Why Should I memorize scripture, and how can I squeeze this into my busy life?
- Are you currently memorizing God’s word?
- When you hit a wall, does a promise from God pop into your mind?
- Do you need more peace of mind, and direction in general?
- Do you feel lonely, and wonder if anyone even cares?
- Do you wish that you could think of fitting words to encourage/uplift/direct your loved ones?
All of these are great reasons why you may want to incorporate memorizing scripture into your daily routine!
Tip: The busier/more hectic your life gets, the more you need the peace that comes from Scripture memorization!
What inspiration do you need to memorize more scripture?
This post may contain affiliate links to products that I use or recommend. If you make a purchase I may receive a commission. Your support is appreciated.
You Can Memorize Scripture!
In our home we are resurrecting our memorizing muscles! They have atrophied with disuse lately, I am ashamed to say. Life goes that way. Important things get squeezed into the background by other duties that scream louder for our attention.
But, quietly, the Holy Spirit keeps whispering, “You need to hide God’s word in your heart. You need to teach your children to do this too.” And, I am determined to listen and work little by little on fortifying the fortresses of our minds with Bible verses.
Why Should We Memorize the Bible?
Why bother, in this age of instant apps, smartphones that hold the entire Bible in our pockets, and every imaginable tool to study the Bible? The only answer is BY FAITH.
We are so lazy. We would rather click our phones than unzip our Bible cover and find a page. We’d rather search any app than search for a topic in the Word. And, our minds are shrinking with all this instant access to everything.
Lazy Christians
I think that it makes us lazy spiritually. We just shrink from any hard work. But, by faith we have to override all of this ease, and remember that one day we are quite likely to have our Bibles taken away from us.
AdWhat about when we lose power permanently for standing strong for God’s law? If we have only made the habit of clicking on the EGW app or the Bible app and not downloaded them into our permanent memory banks, we will be empty in many ways. We need the Bible to help us fight against temptation, so that we can meet Satan with “It is written,” and not just our own strength.
Make Bible Memory a Habit
So, we must make the habit of memorizing the Bible. One verse at a time. We are told that our minds will strengthen as we put forth our efforts.
In light of all of this, I thought I would share a few resources that have been helpful to our family as we have worked on Scripture memorization. Currently, we are working together on Matthew 4:1-11, or how Jesus met temptation. I chose this one because we want to know how we can follow His example and succeed in our areas of weakness.
The talk above is by Chad Kruezer, and it has been a real inspiration to me. I’d also recommend reading the chapter in Great Controversy about the Waldenses if you want to get inspired. You can listen to the chapter here for free.
Then check out how many chapters Fanny Crosby had memorized — five chapters per WEEK!! She could recite the entire Pentateuch, all four Gospels, Proverbs, Song of Solomon, and many Psalms chapter and verse. All this being blind! Makes me wonder what’s wrong with my memory! Disuse is the only excuse.
Resources to help inspire you Memorize Scripture
Another resource we have found inspiring is the book, Ten Peas in a Pod, by Arnold Pent. It tells the amazing story of a family who homeschooled before it was called that, and who made Bible reading and memorization such a part of their everyday life that several of the children memorized many whole chapters and books of the Bible. It is a great read-aloud for your family and it will entertain as well as inspire!
If you need another inspiring account of a family who got their children into memorizing, here is one. The author/mom shows how she helped her children to successfully memorize the book of James.
You Need To Memorize Scripture
This is a good book about scripture memorization that will give you tips, reasons, and stories to inspire you. The book is on sale for only $3. I paid more several years ago, but I think they just want to get them out to people! It’s available at their website or at amazon.com
Apps and other Memorizing Resources
If you have a Kindle, or any device where you can install the Kindle app, then there is a book that we have found to be quite helpful. You can find it in the Kindle Store. The reason this particular book is helpful is because it contains the entire Bible, divided by book, which is not so rare; many online Bibles offer this, I know. But, this book has the advantage for memorizes of offering an option where, once you have your verses on the screen, you can may either read the typed out verses, or click on the number of the verse to change the text into first letter only (see the photo below). This way you can jog your memory of the verse or passage without seeing the whole words, which gives your mind a chance to remember what’s coming next.
