Each month we want to share a word of encouragement and offer some resources from like-minded believers for your profit. These articles are available in print upon request.
Hiding God’s Word in Our Heart:
Although there are many reasons, here are some of the key purposes of Jesus’ birth:
Ephesians 6 tells of several defensive weapons to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. But we must be alert and ready with the offensive weapon of the Word as an ambassador for Christ!
- Start small. Use small verses that you know you can memorize. You can even break up a verse and learn parts of it at a time.
- Write it down. Writing scripture, 5-10, even 50 times, will allow more parts of your brain to remember it.
- Say it out loud. Say it, yell it, proclaim it to yourself. This is a great way to memorize scripture while driving.
- Sing it! Psalms are meant to be sung. Get creative and you will remember it just like “As the Deer,” “Seek Ye First,” “Micah 6:8,” and others. Purchase music like Steve Green’s Hide ‘Em In Your Heart.
- Pray it! Pray through a chapter and ask God to do that which he has promised. Ask him to help you understand how to apply it to life.
- Put it everywhere. Deuteronomy 6:6-9 says “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” This covers a lot of ground, and is carried, and is posted at various points of life for memory.
- Make it a game! Compete against others, challenge each other, quiz yourself, and win!
- Repeat, repeat, repeat. Until it is as natural as answering a question about your address or personal information. Actually, know it better than personal information because it matters more!
- Use an Acronym for difficult passages or longer passages so that you remember the first words or main ideas of each verse or thought.
- Give it away! Share it with others. Tell your friends about it. Share it on Facebook. Tweet it (one man tweeted the entire Bible in 3 years and 3 months and 3 days, 140 characters at a time. 1189 tweets to summarize the Bible’s 1189 chapters! http://tinyurl.com/bibletweet).
- Get the App! There are a number of great apps to get for bible memory. Fighter Verse, Bible Memory Verses, Bible Memory Verses and Memorization, Memorize Scripture, BibleMinded.
- Do It! “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.” James 1:22
You can’t fight the schemes of the devil, overcome the world, or put of the deeds of the flesh if you never have your sword ready. Beloved, arm yourselves; prepare for battle with the sharpened weapon of the Word.
-Kurt Bekins, Pastor of Family Ministries and Outreach
Resources on Scripture Memory:
- Scripture Memory System by Chris Braun. Repeat to remember, Review to retain.
- 11 Steps to Memorizing an Entire Book of the Bible and 14 Reasons to Do so by Andy Neselli.
- A whole website devoted to Memorizing the Bible: memorizethebible.com.