With digital tools playing an ever-growing role in our daily lives, innovative United Methodists have found ways to use technology to support our spiritual journey. Consider these digital discipleship tools that will help you build simple habits to nurture faith:
God Morning, a Scripture and prayer alarm app
“Throughout my pastoral ministry, I have wrestled with a challenge I hear from many Christians: They genuinely want to pray and read Scripture but they live very busy lives,” shares the Rev. SungWha “Noah” Park, God Morning app developer and pastor at Wayside UMC in Vallejo, California.
The free app encourages you to veer away from checking social media and news reports as soon as you wake up and direct that energy toward God instead. It supports an intentional rhythm of “One verse. One prayer. One Amen.”
When the morning alarm sounds, the user reads one Bible verse aloud and speaks a short prayer. The app is designed so that this practice is completed before the alarm is fully dismissed.
“My hope is not for technology to replace worship, Bible study, personal devotion, or Christian community. Rather, I hope that technology can help us create small habits that lead us toward deeper discipleship,” says Park.
Park has also added an evening practice for parents. They can set a reminder, go to their child, gently place a hand on the child’s head, and say a short blessing. Park explains, “It can take less than ten seconds, but my hope is that it becomes a daily holy habit within the home. Begin the morning by receiving God’s Word and end the day by speaking God’s blessing over the next generation.”
God Morning content is available in eight languages. Download it from the Apple Store or Google Play.
Everyday Sanctuary: A Daily Spiritual Practice App
Experience a satisfying spiritual practice in five minutes or less, wherever you are. Everyday Sanctuary makes it easy to connect with God in the midst of everyday life. The app guides you through five simple spiritual practices: presence, Scripture, deep breathing, gratitude, and prayer.
Created by the Rev. Abigail Browka, an ordained elder in the Upper New York Conference, Everyday Sanctuary helps you pause, feel grounded, and nurture your relationship with God—wherever life takes you.
Download Everyday Sanctuary for free on App stores, or visit EverydaySanctuary.com.
Grace Harbor Stories (formerly the Family Prayer Podcast)
Every week, families can turn to the Grace Harbor Stories podcast to find prayers, reflections, and conversations designed for families with elementary-aged kids. The content is created to support families who yearn for deeper connection with God and each other in the midst of the busyness of life.Each episode is set in the fictional town of Grace Harbor, where every day experiences become sources of learning and growth. Episodes are around ten minutes in length and require no preparation from adults ahead of time.
The podcast was created by the Rev. Dan Wunderlich, pastor at Lakeside UMC in Sanford, Florida. He says, "As a parent of young kids myself, I have tried to create what I needed – a podcast to help with spiritual formation that we could engage and enjoy together as a family."
Listen and subscribe at GraceHarborStories.com.
Coming soon: Plumbline, an app for Christian young adults
Keep an eye out for Plumbline, an app that encourages daily prayer and journaling. It’s being developed by the Rev. Rimes McElveen, executive director of the Mere Christianity Forum.
In a Substack post, Tech for Transformation, McElveen shared, “[Plumbline] simply supports rhythms of attentiveness to one’s life and to God’s presence along the way. The structure itself gently redirects users away from the fragmentation of modern life by slowing them down long enough to notice what is happening within them and around them in concert with God’s movement in the world.”
The app offers three daily invitations, all rooted in ancient practices: Awaken, sustain, reflect.
“It appropriates [technology] for human flourishing and nurturing the emergence of the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. Most digital spaces are designed to fracture attention. Plumbline instead attempts to cultivate attentiveness.
“Over time, the user captures their reflections, prayers, dreams, hopes, and self-understanding. These reflections become their own journal of spiritual maturation in their own language and idiom. This is important because so much of modern life conditions us to listen outwardly before we ever listen inwardly,” McElveen says.
Laura Buchanan works for UMC.org at United Methodist Communications. Contact her by email.
This story was published on November 13, 2026.
