One of the fastest ways to mature as a Christian is to commit Bible verses to memory. By memorizing the Bible you will fill your mind with God’s Word and have it penetrate your heart and actions (Philippians 4:8). If you are looking for help in memorizing new verses then these tips will be a great help to you.
Ask God to Help
The purpose of memorizing verses is to help you grow spiritually mature. God knows you have many things going through your mind that have accumulated over the years. Ask Him to help you cleanse your mind of the garbage by filling it with His wholesome Word. Spend a few moments in prayer before trying to memorize new verses. Don’t forget to take some time to meditate upon the verses and see what God may want to teach you through them.
Memorize Verses in a Theme
Find a few verses with the same theme that you can review as a group. A great place to start is with some of the verse lists here at What Christians Want to Know. There are lists of verses for strength, love, evangelism, friendship and many others. You can find a verse list by typing “Bible verses about” in the search box to the right.
Pick a few verses from the list you are interested in and work on a few verses at a time. If you make up note cards you can keep a small packet of verses in a theme together so that you can review them in the future as a group.
Get a Partner
Find someone who would like to memorize verses with you. You don’t have to both memorize the same verses, but it will help if you do. You are looking to have someone who will encourage you to consistently study and memorize God’s Word. You can give each other the list of verses you are memorizing and then quiz one other with a random verse.
Your accountability partner can send you an email every couple of days to check up on your progress. This is not meant to badger you, but to be a friendly reminder to consistently spend time memorizing verses.
Get creative when looking for a person to help you. Maybe you don’t have friends at work who can keep you on your toes. However, your children can fulfill this role for you quite easily. If you challenge them to memorize the verses with you they will probably do much better than you. Don’t let that discourage you, but be a challenge to work harder.
Use Reminders
You can put Bible verses on note cards around the house to help you study. You can keep some cards in your car to study while you are waiting at a light or in a parking lot (be aware of your surroundings and not get hit by another car or forget to move when the light turns green). You can place the memory cards on your bathroom mirror or refrigerator.
Recently I was visiting a friend and saw that he had Bible verses written on 3 X 5 cards and slipped into a Ziplock bag. He stuck the bag to his shower wall by getting the bag wet while he was taking a shower. This allows him to study his memory verses during his daily routine.
Write the Verses
When creating your note cards and reminders write out the verses longhand. If you just copy and paste the verses with your computer you are losing a valuable opportunity to practice the verses. Even after you have your study cards written, take some time each week to write out the verses you are working on. This will help solidify each word and punctuation in your mind.
For some people it may help to type the verses too. Add this to your routine by typing out the verses from memory. This will help you think through each word.
Listen to the Verses
If you are memorizing a long passage find a recording of what you are working on and listen to it. You can get commercial recordings of the Bible or you can make your own. When making my own recordings I find that it helps to listen to the recording for a little while and then make a new one with different phrasing. Doing this, I have to really think about the words instead of only memorizing patterns.
Say Verses Out Loud
Don’t just say the verses in your head. Practice saying them aloud. This will engage more senses and increase your chance of long-term memory. By saying them you get a chance to use your mouth and your ears. Add physical gestures and walk around the room to put more of your body into the memorization process.
Try to emphasize different words each time you say the verses. You will see various shades of meanings with each new emphasis. This will also help you learn each word and not just a rote pattern.
Review Memorized Verses
Take time to review the verses you have already memorized. You may find that you have been mis-saying a word in a verse. The sooner you can correct the mistake the less likely you will make it a life-long mistake. Use the technique from above of writing out the verses either long-hand or by typing them.
Use Music
Find verses that are set to music or make up your own songs. There are many scripture songs, but probably the most effective is to create a song yourself. You can make new tunes or use tunes you know well that your verses can fit into.
Make Verse Memorization a Habit
Try to set aside time each day to work on your verses. If you have extra time a few days a week you can dedicate that to memorization. However, don’t depend on long blocks of time. You will likely get interrupted and never get back to your memorizing project. The more you can make this part of your daily routine, the better your memorization efforts will be. Even just 2 minutes each day will help you commit much more scripture to memory than most Christians do.
May God bless you as you attempt to memorize His Word.
Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
Resources:
King James Version Bible, (KJV)
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