I want to share my story about memorizing Scripture. I invite you to laugh with me and find the surprising encouragement and joy (guilt-free) I found in what I used to think was a boring and difficult spiritual discipline.
This year I was reading a book about a parent’s spiritual warfare for her children. The mom (author) wrote scripture based prayers and urged her readers to memorize scripture.
I stopped to read one prayer to my daughter Amy, while were waiting for Lindsey (my other daughter). I was concerned Lindsey might have two weaknesses, fear and naiveté that lead to being harmed by others. Yet Amy recognized the weaknesses in me! As I prayed about it, I realized Amy was right. Fear and gullibility were huge areas of spiritual weaknesses where I had allowed bullies to take advantage of me. I believed their lies or tried to appease their anger but ended up with verbal assaults. I allowed these bullies to take advantage of me, pushing boundaries (like taking too much), perhaps also due to my fear, as I was too often afraid of upsetting people. I do have generalized fear in the form of worry, but I had been working on overcoming that.
Now I felt an urgency that I must pray and memorize the right Scripture, like the author said in her book. I heard a pastor on the radio mention a book about the 50 Bible verses every Christian should memorize, so I went on a quest to find that book. I refused to memorize any Scripture until I began with those 50 essential verses. My problem? I never found those 50 “correct” verses. Days of searching turned into a week. I found other lists of 5, sometimes 12 good verses for Christians to memorize. I saved those lists but kept looking. Finally when over two weeks went by and I did not find the perfect set of 50 verses, I realized I was wasting time. I picked a verse from a list I had copied. It was Psalm 27:1, “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom should I be afraid?” What a great verse for someone who fears!
God gave me great wisdom, and I gravitated to verses about God’s protection and love (which cast out fear), and about wisdom (to protect me from being naïve and upset). I was so happy I had memorized Psalm 27:1, but I confess the verse was already very familiar to me. I had heard it many times before, so it was very easy to memorize. I believe this is key to your first attempts at Bible memorization. Pick ones that are so familiar, you nearly have them memorized already. What joy there is when memorizing is so fast and easy.
But I also felt comforted by the truth of God’s protection (as spoken in that verse). So the next verse I chose was about God’s love and leading (Exodus 15:13). I memorized it next. I would read part of the sentence and think about the main words (nouns and verbs) and how the words went together. Sometimes I’d get verbs in the wrong place (like substituting the verb “lead” for “guide” in Ex. 15:13), and I worked on the order. I’d read more and then as soon as I read it, say it back without looking. I know the alphabet in sign language (my deaf cousins taught me that), and sometimes I would sign the first letter in key words in a sentence I was memorizing. I learned some words in sign language when I was teaching Sunday School. We taught the children some basic words so they could sign as they sang praise songs. I still enjoy signing the few words I know to praise music today. So signing the first letter of key words was fun for me and familiar.
I would have stopped memorizing Scripture if it had been a burden forced on me by someone else. When I was a child, I had to memorize specific Scripture for confirmation and other Bible classes. I did not enjoy it and forgot all the verses I memorized. But memorizing passages about how God loves and adores me, guides and protects me feels like God personally telling me he loves me and cares for me.
Once I have memorized a verse, I read it, then say it and keep repeating to make sure I have not lost it. As I memorize more Scripture, I do sometimes forget an old verse I had memorized. Then I ignore the new one I was working on and concentrate on the old one until it is fresh in my mind again. I keep all of the verse I memorized on ¼ sheets of paper, clipped together where I can flip through them and review them so I don’t forget them.
If you ever wait in line, consider carrying a verse you’d like to practice (and memorize if you so choose). You can read it over and over as you wait. You can do this in your mind at a red light too. You can tape your verse above the sink and read it when you wash dishes, prepare food or brush your hair or teeth. Any time you do a chore that does not require your mind, you can read that verse or even see if you did memorize it while doing that chore.
Never feel obligated to do this. I don’t memorize out of obligation. I get excited when I realize I have mastered all my old verses and am ready to add a new verse. These verses feel like gems God gives me. I feel like God is personally talking to me. Yes, I do also memorize some of the “scolding” verses about weaknesses I want to overcome. Yet I don’t feel an angry rebuke by God in those verses (like Proverbs 12:6, “A fool is quick tempered. A wise person stays calm when insulted). I feel God’s gentle guidance, to lead me away from my sin (in Prov. 12:6—God reminds me to be patient, even when insulted). I have also memorized verses about God punishing unrepentant sinners who abuse others. I grow so weary of evil people prevailing over innocent victims, and those “wrath” verses offer peace that one day God will avenge those who hurt others without remorse.
Over time I realized there are not “50 perfect verses for Debbie {or you} to memorize.” Instead I picked out verses that reminded me of God’s adoring love, reassured me of God’s revenge on the wicked, showed me God’s protection and guided me away from sins (being foolish, angry, fearful, a complainer, etc). My list can change as my needs change. I feel guided and loved and encouraged by the verses I’ve managed to memorize. My list of memorized verses is far shorter than many other people’s verses. But it has been just the right amount of verses for me to memorize.
So feel no guilt about Bible memorizing. Read, cherish and underline your Bible. Write down verses that especially speak to you. If you can memorize them, enjoy doing so. If you do not memorize them, keep them in places where you can re-read them any time you need the loving encouragement—no guilt either way. Just keep enjoying God and letting Him guide you in the individual way He wants to work with you. What works for me may not work for you, and that’s OK. This is your personal walk with the Lord, and you and God get to decide how to travel it. I do hope my journey has encouraged you and will inspire you to pursue your own path, whether memorizing Scripture or writing the verses down to re-read often. God loves and adores you. He truly will guide you.
Thanks for traveling with me by glimpsing this part of my faith walk. I feel honored you came along with me.