We check our phones before we say good morning to God. We scroll during breakfast, tap through stories at red lights, and answer notifications in the middle of quiet moments. None of it feels especially wrong—just normal. But if we’re being honest, the digital noise isn’t as harmless as it seems. It wears on us. Not all at once, but gradually, in ways we barely notice.
Our spiritual lives, though still present, are often fragmented. We believe in God. We want to grow. But the attention we once gave to prayer, Scripture, and silence is now shared with a thousand digital voices, most of them meaningless. The result? Faith feels thin. Our thoughts feel scattered. And somewhere along the way, we start to wonder why we feel so distant from the God we once heard clearly.
The Hidden Cost of Constant Input
It’s easy to assume we’re just too busy, or maybe even spiritually lazy. But there’s more going on. The way we live—always plugged in, always available—is reshaping not only our habits but our hearts.
Endless input doesn’t leave room for reflection. The scroll never sleeps, and neither do our minds. We carry the weight of news, arguments, trends, updates, and opinions from dawn until the moment we pass out with the phone still in our hand.
And yet, the soul needs space. It needs room to breathe, to feel, to listen. When every quiet moment is filled with a screen, that space disappears. And with it, our spiritual clarity begins to fade.
We Want God, But We’re Distracted
Here’s the thing—it’s not that we don’t care about God anymore. It’s just hard to focus. Even when we sit down to pray, our minds race. We think about the email we didn’t send, the message we need to respond to, or some reel we saw twenty minutes ago that we can’t unsee.
I’ve been there. I still am, sometimes. There were mornings I opened my Bible and ended up answering emails. Nights when I intended to pray but ended up watching fifteen minutes of random videos. I didn’t plan to drift—I just didn’t protect the space.
And I think that’s what this really comes down to: attention. Not in the productivity-hack sense, but in the spiritual one. What (or who) has our attention most of the time? Because what shapes our attention often ends up shaping our soul.
Stillness Isn’t Easy, But It’s Necessary
I wish I could say I found the perfect formula, but learning to focus again is slow work. I started by noticing how often I reached for my phone just because I was bored, or uncomfortable, or unsure what else to do. I noticed how fast I’d jump from one thing to another—even while reading Scripture. And I had to be honest with myself: I wasn’t giving God my full attention. I was barely giving Him half.
So, I started small. Not dramatic digital detoxes, just small decisions. A few minutes of silence before turning on music. Putting the phone in another room during prayer. Reading one Psalm slowly instead of three chapters quickly. Some days it helped. Some days I still drifted. But slowly, things began to shift.
Reclaiming the Space to Hear God Again
Faith doesn’t grow in noise. It grows in stillness. That doesn’t mean you need a quiet life, or a retreat in the mountains. It just means you need moments where God has your attention—without competition.
What surprised me most wasn’t how hard it was to get still again. It was how much peace came when I did. I stopped feeling like I had to catch up with everything. I started remembering God was already near, already speaking, I had just forgotten how to listen.
Why It Matters Now
If your faith feels thin or your focus keeps slipping, you’re not alone. This is a challenge for nearly everyone trying to follow Jesus in today’s world. The digital age isn’t just changing how we live. It’s changing how we listen. And if we want to stay rooted, we have to become more intentional.
I wrote Faith & Focus in the Digital Age because I needed that reminder myself. And maybe you do too.
If you’re ready to get back your focus, your peace, and your quiet connection with God, you can start today. Not by quitting your devices, but by asking: What’s feeding my soul? What’s just noise? And from there, begin building a rhythm that gives your spirit space to breathe again.
The ebook is available now. Faith & Focus in the Digital Age.
You don’t have to stay overwhelmed. God still speaks. And yes, you can hear Him again.
