of the roughly 1 million Brazilians opening the Bible App every day. YouVersion's goal for its Regional Hubs is to have a local team recruit content partners and churches to create a more authentic and regionally-relevant Bible experience that helps people better connect with God's Word on a personal level.

"It's encouraging to see people throughout the YouVersion Community, in every region of the world, engage with the Bible at such high levels," said Gruenewald. "These Bible engagement trends highlight the commonalities that can be found throughout the global Church—in the struggles we face and in our need for God."

For more information and visuals of the global YouVersion Community's Bible engagement trends in 2024, visit www.youversion.com/2024bibletrends.

About YouVersion
Created by Life.Church, YouVersion designs free, biblically centered experiences that encourage and challenge people to seek God throughout each day. The YouVersion Family of Apps—including the Bible App, Bible App Lite, and Bible App for Kids—has been installed on more than 875 million devices worldwide. The Bible App offers a Bible experience in more than 2,170 languages and helps people deepen their relationship with God. Bible App Lite is optimized for offline use and helps people access God's Word in markets with device and data limitations. Developed in partnership with OneHope, the Bible App for Kids helps children engage with the Bible through interactive animations and fun activities. For more information about YouVersion, visit youversion.com.

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SOURCE YouVersion