What your phone is doing to your prayer life

Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10) 

Yeah… easier said than done, right? 

Especially this time of year. It’s Christmas everywhere you go. Beautiful music, decorations,

traditions—but it’s also noise, pressure, and motion. And if you’re anything like me, being still in the middle of it can feel almost impossible. 

We go through the motions of faith. We show up to church, sing the carols, listen to great sermons and pray when we think of it. But if we’re honest, something’s missing. We’re not fully present. We’re not fully tuned in—to God or to the people around us. 

And here’s the crazy part: most of us think we’re spiritually open. We assume we’re in a good place with God. But in reality? Many of us are walking around in a spiritual fog and don’t even realize it. 

I’ve seen it in others. I’ve seen it in myself. 

There’s this invisible haze that settles in. Slowly. Quietly. It doesn't shout, but it drifts into your soul until you're not hearing the Holy Spirit like you used to. The culprit? It’s often sitting right in our hands. I’m talking about our phones. Our screens. The endless scroll of short videos, social media posts, updates,  and “just one more” clip. 

I’m not against technology. I love a good YouTube laugh. But let’s be honest—what is all this content really doing to our hearts? What’s it doing to our attention spans, our focus, our prayer life, our clarity, our ability to hear God? 

I call the result of all this screen time spiritual fog. Some call it “brain rot.” But fog fits better—because you don’t realize you’re in it until it lifts. And here’s the thing: no one has ever truly studied how social media affects your spiritual life—until now. 

That’s why I want you to take five honest minutes and do something important for your spiritual health. We’ve created a Spiritual Fog Self-Assessment: https://bttb.org/spiritualfog. It’s the first of its kind. It’s simple. It’s private. But it will show you how your phone habits may be reshaping your ability to engage with Scripture, prayer, and even basic spiritual focus. 

This isn’t hype. This matters. 

You see, Australia just banned social media for kids under 16. Why? Because research shows it’s stunting their focus, attention span, and critical thinking. And here’s the kicker: kids’ brains have a much better shot at recovering. Their minds are still wet clay—they can reshape quickly with rest, prayer, Scripture, nature, and connection. 

But us grown ups? We’re more like baked clay. If our attention span is being shredded day by day—if we’re zoning out spiritually because we can’t stop the scroll—it’s going to take a lot more to rewire. That’s why lifting the fog early is so crucial. 

And look, I’m not saying this to shame anyone. I’m saying it because I care. I want you to walk into 2026 spiritually clear, sharp, and fully present to the voice of God. But that’s not going to happen by accident. 

We need to prepare intentionally. Just like we’ve talked about the last few weeks—letting go of old identities, stepping into our daily Scripture declarations—this is part of it. If we don’t get our attention back, we can’t get our spiritual clarity back. 

So here’s how to start: take the assessment https://bttb.org/spiritualfog. 

Really. It’s not long. It’s not complicated. But it will show you what’s really going on in your mind and heart. And once you’ve done that, we can talk next week about how to start clearing the fog—for real. How to retrain your brain and your spirit so you can be still again. So you can hear God again. So you can walk into 2026 with vision, not drift. 

Don't let spiritual fog define your next season. Let's do this together. 

Click the link. Take the assessment. And email me what surprised you about your results. I read every reply. 

With you on the journey, 

P.S. If you have a comment or prayer request, contact me here: or call me and leave a message at 1-800-811-2387. And be sure to join me tomorrow through Friday on our new podcast Spiritually Fit Today.