Scripture Memory

“I’m never going to get this,” I said to my roommate Kyle in a bit of despair.

“Sure you are, give it a week and your opinion will change,” he said. 

“It’s too much,” I said, “there is no way I be able to keep up.”

This was how my conversation went after our first day in Hebrew class. Yes that was Old Testament Hebrew with all it’s strange letters and sounds. (It’s a soft guttural and not a spitting guttural FYI). I’m glad I stuck with it, with a little effort and some practice memorizing, it began to make sense.

The unfamiliar characters began to make sense. Then the pattern of putting letters together to create words began to make sense. I had to study and memorize a lot, but I was getting it. Weekly there were quizzes and then the tests. Without memorizing the alphabet, sounds and vocab words, I would have failed the class.

Life is a lot like my Hebrew class. There are quizzes and tests every day. Are you ready for them? How do you prepare for them?

The Psalmist says, “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11 ESV).

Here is a pattern to live by. Memorizing the Word of God will help us to overcome and stand firm in life. When trials and temptations come our way, we can be victorious when we have the Word of God in our hearts.

It was once said to me, “if you are not memorizing Scripture you have a problem with your thought life.” He was saying that worries, doubts and sins sneak into our minds, but when we are actively pursuing God’s Word, it gives us the power of a sound mind.

At first memorization is difficult and daunting. Just like my Hebrew class was. But if you stick with it, before you know it you become familiar with it and can memorize more then you’d ever think.

When it comes to Soul Care, memorizing Scripture is a must. Allowing God’s Word to fill your mind and soul is crucial to a healthy relationship with Jesus.

One thing I loved about my missions trip with Teen Missions International was that they required us to memorize 40 verses over the summer. Ok, I didn’t love it while it was happening…that’s a lot of work. But when I look back I realized how much of my heart and mind grew closer to Jesus through that practice.

Each day we would have to say our memory verse to our leaders before we could get our meal. So for breakfast we would line up and one at a time we would share the verse for the day and any verse they picked from previous days. If we missed we would go to the back of the line to practice until we got it right or everybody got through the line. We would repeat during lunch and then dinner until everybody memorized the verse.

Little did I realize at the time how important those verses would be for me. I can honestly say that those verses are still very much a foundation for my life. It was almost as if we had a verse for everything. I can still hear everyone muttering verses that helped them through difficult times, like:

“There hath no temptation take you but such as is common to man, but God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above what you are able but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13 KJV).

Or,

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3 KJV)

Especially the Romans Road to Salvation (Romans 3:23; 3:10; 5:12; 6:23; 5:8; 10:9-10; 10:13; 10:17), which still proves helpful in sharing the Gospel.

Now today, years later the verses I’ve memorized come to mind clearly. Sometimes I have to work through them a little. Others I have memorized in a couple of translations, which can be a little confusing, but is also helpful.

Back to Psalm 119:11, it tells us why we should memorize. It will help us overcome sin. Think about that for a minute, why do we want to overcome sin?

To be in a right relationship with God should be our aim in this life. Jesus has provide that way through the cross. Memorizing Scripture equips us to live out the life that Jesus desires us to live.

“Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” Matthew 4:4.

Check out Navigators Topical Memory System for recommended verses to memorize. Don’t delay, begin today. You will not regret it!