Encouragements To Memorize God’s Word

1. Remember that the Lord has power over your mind. “Then He [Christ] opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45). Jesus worked effectively in their brains to enable them to understand. He can just as readily work in you to enable you to memorize. Do your best. Make a sincere effort, and pray for Him to bless your efforts.

2. Think of the benefits that come from memorizing God’s Word! Who among us wouldn’t want to have our lives shaped more and more by Scripture? Every Christian would like to have the actual words of the Bible fresh in his mind, ready to be incorporated naturally into conversations. These are two of the benefits of Scripture memory. Of course, there are many others, as the verses I have cited above indicate. Too often we don’t memorize Scripture simply because it isn’t important enough to us. We don’t like to admit that, but it tends to be true. How motivated would we become if someone promised us $50,000 for every chapter we memorized? Would you do it? Would you at least try? The benefits of memorizing God’s Word, as we know, are far greater than money.

3. Have a plan. One reason that it might be a good idea for you to start working on 1 Peter is that many of the folks in the church will be working on it with you. Wherever you start, in order to keep committing Scripture to your memory, it is vitally important that you set aside time each day to work on specific verses. Even 5-10 minutes a day would be a good start. If you can do that twice a day, you will progress even faster.

Try your best to be consistent and work on Scripture memory every day. I find it helpful to write the verses down on a piece of paper or card (or a pda). That way I can carry them with me and work on them throughout the day. Review what you learn. As you get more verses learned, you will need to incorporate some time to review the older verses while working on the newer ones. Oftentimes, it is in the review process that some of the most fruitful thoughts for meditation emerge.

Finally, ask others to help you – to pray for you and work with you on memorizing...When talking on the phone or in the foyer or before a class or over lunch, ask a friend or family member to “check you out” on the verses you are working on. Offer to do the same for them.

Pray that the Lord will cause His Word to live in the hearts and minds of His people and that we will become more conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.

Adapted from Scripture Memory by Tom Ascol