The Doorpost › A Bible verse on your lock screen: three ways to do it
A Bible verse on your lock screen: three ways to do it
There are three ways to see a Bible verse every time you pick up your iPhone. Set a verse as your wallpaper, which is free and takes a minute. Add a lock screen widget from a Bible app, which shows a verse beside the time. Or use an app like The Doorpost, which keeps your chosen apps locked until you write a verse out by hand, and its widget can keep that verse on your lock screen for the rest of the day.
A verse as your wallpaper
The simplest option costs nothing. Choose a verse, put it on an image, and set it as your lock screen wallpaper from Settings, then Wallpaper. Many people make the image themselves in a notes or design app so the translation and lettering are theirs.
The weakness is that a wallpaper never changes. Within a week the eye stops reading it, the same way it stops reading a poster on the fridge. If you like this route, change the verse every Sunday, or use the Shortcuts app to set a different wallpaper on a schedule.
A lock screen widget from a Bible app
On iOS 16 and later, touch and hold the lock screen, tap Customize, choose the lock screen, then tap the widget area below the time and pick an app. Several Bible apps offer a verse widget that sits there, and many change the verse daily.
A widget is better than a wallpaper because it moves, but it is still something you glance at. It shares the screen with your notifications, and the notifications usually win.
An app that asks you to write the verse first
The Doorpost works the other way round. The apps you choose, the ones you open without deciding to, stay locked each morning until you open your own printed Bible and write out a verse. It checks your words against the verse you named, forgives translation differences, and then opens your day.
Once you have written it, The Doorpost's lock screen widget keeps that verse and its reference in view beside the clock until the next verse replaces it. So the verse on your lock screen is one you have actually read and written that day, not one chosen for you.
Why writing a verse sticks better than seeing one
Seeing a verse a hundred times a day is not the same as reading it once. Glances blur into background, while writing a verse out by hand slows you down enough to notice every word, which is why people have copied Scripture by hand for centuries as a way to remember it.
That is the thinking behind putting the verse in front of the apps rather than behind the clock. A lock screen verse reminds you; a verse you have to write changes what the first minutes of your day are spent on.
Setting up The Doorpost widget
Install The Doorpost, choose the apps to keep closed, and write your first verse. Then touch and hold the lock screen, tap Customize, and add The Doorpost from the widget list. It shows the verse you wrote most recently and its reference, and stays through the night until tomorrow's verse takes its place.
The Doorpost is free to download, and writing a verse to unlock your day is free forever. There is no account, no ads and no tracking, and it works offline.
Questions people ask
How do I put a Bible verse on my iPhone lock screen?
Either set an image of the verse as your wallpaper in Settings, or add a verse widget: touch and hold the lock screen, tap Customize, tap the area below the time and choose a Bible app. The Doorpost's widget shows the verse you wrote that morning.
Is there a free Bible verse lock screen app?
Yes. A wallpaper costs nothing, several Bible apps include a free lock screen widget, and The Doorpost is free to download with a lock screen widget that shows the last verse you wrote.
Can a Bible verse lock my phone until I read it?
Not the whole phone, but The Doorpost keeps the apps you choose closed until you write out a verse from your own Bible. Calls, messages and anything you leave unlocked still work.
Does the verse on my lock screen change every day?
A wallpaper does not unless you change it. Many Bible app widgets show a new verse daily. The Doorpost widget changes when you write a new verse, which is each day you unlock your apps.
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Last updated: September 2026