As the year comes to a close, YouVersion Bible App revealed the most popular Bible verse searched by its users. The Bible verse searched, read and bookmarked the most on the app is from the Book of Isaiah.
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” -Isaiah 41:10
In addition to Isaiah 41:10, 2 Chronicles 7:14 joined the list of the top searched verses this year. “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
Through every hardship, people continue to seek God and turn to the Bible for strength, peace, and hope. —Bobby Gruenewald, YouVersion founder
2020 threw a lot of curveballs across the globe—Covid-19 pandemic, racial unrest, economic crisis, natural disasters, and unemployment, that left many people depressed and fearful of the future.
The Bible app saw an 80% increase in searches, nearly 600 million worldwide, reports Uganda Christian News.
The top keywords searched for 2020 were: “fear” for the first months of the year, “justice” in the spring, and “healing” trending throughout the year.
Bible verses about God healing the sick saw an increase of 90 times on average when US implemented lockdowns in March. YouVersion also recorded all-time high in queries related to racism, justice and oppression, about 100 times in average the week following George Floyd’s death.
Other trending searches include “peace,” “hope,” “faith,” and “love.” These terms were among the top queries throughout the year.
“These top search terms really show what’s been weighing on the hearts and minds of people around the world at key points throughout the year,” said YouVersion founder Bobby Gruenewald.
“They reveal how people are seeking God as they wrestle with the difficult circumstances they’ve faced in 2020, and that’s something we can celebrate,” he added.
This year seemed to be the best year yet for YouVersion for new statistics showed that there were 43.6 billion Bible chapters read, 7.5 billion audio chapters played, and 1.4 billion Bible Plan days completed, according to Premier Christian News.
“Through every hardship, people continue to seek God and turn to the Bible for strength, peace, and hope,” explained Gruenewald.
“While 2020 is a year so many say they’d like to forget, we see it as a year to remember how God used the Bible App to help so many people who are searching for answers,” he said.
