5 Practical Steps To Memorize The Scriptures

Memorizing scripture can be one of the toughest tasks for you as a believer.

You look at some people and you are awed at the level of their word bank, but it seems to be an uphill task for you.

I spent a considerable amount of my childhood years committing myself to the enjoyable discipline and labor-intensive task of memorizing scripture. 

However, memorizing scripture became less appealing to me as I grew older for some reason.

Maybe it was because I wasn’t doing it to benefit my spirit man or to grow in my walk with God.

I just loved the euphoria of winning the Bible competition and nothing else.

Psalm 119:11 “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee”

How To Memorize Scriptures Explained

Remember that giving up is the enemy of scripture memorization and that it is often human nature to give up. 

Don’t give up. Every time one feels that their labor is in vain and there isn’t enough development or fruit to show for it, the urge to quit hits. 

satan can manipulate the cost/benefit ratio and force you to give up on your efforts if he finds them. 

As such, you must commit the scripture to memory if you want to become a powerful and mature follower of Jesus! 

Sowing God’s Word in your heart is a potent weapon for growth because it is truth. 

This article captures five practical ways you can memorize the scripture as a believer to grow and mature in your walk with God.

1. Just read it

Just read it, it seems strange or too good to be true right?

But then, the first thing to do is to read first, you can’t memorize if you’ve not read.

While growing up as a believer in the university, I had a lady who was putting me through in my walk with God.

So she said just read, it was almost an impossible task for me because I was trying to read and understand what I was reading as well.

And because I had not yet taken advantage of the Spirit of revelation I was frustrated and downcast most of the time.

You must understand as a believer trying to memorize the scriptures that you have to do first things first.

Which is just reading, usually it is called Bible reading, you are reading not necessarily to pick out revelations or insight but to read first.

In addition, it allows you to concentrate on the passages of scripture you are reading and rereading. 

It will assist and improve your efforts at memory as well as familiarize you with the verse. 

Finally, reading the verse aloud and again can aid you in this area. 

Sayings last longer in the memory than readings. 

Saying a verse out loud causes your mind to mentally record it.

2. Rephrase it 

Rewording the scripture is another approach to help you remember it. 

Speaking or putting it in your own words (paraphrasing) has a certain effect. 

However, you must exercise caution while paraphrasing because it frequently misses important details in the original text. 

The scripture has concealed itself in our hearts and minds and is more than just intellectual food for thought. 

Additionally, you can rewrite lyrics in your own language to aid in this process, being cautious not to alter the meaning in any way. 

It is crucial that you ask the HolyGhost to assist you in developing into a person who does not impose the Bible on other people. 

But a christian who has mastered the Bible to such an extent that it floats naturally in conversation. 

Like Jesus did over meals and on the way, rewording helps His Word become ingrained in your thoughts and conversations.

3. Fight the impulse to become fixated on results. 

You have to deliberately fight the impulse to become performance-oriented when learning the scripture by heart. 

In other words, a circumstance in which you would rather flaunt your Christian identity than allow the Word to fully express itself in you. 

Forgetting that the goal of memorization is to gain understanding and increase one’s knowledge of God and His word. 

I’ve come to understand that some sections like those found in some of the old testament’s books are more difficult than others. 

Thus, accept it as the Spirit assisting you in assimilating and memorization. 

The purpose of learning the scripture by heart will be defeated if you don’t, and it will become performance-oriented.

4. Refrain from letting familiarity breed disdain. 

As a believer, familiarity may often be your worst enemy since it tends to foster disdain. 

The more scripture you learn by heart, the more likely you may be to analyze it critically and point out errors in some of its composition. 

It is still, and always will be, God’s perfect word given by his Spirit. 

As a result, scripture has a vast depth and contains some quite confusing sections. 2 Pet. 3:16.

The more we work with a term or phrase, the easier it is to lose our respect for it and begin to believe we “own” it. 

Finally, the scripture serves as our conduit to hear from our King.

Let us never fail to be humble and contrite in spirit and also tremble at his word. Isa. 66:2

5. Start small

In memorizing the scripture, there is always this push to gulp down everything at once.

We suddenly want to become T. Austin Sparks or E. W Kenyon in a matter of three nights.

I remember when I started praying, one of the things that helped me alot was what my Father Apostle Edu said.

“ spirits are drawn to consistency and a man consistent with one hour can move to one hour thirty minutes.

This was actually the point at which I was struggling with just forty-five minutes, I will look at others clocking hours

And I feel intimidated, as if I wasn’t doing anything, but I was consistent with the thirty minutes just like my father said.

Fast forward to a few years down the line, consistency has brought me to the point where I can pray as much as the Spirit helps me.

The lesson learned from this is that it’s crucial to start small when first starting out. 

It’s also not a good idea to try memorizing a lot of scripture because you’ll probably give up frustrated at not making much progress. 

For this reason, scripture memorizing is like any other skill in that it improves with repetition. Last but not least, begin with a single verse. 

Gradually add a little bit more as you advance. 

Don’t rush things, though! Prior to introducing more verses, make sure you truly understand the first handful. Keep in mind that there is no rush. 

Developing a habit that you intend to maintain throughout your life is your goal. How many hours I’ve spent

I will always be grateful for the hours I’ve spent thus far learning the text by heart. 

It is an investment in both the expansion of Christ’s kingdom and the well-being of my soul.

Conclusion

Memorizing the scripture is an important activity for the believer and to do this

You start small, make sure you don’t allow familiarity to creep in and just read it.

Furthermore, always remember to give God full credit for His work in you, and seek the Spirit’s assistance as you memorize. 

Your pride is a deadly foe to whatever God desires to accomplish in your souls. 

Finally, remember to link the passages you memorize to the Person and work of Christ, for faith in Christ is the ultimate goal of all scripture.

You can check the article 5 Ways to strengthen your relationship with God 

References

The Bible hub

Pastor Rick 

Crossway