It works similarly to the way I memorize without the book. I write my verses on one side of an index card, and on the other side I just write the first letters. Then when I review them, I have cues, but not answers.
Memorize scripture with the Scripture Typer App
Scripturetyper.com This app is such a wonderful resource! You can use the website online or download the app. You can add verses/chapters and join groups if you want. It saves your verses and gives you a reminder to review them at intervals. This is good for everyone!
Our boys like to practice their verses often when we get into memorizing!
How the Scripture Typer App works
You have several options for how to memorize and review your verses. You can just type the whole verse out, you can type using just the first letters, or you can have certain words blanked out on your screen so that you have to remember those words, while the words typed in will help you as you go along. It remembers your speed, and you can challenge yourself to keep improving your speed and accuracy. PSST…don’t tell your kids, but this also sneaks in a little typing along with the Bible memorization!
We have the Scripture Typer Pro, which allows us to install it on five devices, so we can all be using it at the same time, wherever we are! It is well worth the price.
Thy Word Creations
Thy Word Creations produces nice books that help you to memorize whole portions of scripture or whole chapters. They have well-known chapters set to music with a CD. These have been invaluable in our home. Every song that we have learned in this way we still have memorized years later!
I am including the product webpage, and an amazon.com link, since it looks like many are not in stock on the webpage.
Thy Word Creations website—children’s projects
You can sometimes find these on amazon.com
More Memorizing Resources
The following website offers a phone number to obtain Bible memory verse songs that go along with the My Bible First Kindergarten and Primary lessons.
Memorize Psalm 119
This link, from Shepherd’s Music Company, is a wonderful resource for memorizing the entire chapter of Psalm 119.
We have the Psalm 119 CD, and each song follows the Bible divisions for the chapter. Each song is 8 verses, and each song has a different musical style, but they all are very nice music. Nothing rocky or wild, but not boring.
Our son started memorizing Psalm 119 and almost had it down, with no ”help” like this CD, until he got sick. With a little brushing up, I know he will have it mastered. You can download the album or purchase the audio CD. I am always amazed at the talent that some people have to be able to set these passages to nice music.
Scripture Singer
There is an app that last I knew was free, and used to be available for both iOS and Android. Now I am not seeing it updated on the App Store, which makes me sad. I am including it here, on the chance that they will decide to update it, since it is a wonderful app. This app is put out by Fountainview Academy, and has hundreds of songs from the KVJ Bible put to music. Lovely music. The app is Scripture Singer. I really enjoy it and still have it downloaded onto my old phone.
Update: although the app is now available again, you can also hear all of these songs for free on AudioVerse.org. Here’s a link to the page where you can find a bunch of scripture songs!
What are your favorite Scripture Memorization Resources?
There are probably hundreds of resources and tips for memorizing the Bible. I have just listed ones we have used with success from time to time.
One of the best ways to have success is to join with friends who also want to memorize, because then you have accountability.
Our best times memorizing have been when we had a little group who met weekly and memorized together. So much easier than when you feel like no one will know whether you succeed or not!
Feel free to share any ideas you have as well, because we are all here to help each other!
Related: Wooden Scripture Plaques
I do have Scripture typer, but unfortunately don’t use it as much as I should. I’ll try a couple of the other free resources you’ve mentioned.
I use it off and on these days. When I use it, i find that I do much better at retaining what I’m theming to memorize!
Keep at it!
Laurie
Thanks so much for sharing your post with us at the Exploring World Religions Linkup 7 so that we can better understand each other through our religion, faith, and beliefs. Pinned!
You’re so welcome!