Do notifications on your phone alert you faster than God's voice? I know what it's like to battle addiction to smartphones because I'm engaged in it as well. I'm not going to lie: I can sometimes struggle with too much phone usage.

But we must also be aware of the real addiction towards smartphones that exists today.

A new term has just been coined: Nomophobia. It refers to a fear of not having a phone. Yes, it's a real thing today. According to Gallup, 52 percent of Americans have admitted to checking their phones several times per hour, with the highest frequency happening in the younger generations.

There's nothing wrong with smartphones. They are great tools that can make us more productive if we learn how to use them well. Just as the Bible teaches us the dangers of the love of money (1 Timothy 6:10) and how it can be a bad master, we can also be distracted by the love of smartphones when the latter become our master as well.

Here are five ways to avoid smartphone addiction and make sure that the device is actually used to serve us instead of us serving it.

1. Turn It Off

When was the last time that you turned off your phone? The most useful feature to a phone, I have found, is the airplane mode. No, you don't have to be on a plane to use it. Putting your phone in airplane mode or turning it off all together before you go to sleep, start working, eat a meal or go into a meeting helps you focus and truly disconnect.

2. Remove Apps That Eat Up Your Time

Games may seem harmless until we realise how much of our time and resources they eat up. There's nothing evil with a few minutes of game time if you want to kill time while waiting in line, at the airport or for a doctor's appointment. But when we crush candies, clash with clans and so on at work, in dates and at church, we know it's getting in the way.

3. Dedicate Your Smartphone to God's Purposes

It's powerful what prayer can do. One of the many powerful prayers you can make is to pray for your smartphone use, dedicating it to God and His ways so that the Holy Spirit can guide us as we use our phones.

4. Set Boundaries

Rules are extremely helpful when wanting to set boundaries for phone use. This is something you might want to discuss with your spouse, children, parents or friends. Setting up extra rules for extra protection will never go wrong as long as you make the resolve to stick to them.

5. Don't Touch Your Phone Until You're Out of Bed

Chances are the first thing you reach out after getting out of bed is your phone. I admit to doing this sometimes. Phones plus beds are a recipe for minutes, even hours, of dead and unproductive time. One helpful way that I devised is to put my phone far away from bed when I sleep.