Are your phone habits feeding your soul or draining your spirit? Host Ryan Dunn reimagines “screen time” as “soul time” in this episode of "Compass: Finding Spirituality in the Everyday." Ryan introduces practical and inspiring apps designed to support your spiritual journey—transforming everyday moments into opportunities for sacred reflection, mindful prayer, and spiritual renewal.
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Episode Notes:
Here are the apps discussed in this episode:
- Everyday Sanctuary: satisfying spiritual practice in 5 minutes, everywhere you are.
- Insight Timer: library of free guided meditations. Check out Jess Bielman's channel.
- Lectio 365: helps you pray the Bible everyday
- Centering Prayer: supports your daily practice of Centering Prayer.
- Pray as You Go: Guided prayers for each day.
- Soul Rest: Web-based app with a collection of Christian meditations.
- Text Jesus: Fun AI chatbot with little nudges of grace.
Related episodes
- Centering Prayer explained (40)
- Cultivating everyday spirituality with Everyday Sanctuary creator Abigail Browka (125)
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More podcasts
- Get Your Spirit in Shape and other United Methodist podcasts
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This episode posted on August 20, 2025
Episode Transcript:
Ryan Dunn [00:00:00]:
What was your screen time like last week? Mine was 2 hours 52 minutes a day on average. Well, what if we could utilize that time towards sacred or holy pursuits as opposed to doom scrolling? Welcome to Compass Finding Spirituality in the Everyday. I'm your Host, Ryan Dunn. 2 hours 52 minutes per day, that's not terrible, I guess. But still, it's almost three hours of my day, every day spent staring into the little glass glowing triangle. Now some of that time is meaningful. I'm connecting with people, staying informed, I'm doing work. But let's be honest, a lot of it is actually a little bit more mindless, isn't it? It's scrolling.
Ryan Dunn [00:00:43]:
Doom scrolling. Even the scrolling often triggers a stress response which sends cortisol and dopamine into our systems. And then dopamine specifically keeps us craving more. It's been called the molecule of more. And when we're swimming in dopamine, we we want novelty and surprise. And that ignites our need to keep scrolling or looking for fresh information or to find something else that's as triggering as something that we just saw, even if it's negatively triggering. And that's why we find that headlines centered on negative emotional responses tend to get more attention. Anyways, when we're scrolling on our screens, what's happening here is a feedback loop.
Ryan Dunn [00:01:25]:
We see a concerning post which ignites our cortisol receptors. Our brain registers a threat and then we scroll in hopes of clarity or control. And the brain is seeking dopamine. But instead there's more stress as we scroll, looking for something that feels rewarding. The loop is self reinforcing. Cortisol ramps up our anxiety. Dopamine rewards the scrolling behavior, so we just keep repeating it. Now of course, this isn't the only thing that that we do on our phones or screens.
Ryan Dunn [00:01:55]:
We do lots of things there and we can use them to disrupt this stressing cycle and to redirect our attention and create neuropathways of positive reinforcement for things like stillness and awareness. Our screen time can be used to nurture our spirits. That's what today's episode of Compass is all about. Turning your screen time into into soul time. I'm going to introduce you to a handful of apps that invite us into reflection, contemplation and prayer. Some are rich with content, some are beautifully simple, but all of them can help guide us towards moments of spiritual presence. Just a quick note, none of these apps are sponsors and I'm not getting any kind of affiliate benefit for recommending them. I'm just sharing tools that I've found useful on my own spiritual journey.
Ryan Dunn [00:02:45]:
And I think all of these apps are free, so some may have some additional content behind a paywall, but generally these are not heavily profit driven endeavors. They were designed to feed the spirits of users before they were utilized for profit. I'm not gonna name specific podcasts here. I know that some people will pop on a podcast and that can be a time of reflection and prayer for them. Personally, I fear that podcasts might just be a little bit too passive of an activity, though that's probably not a fully fair assessment. There are some that will likely invite listeners into some active contemplation, but I wanted to concentrate on apps that focus on inviting the user into some kind of active participation over what I see happening with most podcasts, which is a more passive form of information absorption. Right. Plus there are so many great podcasts out there that they could take over something like this, and I feel bad for having to make judgment calls about which ones to include and which ones to exclude.
Ryan Dunn [00:03:46]:
So before we talk apps though, let's talk about the why of doing this Now. Jesus modeled a rhythm of engagement and retreat, and he taught in public. He healed the sick. He fed crowds. The introverts are listening to this, they're already exhausted. So here's the good news. He also withdrew to quiet places to rest, reflect, and reconnect with God. In Mark 1:35, we read in the morning while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.
