Building Up Your Armory--The Discipline of Scripture Memory (Part 3)
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.—Colossians 3:16
In previous posts, I introduced the idea that the discipline of Scripture memory is a 5-minute practice that has vital importance for those of us who desire to connect the dots from faith to practice. It establishes our worldview (part 1). It protects us from sin. And it equips us to serve (part 2). If you, like me, want to get started, I hope this will help. It’s a lot longer than my usual posts, but I hope the details will fill in the blanks for you.
Reconfigure Your Thinking
When adding a challenging habit, we need to start first by facing the arguments we will make when things get tough, when the newness wears off.
Despite the benefits, I will have to say that the idea of Scripture memory can seem daunting or sound boring. We have been trained to crave the novel. If we think it boring, then perhaps Scripture memory can give us an opportunity to train a new taste and appreciation for God’s Word. Will you confess this attitude to the Lord and ask Him to give you a new one?
Others of us have played the “I’m too old” card. If we think Scripture memory is impossible, then we are placing far too much weight on our abilities. We do not trust that even in my lack, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength (Phil. 4:13). Will you lean on the Lord, not yourself, for that strength to persevere despite the difficulty?
Colossians 3:16 tells us that we are to let the Word of God dwell or richly inhabit us. The word “let” suggests that we need to allow it. Rather than letting His Word dwell in us, we are letting these obstacles become more real.
In a day and age where we have such easy access to God’s Word, we have become overly cavalier about this exhortation. And so despite the advantage we have over the early church, we are more biblically illiterate than ever—which has dangerous consequences.
Because this is so, we lose our effectiveness as salt and light. We fail to bring hope or defend our faith. And personally, we lose our way because God’s Word is not dwelling richly in us to guide and direct our paths. Will you commit to doing the work, trusting that it will be worth it?
So I hope you will join me in putting off this attitude and putting on a new one. Then let’s start where we are and take a step forward towards a new practice of growing in grace, shall we?
A Plan to Scripture Memory
So let’s get to it! The following both help lay the foundation as well as guide you to memorize and retain what you work so hard to learn.
First, set the right goal.
You will probably find more success if you define your goal in terms of your actions rather than your accomplishments. In other words, commit to a length of time to focus on Scripture memory (e.g. five minutes a day) rather than memorizing a verse a day. As verse lengths vary, it is much easier to commit to a time if you want to stick to it for the long haul.
Second, have a purpose for each verse, passage, or chapter you memorize.
This gives you a focus. Why do you want to add this dagger or sword to your armory? Is it to help you to grow a godly perspective on life? Is it to arm yourself when temptation ambushes you? Is this a verse you want to know in order to help or explain truth to others? Having a reason provides motivation to do the work.
Third, pick your first (or next) verse/passage!
I hope that by now, you are ready to jump into the challenge and even have a verse or passage ready to memorize.
If you’re the kind that tends to be a perfectionist, let me encourage you to just pick something that is pertinent in your life right now. All of God’s Word is profitable (2 Tim. 3:16)! You really can’t go wrong.
Another way to choose a verse is to memorize Scripture that you have studied already. This gives you the proper context, even if you are only memorizing a single verse within that passage.
Fourth, find a friend (even your own kids!) to give you companionship and accountability.
Often the presence of another makes something challenging a pleasure, like exercising with a workout partner.
Methods to Memory
The word “meditate” is the Hebrew word “to murmur or ponder.” You can say it out loud, repeating phrases over and over, in a low voice to implant it in your brain. Even though rote memory gets a bad rap these days, this can actually be viewed as a form of meditation and not just memorization.
Besides that, there are many other ways to provide some variety and spice. Here are some other ways to consider:
Simply read it slowly and repeatedly three times without trying to memorize it, spending your five minutes thinking about the order of phrases and the rhythms. By the end of the week, if not sooner, you’ll probably have it memorized.
