Memorization Practice Tips
You may be intimidated to start memorizing Scripture, not sure exactly what to do and where to start. Janet Pope in her book His Word in My Heart writes, “You don’t need a great method as much as you need great motivation. If you’re highly motivated, any method will do.” So start with your motivation. The best motivation for memorizing Scripture is that you want know God more deeply, to experience his love, and to be moved to an obedient life. Ask for the Holy Spirit to move in your life, helping you to have a thirst for knowing God and helping you grow closer to him.
Working on your motivation will be an ongoing process, but once you have enough motivation to start memorizing Scripture, some of the following tips may help sustain you in reaching your goals:
- Look at a variety of Scripture memory programs and choose one that you think will work for you (the Scripture Memorization Resources page is a good place to start). They aren’t all the same and there isn’t one that is perfect for everyone, so find one that will work for you.
- Start small. Pick a few verses or a short passage and give yourself plenty of time to complete your memory goal. It is more useful to start small, succeed, and see the impact of the Scripture in your life than to set unrealistic memorization goals, fail, and never try again. The goal isn’t the quantity of Scriptures memorized; the goal is to reflect on a passage and let God’s Word impact your life.
- Continually pray for God’s help in memorizing and in letting his Word change you.
- Have a specific time of the day when you memorize so that it becomes a habit. If you memorize at random times of the day, it is often easy to forget and skip a day, which often results in skipping numerous days. You can choose to memorize when you’re doing other tasks, like driving or waiting in line.
- Memorize your passage word for word. Memorizing exact wording actually helps you remember longer.
- Review your memory passages every day to keep them on your mind throughout the day and so that over time you will not forget them. Reviewing is essential.
- If at all possible, find someone else to memorize Scripture with you. That way, you can push each other to engage more deeply with the verses and keep each other accountable to stick with the program.
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© Phil Collins, Ph.D., 2014. This material was created in partnership with the Taylor University Center for Scripture Engagement.