Ryan Dunn [00:04:18]:
In Luke 5:16 mentions the same practice. We're told that Jesus would slip away to deserted places and pray. And around some of the most emotionally intense moments in his life, like feeding the 5000 in Matthew 14 or just before his crucifixion, we learn that Jesus turned to solitude and prayer for clarity and strength. These moments weren't just about escape, they were about renewal, about grounding in sacred presence, about creating space for discernment and healing and connection. Now, modern life doesn't make this kind of rhythm very easy. Since we're constantly connected, we can often feel overwhelmed by trying to add in something else. But just like rest is vital and a workout routine, spiritual rest, this kind of rest that we encounter through prayer and reflection or simply pausing, is vital in our faith journeys. That's why we're exploring spiritual apps.
Ryan Dunn [00:05:14]:
Not because they replace faith or any kind of spiritual practice that we might do in community or in a church, but because they can help us carve out space for this renewal in the swirl of our everyday lives. So let's get to it. Let's look at some that can help. First app we're looking at is Everyday Sanctuary. This app is meant to be a five minute satisfying and sacred experience every day. It offers a short daily process that follows a five step rhythm, pause and find presence, reflect on scripture, reset our focus through purposeful breathing, explore gratitude, and then commit some time to praying for needs. A lot of it is left up to the user in this app, meaning that there won't be a voice or text telling you what you should be experiencing during any given step. It's just the prompts that are given and there's space then also at the end to journal and you can email those entries to yourself through the app and then you have a written record of some of your experiences, which I find is actually kind of novel for these apps and pretty cool.
Ryan Dunn [00:06:22]:
I'm a proponent of naming your gratitudes. I think this is a tremendous way to break cycles of stress and stuckness. And it's such a simple thing. People just think it's cheesy, but it is very meaningful. A lot of negative rumination dies in gratitude. So the fact that this app invites us to do that daily is really helpful for me. It's particularly great if you're looking for structure without a sense of overwhelm and good news. If you want to learn more about this app Everyday Sanctuary, you can by listening to our episode with the creator Abigail Broca.
Ryan Dunn [00:06:55]:
That was episode 125 back in January of 2024. App number two is called Insight Timer. Everyday Sanctuary gives us a repetitive formula every day right? And everyone gets the same prescription every day. Insight Timer, our second app here is a bit of a choose your own adventure. It's packed with thousands of guided meditations, including many with a spiritual or Christian perspective. It's kind of fun to explore around across the different perspectives. However, I'm not one to say that the only way to have a Christian spiritual experience is to be guided by a Christian. I was introduced to Insight Timer by my friend Jess Beelman and he's a good creator to follow on there.
Ryan Dunn [00:07:37]:
He brings a down to earth approach to sacred reflection. The app includes sleep aids, calming music, customizable meditation timers, and as you seek out more creators, you might just want to search for the word like Christ. It comes up with a pretty good list of introductory meditations and the meditations in this app are generally spoken word over ambient music and that's about it. So just know that the interaction that you're having here is all internal and meditations range anywhere from like 45 seconds to 45 minutes. You get to choose app three is called Lectio 365 or Lectio 365. Lectio 365. It's inspired by the ancient practice of lectio divina, or sacred reading. It also utilizes a stepped formula like everyday sanctuary.
Ryan Dunn [00:08:30]:
So Lectio365 opens with a moment of pause, then invites us to rejoice and reflect on a scripture reading. Then we ask for God's help and then we seek to yield to God's will. This app was developed by 247 Prayer Movement and Lectio365 offers morning and evening devotionals based on scripture and the audio version features these cool calming voices and reflective pacing. It kind of helps you slow down and then soak in the passage and really kind of moves you then to prayer. And you can read through for yourself if you want. Like a self paced experience with Lectio 365 or then the guided audio readings are anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes. Usually there's a longer one in the morning, I've noticed, and then a shorter one later in the day. App number four is a pretty familiar one for most people because YouVersion is probably the most well known Bible app, but there's a lot under the hood here Besides like the 230 different translations of the Bible that you can page through.
Ryan Dunn [00:09:35]:
YouVersion also offers hundreds of bio reading plans, many with reflections and prayers alongside them. Some are really more blog posty in tone, others are deeper, so you may have to do a little digging to find ones that really nourish your soul, but once you do, then they can be really powerful ways to stay rooted in scripture. My warning here though, is to be mindful about the content that you're picking up. When I was talking about podcasts, I mentioned being wary of just having someone else's lens of experience or interacting with scripture be your guide. Well, there are a lot of reading plans in youversion that fall into that, where it's kind of like here's a piece of scripture, here's how I feel about it, and that's the whole devotion. But the cool thing about youversion is the possibility that's behind it. There are so many reading plans that you can find one that works well for you. You just might have to hunt around a bit and then try some out for a little bit before you decide whether or not you're going to stick with it for the entirety of the plan, or if you just want to move on.
