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Memorising Scripture -
Why and How?
by
Clint and Rhoda Pickens
The
Importance and Blessing of Memorising Scripture
God commands us to meditate on
Scripture, and memorizing it enables us to do that Deuteronomy
6:6-7 These commandments that I give you today
are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about
them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie
down and when you get up.
When
it says to talk about God’s commands in these places, it indicates that
it would be in your mind, as you probably wouldn’t be reading the Bible
at those times. Being available in our mind means that we are then able to
meditate on it easily.
Memorising Scripture helps us
fight against temptation and sin Matthew
4:4 Jesus answered, “It is written:
‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the
mouth of God.’”
Jesus
used scripture to fight the devil here, when he was being tempted, and
this should be an example to us to do the same. It is our offensive weapon
(Eph 6:17) along with prayer. With
scripture we can fight against lies,
bad thoughts & temptation to name a few. Scripture memory is becoming
a lost art among Christians, probably because it takes effort. Without it
we are not armed to fight back as well.
Scripture
memory enables us to encourage and help others
Col.
3:16
Let
the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one
another with all wisdom
Memorising
it means that the word of Christ then dwells in us, and we can use this to
encourage other Christians, and help them with Biblical counsel.
Memorised
Scripture can help us witness to unbelievers about the Lord
1
Pet. 3:15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as
Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to
give the reason for the hope that you have.
Memorising
scripture can help us to know the gospel and be ready to share it with
people clearly and accurately.
How
To Memorise A Verse
Read it several times in its context, and ask yourself what it means
Break
it into natural phrases
Repeat
several times from memory the topic, reference and first phrase
Repeat
several times from memory the topic, reference, first and second phrase
Add
a phrase each time until you finish it, memorise the reference as part of
the final phrase
Repeat
the whole verse several times from memory – topic, reference, verse,
reference
What
Should Be Done In Conjunction With Memorising A Verse
Meditate – you
should meditate on the verse that you have learnt
Apply – you
should apply it to your life so that you change in accordance with
Scripture. Talk to God about it in prayer, and think about how it applies
to you.
Review – the real key to scripture memory!
Proverbs
7:1-3 My son, keep my words and store up my commands within
you. Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as
the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet
of your heart.
‘Store
them up’ can be done by memorising, ‘guard them’ by reviewing them
regularly so that they stay fresh in your mind.
A
good rule of thumb is to test yourself every day until you know it really
well, then test yourself on it once a week, then after you have done that
for a while, just do it once a month.
You
can put them on cards and then using an elastic band put all the daily
ones together, all the weekly and all the monthly. Or you can use an index
card file to organise them, with one set of cards under 'Daily', then more
sets under 'Monday', 'Tuesday' etc. as you get to know them well, and
eventually you could do monthly sets.
The
best time to do this is every day, after your quiet time in the morning,
then it is a habit. Whatever time you choose stick to it, and also use
other odd times to review too.
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