Meditate on it phrase by phrase. Ponder meanings of words and their significance. If you’re doing a longer passage, read the entire thing through several times, and then zero in on one verse to do some deeper thinking.
Write it out by hand. This brings in a physical component to it.
Try the “memory palace” technique. Here, you link words and phrases to something memorable. This is great to do with kids.
Illustrate it with symbols on a card and put it where you can see it.
Put it to music. There’s a reason why we remember commercial jingles. If this works for you, try it! You don’t need to come up with original tunes. In fact, some of our beloved hymns come from repurposed bar songs, with new lyrics superimposed. You can try the same.
Make it a game. Games are not just for kids! There are so many ways you can do this that I may need to write another post for this! One of my favorite ones with my kids was to write the verse on a whiteboard and let them erase a word or two. With each pass, they are forced to recall more and more of it until the entire verse is erased.
Day and Night
While we may want to spend five focused minutes on Scripture memory, there are many indirect methods we can use to weave it throughout our day. After all we are told to meditate on God’s Word day and night (Psalm 1:2; Josh 1:8).
To do this, try listening to the passage while you are working on something else. Consider it meaningful multi-tasking. Instead of listening to the news, work on your Scripture memory as you commute, do chores, or exercise.
Susan Heck, in her teaching on Scripture memory, suggests that you record yourself reading it as fast as you can. She explains that we can hear at a faster rate than we can physically read. Another option is listening to it from a Bible app.
Not only is this a great way to proactively multi-task, it also has the benefit of training your mind to focus on God and His Word. Spending your time with God in this way is another form of Bible intake that helps us transform our thoughts—and therefore how we think and act.
Review and repeat!
One of my personal struggles is that even if I successfully memorize, I tend to forget unless it is reviewed. This is needed to move something from short-term memory to long-term memory.
Something that has helped me is Garry Friesen’s article, “Painless Scripture Memory.” Rather than repeat it, I’ll direct you to Ken Sande’s post which guides you into the specifics of how to set up a review box.
This is good for reviewing your “daggers.” On any given day, you will review four cards to keep them fresh in your memory. This could take a couple of minutes.
By the time you’re memorizing chapters or books, hopefully you will also have graduated from the five-minute discipline and have discovered the joy of Scripture memory. But even then, ten minutes of concentrated work can allow you to not only learn new material and review your “daggers,” it will also give you time to review the longer passages and chapters as well.
Making It Happen
If this is something you’d like to join me in doing, consider these questions:
When can I insert this 5 minute discipline into my day? During my regular devotional time? While I’m waiting for my coffee to brew or tea to steep? While I’m waiting to pick up my kids from school? Think of a regular routine and add it to your day.
Which of the 3 main purposes compels me most? This will provide the motivation as well as help you pick Scripture.
What verse(s), passage, or chapter will I start with? Pick your selection based on your purpose.
What method(s) will I use to practice? Select a few from the list to start with.
How will I review? Before you begin, make a plan so that what you work so hard on learning will stick with you! If you want to do the card box method, plan ahead by purchasing a box and dividers and setting it up.
Is there a friend I can do this with? Or can I do this with my children?
Are there ways I can informally use time during the day to memorize Scripture? Are there chores or activities I do that allows me to listen or meditate on my verses?
How will I help myself make this a habit? Inevitably, we will forget or not plan adequately to ensure there is time. Will I commit to not letting failure discourage me and give myself grace as I learn?
Conclusion
Think about it. Five minutes per day adds up to 30 hours per year. You can memorize a lot in that time. Just doubling that to ten minutes per day adds up to 60 hours per year. Little bits add up over time.
This will require persistence, especially in the early stages of making this a habit. Be prepared to stick with it for the long haul. Having a vision and purpose will help.
Also, don’t expect changes immediately. But if five minutes a day could use so many benefits, helping me to connect the dots, training me to become a certain kind of person that actively applies God’s Word, then it’s worth it, isn’t it? I hope you’ll join me today!
