Nothing is more important than knowing God. Once we’ve decided that, we need to ask, “How can I know God more?” In this blog I share seven free resources that have helped me know God more.
1. Memverse.com
I’m so thankful that someone introduced me to Memverse.com a few years ago. This has been the best tool for Scripture memory I’ve ever seen. Add verses, review, and rate yourself, and a fancy algorithm takes care of the rest. You’d be surprised at how many verses you could learn in a year by spending five minutes a day on this site!
P. S. My friend Dakota at Scripture Memory Fellowship just recently told me about a new mobile app for memorizing Scripture. That’s worth a look, too! (The iOS version is slated to come out soon.)
2. Bible Gateway
On my home computer, BibleGateway.com is the fifth most visited site. Any time I need to search for a verse or grab a portion of Scripture for a blog, this is where I go. It’s search feature is especially helpful when I’m looking for verses around a theme or when I can only remember part of a verse.
3. Echo Prayer
No tool has transformed my prayer life more than Echo Prayer. For years I used the email and desktop version, but as mobile took over, I engaged less and less. Then one day I saw that Echo was back, rebranded and releasing a mobile app, and I couldn’t be happier. Enter prayers, set reminders, and get notifications on your phone to pray. My only question is why someone didn’t think of this sooner!
4. Keep 5 Alive
If Echo Prayer has been the most transformative tool to my prayer life, Keep 5 Alive is a close second. The idea is so simple—take a note card and write down the names of five people in your life who don’t know Jesus, and pray for them daily. I use this tool almost daily, and in five years of praying, I’ve seen two of my friends come to know Jesus in real and deep ways.
5. Brief Me
Being a good Christian doesn’t mean only reading the Bible and “Christiany” books. I use the app Brief Me because it sends you one notification, once a day, with the top 10 stories from that day (from a variety of news outlets). It’s been a great way for me to see current events on a daily basis. It’s hard to speak intelligently into culture if you don’t know what’s happening in culture.
6. The Bible Project
So, I only discovered this resource this week, but I’m already sold. The Bible Project makes videos about books of the Bible and key themes in Scripture. Through their videos, books that might be hard to understand or follow take on a new meaning and are all directed at helping us see Jesus in the Bible. Their latest initiative is called “Read Scripture,” and they’re devoted to creating animated sketches for all 66 books of the Bible! Definitely check them out.
7. The Bible App
Finally, I couldn’t talk about free resources without talking about The Bible App. This month the Bible App received it’s 200 millionth download. Yes, millionth. This tool does so much good putting God’s Words into people’s hands around the world, and they basically have an unlimited number of Bible reading plans and devotionals for your choosing.
This has been just a quick look at some of my favorite free resources used to know God more. What other free resources have you found helpful for knowing God? Please share! I’d love to hear.