Consider these four verses:
“Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.” (Psalm 119:97)
“When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches.” (Psalm 63:6)
“My eyes are awake through the [night] watches, That I may meditate on Your word.” (Psalm 119:148)
“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” (John 15:7)
How do we actually do each of these things? For instance, how can we think about God’s word in the middle of the night, while it’s dark, without getting out of bed? For this and many other things, memorizing scripture is the answer. Having verses in your head ready to go can help you share the gospel, fight temptation, believe in the face of difficulty, and have the mind of Christ in all circumstances. It is also an excellent way to study and learn God’s word without using anything but the word itself. In short, memorizing is the best way I know to “meditate on His law day and night” (Psalm 1).
Everyone should have certain verses that most help them committed to memory. (Chances are you already do.) It is also possible (and very helpful) to memorize larger portions. Maybe you want all of Romans 8, the sermon on the mount, or the letter to the Philippians memorized (plans for all of these are on the resources page). The larger the portion you commit to memory, the more you’ll remember not just verses, but flow of thought and context as well. You can actually memorize some of God’s way of thinking. It may seem impossible, but give yourself enough time and you’ll be surprised how much you can remember (and how much you benefit from it).
Over on the resources page, we’re collecting things to help you figure out how to get started, or to continue down the road. There’s a bunch of different methods and ideas, so you can find something that works for you.
- “Memorizing the Word is Possible” (pdf)
- 18 Tips to memorize scripture (word doc)
- Help memorizing large portions (pdf)
- The “6×6” method with progress sheet (pdf)
- Memorization bookmark for your Bible (pdf)
- Chart to keep track your progress (pdf)
- Not sure what verses to memorize? (word doc)