Tips for Memorizing Scripture
Hopefully, some of these tips can aid you in your quest to not only memorize God's Word but more importantly, to obey it in your life.
We know memorizing Bible verses is good for us. If you went to Sunday School, your teacher likely encouraged you to memorize verses. But this can be a daunting spiritual activity to do on a regular basis. Some of us might even admit that we haven't memorized Bible verses since our Sunday School days. If you're like me, you might have memory capacity issues, which can make it challenging to memorize Scripture. The benefits of Scripture memorization certainly outweigh the time and effort that we put into doing it (read more about it here). That's why I memorize verses on a regular basis. But no matter how beneficial it may be to our spirituality, it doesn't take away from the fact that it can still be a challenging spiritual exercise for some (if not most). Here are some tips that I've discovered about memorizing Scripture that might be helpful for you too.
Memorize one or two verses at a time. There's no need to force yourself to memorize a lot of verses in one sitting or one day. I personally tend to memorize just one verse at a time. And I do this several times a week (not every day).
I choose to memorize verses that are significant to me right now or I think might be significant to me later. This motivates me to memorize verses because I know it will have some impact on my life. Remember, you're not memorizing verses for the sake of memorizing verses. You're memorizing God's Word so that your life can be transformed for Christ in the end.
If you want to memorize a longer passage consisting of multiple verses, consider memorizing one or two verses at a time and over several days. That's how I memorized some of the longer passages of the Bible. A longer passage might take me two to four days to memorize depending on its length. And that's totally fine.
Write all of your memorized verses in a dedicated notebook. This is so that you can regularly go back to this notebook when in doubt and double check if you've memorized the verses correctly. You won't need to fumble around trying to find the verse in the Bible. You'll be able to access your memorized verses right away.
Recall and reflect on all the verses you've memorized several times a week. I try to recall and reflect on all the verses I've memorized (currently over 170 verses) six days a week. Sometimes, I even recall and reflect on all the verses twice a day. This helps facilitate the memorization of these verses. But there's also another benefit to this: as you're recalling and reflecting on each verse, you're letting it sink into your mind and heart so that you can increase your chances of obeying them when the appropriate time comes.
Memorizing Scripture can be a challenging activity for some. Do what you can to make the process simpler and easier for you. Hopefully, some of these tips can aid you in your quest to not only memorize God's Word but more importantly, to obey it in your life.
Barnabas the Monastic
Servant of Christ. Husband. Dad. Modern Monastic. I have a wild ambition in life: get as close to the Lord Jesus Christ as I can while on earth. I explore and integrate ancient Christian monk wisdom in modern everyday life. Lives in Canada.
