I am looking for ideas from other people who have developed good methods of how to memorize scripture and get it in to their minds/ hearts. Has anyone used software that works well for them? What else have people used, etc.We are starting Bible Quizzing in our church with the youth and I want to memorize along with them (entire books) as they are so I can be a good example as well as learn for my own discipline and relationship with God. Thanks. Doug
_________________Doug Renz
I have some little cards I got from an organization called FAST. They have some with Scripture verses on them or you can get blank ones and write your own verses. They fit in your pocket and you can look at them anytime you are waiting. Edit:[color=0000CC]From the FAST program:Step 2: How to Memorize Perhaps the most effective way to memorize Scripture, is to use a verse pack. Find one with two inside pockets and a clear plastic outside pocket. It can be leather or vinyl, but make sure it is small enough to easily fit in your pocket. And make sure you are stocked with plenty of blank verse cards. Both cards and packs can be obtained at many Christian bookstores.Write the verse you wish to memorize and its reference on one side of a verse card, and the reference only on the back. Next, slide the card into the clear outside pocket with the words of the verse facing out. If you keep your verse pack with you, you can pull it out any time you have a few minutes and work on a verse: walking down a sidewalk, sitting at a stoplight, waiting in line, etc. Redeem such moments carefully, and you will be able to learn countless verses without having to set aside any special times for memorizing. Always make it a rule to memorize every verse word-perfect. Put recently memorized verses in one of the inside pockets, Newly learned verses need to be reviewed frequently, and having them with you at all times will be a big help. Blank verse cards can be kept in the other inside pocket, just in case you read or hear some beautiful verse you want to memorize. Simply pull out a card, and jot the verse down. Daily ReviewFor most people, the hard part about memorizing Scripture is not actually the memorizing, but the retaining. An average person can memorize a verse in 10 or 20 minutes quite easily, but then he will go on to forget it just a few days later. Successful Scripture memorization requires one to do more than just memorize a verse--he must learn to engrave it on the tables of his heart, permanently. The secret is daily review! Once you have memorized a verse, date it, and put it together with the other recently memorized verses in your verse pack. Review this group of verses every day--preferably during your Morning Watch. Don't miss a day! Look at the side of the card with only the reference, quote the verse, and then turn the card over to check your accuracy. When reviewing verses, it is extremely important to develop the habit of always quoting the reference before and after the verse. This will help cement the reference to the verse. After a couple of weeks a verse will become extremely easy to quote--but don't let up. It will take two full months, to get the verse permanently engraved in your brain. Back ReviewOnce the date indicates a verse has been in your daily review group for two months, move it to a permanent back review file, that you keep at home. Work through these verses as often as you can--we recommend once a week, at first. Later, after you have accumulated several hundred verses, you may wish to move some of your best-known verses to a section for monthly review. As a rule, all back review verses need to be continually reviewed at least once a month--to keep them fresh and on the tip of your tongue. If a verse becomes a little rusty, give it some extra attention: put it back in your verse pack with your other daily review verses for a week or so. Just Think...If you merely memorized two verses a week--and used an effective review system--you would have over one hundred verses in less than a year. In ten years you would have over a thousand! Imagine--a thousand verses all perfectly engraved on the table of your heart, complete with reference, right on the tip of your tongue! Just think how the Spirit of God could begin to use you with that kind of Scripture stored away in your heart! The key though, is consistency. You will need to set a pace and stick with it! Don't memorize too fast or too slow--two or three verses a week is about right to start with. And you will need to make a real effort to keep up with your review. It is daily review that moves a verse from the short term to the long term memory banks, and the back review keeps it there, fresh and alive. The goal of course, is not to just memorize a certain number of verses, but to make Scripture memory a way of life. To make it an integral part of your Christian experience. Two verses a week can become a thousand in ten years--but only if you are consistent. [/color]end edit[color=0000CC]2nd edit: to add link to sermon[/color]Denny Kenaston has a sermon called How To Study the Bible that has some ideas too. You can find it:[url=http://www.charityministries.org/msg_detail.a5w?vlast_index=804]Here[/url]
_________________Melissa
I am looking for ideas from other people who have developed good methods of how to memorize scripture and get it in to their minds/ hearts. Has anyone used software that works well for them? What else have people used, etc.
_________________Paul Frederick West
double post
Paul,I don't disagree with what you are saying... BUT... as the disciplines of just reading God's word, memorizing scripture even in bulk is a good discipline because God's word does not return void...other have suggestions? or experience?Doug
My sister and I have developed a method that we use for Bible memorization. It usually works really well but the main problem I deal with is the discipline of reviewing what I have memorized to keep it in my head. I'll try to explain simply - and not be confusing! When I decide on a verse (or passage) to memorize, I usually go through these steps:1. I start with the first verse and get familiar enough with it that I can say it to myself without looking. This part can take a little while and sometimes I break up the verse if is long until I have each part down; then I put the parts together.2. Once I have the verse "memorized," I say it to myself at least six times without looking (although I usually check periodically to make sure I am saying it right.)3. If I am memorizing a passage of Scripture, then I repeat the whole section of Scripture that I have memorized so far, including the verse I have just memorized.4. I then try to say the passage of Scripture that I have memorized at least once a day for awhile. After a few days or weeks I have noticed that I only have to review it occasionally to keep it memorized. This seems to work pretty well for us, but I understand that different people have different ways of learning things so it probably won't work for everyone. I hope it has been helpful though; and God's blessing on your memorizing!!
_________________Mikah and Morgan
as the disciplines of just reading God's word, memorizing scripture even in bulk is a good discipline
Brother Paul,I completely agree with your statements. The reason why I want to memorize Scripture is so that it will quicken my spirit and CHANGE me by His Spirit. Thank you for your wisdom in these things.
Silly double posty... 8-)
I have found a couple of effective methods for memorising Scripture. One that is especially good is picking a verse to fast with, that is while fasting, when I get hungry or distracted I repeat a verse thet the Holy Spirit has laid on my heart for that time. Another is to organize the Word of God into coherent threads that relate to one another or even pick topics. I have been blessed with teaching oppurtunities and organizing and then sharing God's Word has deepened it's meaning for me and given my mind a place to occupy within the Word of God. I've also kept index cards in my pocket at various times to pull out and review whenever I get a free moment, also you never know when you can pass those cards on to someone else.One thing about memorising God's Word, if you are serious about your walk with Christ you had better expect warfare from the enemy and he doesn't wait for you to find it in a concordance. I have been attacked fiercly and have cried out to God, in His word; there is only one offensive weapon we have, the Word of God. Of what use are we if the Holy Spirit can only find John 3:16 or John 11:35 hidden in our hearts?I hope I was helpfulRich
_________________Richard E Lewis III