Memorizing God’s Word

Most people today have lost the skill of memorization. I blame Steve Jobs. The truth is that we have outsourced our memory to our phones. We are not forced to recall anything, and therefore we do not train ourselves to remember.

Memorization is a skill that you can grow in, and it’s easier than you think. The benefits are multiple: resisting temptation, tools for encouragement and witnessing, living righteously.

There are a couple of tips that will help you memorize scripture:

1. It’s not the number of times per day that matters, but the number of days in a row.

   Saying a verse 100 times in a day is not as effective as saying a verse out loud once per day for 100 days straight. This cannot be emphasized enough. When you learn a new verse you should read it ten times out loud and repeat it ten times out loud the first day and the second day, but after that, once per day will do, but don’t skip any days.

2. Precision Matters.

   When you have a verse mostly memorized you will be hesitant to recall it when you need it. Precision actually helps you tremendously when it comes to storage and recall. Get your verse exactly correct when you first read it, try to photograph it with your eyes.. It’s totally ok to peek at your Bible any time you need help, eventually you won’t need to anymore.

3. Long-term storage depends on long-term recall.

   Once you have your verse(s) memorized pick a day of the week to repeat them for the rest of your life. I repeat the book of 1 Peter on Mondays while I do the dishes. It takes about 20 minutes to recite and the dishes take about 20-25 minutes to do. My wife is happy and I’m growing spiritually.

With these basic principles you can go remarkably far in memorizing much more scripture than you think possible.

These principles come from this document on how to memorize books of the Bible which is what I personally use. I can vouch for its truthfulness and effectiveness.

May God bless your efforts to memorize His Word!

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