10 Tips for Memorizing Scripture
Believe it or not, our brains have an almost unlimited capacity for remembering things. Research by Paul Reber, professor of Psychology at Northwestern University, shows that our memory storage capacity is about 2.5 petabytes(or a million gigabytes).
This means that, theoretically, humans can memorize large portions of the Bible (if not the whole thing). Famed hymn writer Fanny Crosby could effortlessly recite the Pentateuch, the Gospels, most of the Psalms, and Song of Songs. In fact, she worked at memorizing five chapters a week!
For the Spirit to use the Bible to transform us, we need to know what’s in it. And memorization is an incredible way to make us intimately familiar with Scripture. Making memorization a discipline can have a life-changing impact on our spiritual maturity.
Here are 10 Tips for Committing Scripture to Memory:
1. Start small and memorize incrementally
As the old saying goes, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time, of course.” It’s the same thing for memorizing passages of Scripture. If you want to memorize a chapter of Ephesians, start with two verses. When you have those down, add two more. You’ll have the chapter memorized in no time!
2. Say it out loud
Nothing helps you memorize like recitation. Throughout the day, recite the verses you’re memorizing to yourself. Sometime during the week, take a walk and recite longer sections you’ve memorized to keep them fresh in your mind.
3. Write it down
Keep a notebook and handwrite verses multiple times. Handwriting helps to cement things in your mind. Alternatively, you can also open up a Word or Google document and type out what you’re memorizing, too.
4. Draw it
If you’re an artistic Bible journaler, you already know how conceptualizing and drawing out a verse can help you understand and internalize it. The time you invest in drawing, shading, and coloring a verse is time spent meditating on it.
5. Listen to it
Hearing things repeatedly can aid memorization. Listen to recordings of the Bible, or create your own recordings of verses you’ve memorized and listen to them regularly.
