Scripture Memory Tips

Susan Heck offers a little 21-page booklet named, A Call to Scripture Memory. In it she gives 6 tips to help us with Scripture memory. There are a few things I have personally learned about memorization of Scripture. It's much, much easier to memorize when you're young. So I encourage everyone to memorize as much as they can before it becomes more difficult to do so. Secondly, like most things, the ability to memorize improves with practice. If you do it regularly, you will discover it becomes easier. And lastly, it is easier to memorize passages rather than isolated verses. You can get the context with a passage, allowing for a logical progression of thought, and you can remember passages for a greater length of time. I have Scripture memorized 30 years ago still rattling around in my brain and surfacing just when I need it! Susan's common sense tips are as follows:

• Work on memorizing when you are mentally alert & free of distractions.
• Stick to the same Bible translation until you master the passage.
• If you are having trouble with a certain verse or passage, put it to music.
• Another helpful tip is to try to teach the verses to your children or to other children.
• Remember you are not just memorizing words, but God's words!
• Lastly, if you find yourself leaving out portions or phrases, ask yourself, "What logically would come next here?

She offers several outstanding historical examples of believers who devoted themselves to Scripture memory. I've certainly read many stories about modern day Christians imprisoned for their faith in Christ, notably in China, who were able to tap into the Scripture they had memorized, using it to encourage themselves to persevere in their faith, despite horrendous circumstances. Though I may never approach the level of these faithful believers, I have found my own mind recalling Scripture during those times in the night when I wake up and my mind becomes flooded with concerns, as well as when I am witnessing or encouraging another believer. Memorized Scripture is also essential to meditation upon God's Word. "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12) If you want to serve God well and live a victorious Christian life, put God's Word into your mind!

Even as the New Testament church progressed, according to church history, many Christians cherished God’s Word much more than we do, and would memorize great portions of it. Tertullian (160-220 A.D.), an early Christian apologist devoted his days and nights to Bible reading, so much so that he even memorized much of its punctuation.... Thomas Cramer (1489-1556 A.D.), a leader of the English Reformation could repeat the entire New Testament from memory. Theodore Beza (1519-1605 A.D.), a French theologian who played an important role in the early Reformation could repeat all of Paul’s letters in Greek at age 80. Finally, Frances Havergal who wrote my favorite hymn “Take My Life and Let It Be” memorized the entire New Testament, the Psalms, and Isaiah, in her teenage years, and in her later years she memorized the Minor Prophets. She died at the age of 43, and had already committed 12, 935 verses to memory.

[via Counseling One Another]