Set up one useful boundary
- Install Prayer First and complete the blocking permissions for your phone.
- Select a distracting app to protect. Keep essential communication and work tools available.
- Choose a supported Bible app, use your paper Bible with the timer, or write a journal entry.
- Try opening the protected app before and after completing the habit. Check the actual behavior on your phone before depending on it.
What is free, and what is extra?
The free core includes unlimited protected app selection and whole-day locking. Platform limits still apply. Optional Power Pack features include Journal Map and on-device AI on supported devices; paid features are separate from the free Bible-before-phone habit.
A free download is not always the same as an ongoing free service. Before starting any app’s trial, check which features remain available afterward and whether the purchase renews. You do not need to buy a new devotional library just to keep using the Bible you already have.
Keep the Bible you already use
Prayer First provides the boundary around your phone use. Your supported Bible app provides the translation and reading content. With a paper Bible, start the physical Bible timer and put the phone down. The timer measures time; it cannot establish whether you read or understood a passage.
If your main need is a free Bible reader, start with YouVersion instead. Adding a blocker only helps when opening another app is the part of the habit you want to change.
Check the limits before relying on it
iPhone shielding uses Apple’s Screen Time APIs. Android uses Accessibility Service and Usage Access. Permissions, operating-system behavior, and device settings affect enforcement. Prayer First is a personal habit aid, not an unbreakable lock or a parental-control guarantee.
The goal is to make the first choice easier. Complete the habit, then decide intentionally how to use the rest of your screen time; completing it is not a daily social-media budget.
Sources and scope
Competitor details come from current US App Store listings checked on September 13, 2026. This guide is written by the team behind Prayer First. Reader complaints inform the questions; they are not proof of current defects. These are editorial recommendations, not measured search rankings or a comparative device test.
Try the habit on your phone
Prayer First makes Bible time the step before your selected apps open, with the core habit available free.