Ryan Dunn [00:10:36]:
App number five is the Centering Prayer app. Guess what it's about? It's very simple and that's the point of it. It's a timer designed specifically for the centering prayer practice. The app includes background music as you're having your practice. It includes some scripture snippets and guidance for breath and posture. It's a great companion just for developing a habit of silent contemplative prayer. I'm not going to go into depth about centering prayer here and check out the app for that. I do tend to talk a lot about centering prayer, as it has been incredibly meaningful in my own spiritual nourishment.
Ryan Dunn [00:11:13]:
And I did a full episode on that too, way back in episode 40, which was recorded in June of 2020. That's kind of an interesting time to revisit. So if you want to dive into that little snapshot of history, go back to that one. Incidentally, when I'm not talking about Centering Prayer as a contemplative practice, I'm probably talking about Ignatian Examine instead. I just discovered an app for adapting Ignatian Examen, but I haven't played with it yet, so we're just going to have to wait for a future episode on that one. App number six is called Pray as you Go. It's developed by the Jesuits in Britain. This app offers some beautifully produced audio sessions.
Ryan Dunn [00:11:52]:
They feature scripture reflective music and the music can be really cool. It's not just droning, ambient stuff. And the app has guided prayer as well. It's truly meant to be taken on the go. So the audio sessions are meant to accompany you as you walk, or as you do your commute, or as you, I don't know, lay on your bed and wonder why people for so long have thought that textured ceilings were important to have. The app helps turn on the go moments into God with Me moments or Me with God moments. All right, I'll mention a few more apps that I've not spent time with but might be worthy of consideration for this pursuit. They include Abide Hallow and Soul Time.
Ryan Dunn [00:12:33]:
Soul Rest is a neat online app and it works really well on desktop. Pretty much everything else that I've mentioned is going to be phone based, but Soul Rest delivers meditations for your desktop. Many are from YouTube, and it's cool because you can just have it do a random meditation if you want to. So in the middle of your workday you feel like having that sacred rest. Just pop open the app and hit the random button. Or if you're coming up against a big project, you can hit the panic button that they also offer and get a guided meditation that's going to disrupt the downward spiral or your runaway thoughts. And I thought that meditation, the panic Button one was really well done. One more recommendation that I have and it's not a contemplative app, but it's really fun and I found it to be a refreshing way to engage in some interactive kind of prayer.
Ryan Dunn [00:13:26]:
It's called Text Jesus and it's simply an AI based interactive conversation with a Christ centered algorithm. So I suppose that's not really prayer because I'm not addressing the Almighty directly, although I can say that I am indirectly. I do use this for gleaning some scriptures that are relevant to situations that I've encountered or some anxieties that I'm carrying. I shared the feeling that I was disappointing some people around me and Text Jesus came back with assurances that God's love is not dependent on my successes or my failures and that God sees my efforts in heart. And that was a nice reassurance at the time. And the whole app can be kind of fun in a way that can be kind of like getting some Jesus inspired responses to journal entries that you might be putting down. It's not theological advice, but it can offer comfort, it can offer reassurance, or even, just as I like to look at it, a gentle nudge towards grace. That's what I feel when I'm using it anyway.
Ryan Dunn [00:14:29]:
So is there an app that will solve your spiritual challenges? Well, of course there isn't. These are just tools. But the good ones can help us create space, they can help us build some rhythms, and they can open us up to God's presence in the midst of our day. If you're feeling spiritually dry, distracted, disconnected, or like you just need a disruption for good, maybe trying one of these apps is going to help you reawaken some joy, peace, or attentiveness. Also, I would really like to hear from you. There's an app that's been helpful on your spiritual journey. Let us know by dropping a comment on the podcast episode. Thanks for taking this journey with us on Compass Finding Spirituality in the Everyday.
Ryan Dunn [00:15:13]:
If you enjoyed this episode or found it helpful, please consider subscribing. If you've already done that, we'll drop a rating or review or a comment on your favorite podcast platform. And that kind of feedback helps others find the show and builds our growing community of spiritual seekers for show notes, for links to the apps that we mentioned. For more resources, visit umc.org compass wherever you are on your spiritual journey, we're grateful to be walking with you. Until next time, take care. Keep exploring peace.
