- RSS FeedSubscribe
- « Previous PostResisting Christ's Mercy
- Next Post »Victoria Day
Why Memorize Scripture?
- 05/23/10
- 33
A friend recently sent me an old article from John Piper entitled “Why Memorize Scripture?” Memorizing passages of the Bible is something I’ve developed more of an interest in over the past couple of years and, to my surprise, I’ve found that I’m actually able to do it—even to memorize extended sections if I am willing to put in the effort (not always a sure bet).
Piper offers a list of reasons why we should memorize Scripture. They are:
- Conformity to Christ - Bible memorization has the effect of making our gaze on Jesus steadier and clearer.
- Daily Triumph over Sin - As sin lures the body into sinful action, we call to mind a Christ-revealing word of Scripture and slay the temptation with the superior worth and beauty of Christ over what sin offers.
- Daily Triumph over Satan - When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness he recited Scripture from memory and put Satan to flight.
- Comfort and Counsel for People You Love - When the heart full of God’s love can draw on the mind full of God’s word, timely blessings flow from the mouth.
- Communicating the Gospel to Unbelievers - Actual verses of the Bible have their own penetrating power. And when they come from our heart, as well as from the Book, the witness is given that they are precious enough to learn.
- Communion with God in the Enjoyment of His Person and Ways - The way we commune with (that is, fellowship with) God is by meditating on his attributes and expressing to him our thanks and admiration and love, and seeking his help to live a life that reflects the value of these attributes.
These are six really good reasons. On the flip side, I suspect that the primary reason most of us do not commit more Scripture to memory is simply the difficulty involved. It is a difficult and time-consuming process to take those words and force them into our minds.
So how about you? Is Scripture memorization a part of your routine? Is it something you do as a regular part of your devotion to the Lord?
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at 
Releasing on April 1, The Next
Published in 2008, this book
This is a guide that calls men,
This review of the bestselling
New to the site? You can get
This is a guide written
Comments (33)
I’ll be the first to answer the question.
In general, over the past few years, memorizing Scripture has not been a significant part of my Christian life. In the past year or so I’ve learned to emphasize it a little bit more, though I’m still at about a grade two level with it. I find that at this time I can study OR I can memorize; I have trouble doing both with the same text. Either I’m really examining it and seeking to know how it applies to life OR I’m cramming it into my brain. I hope to get better at putting it into my brain and, from there, getting it into my heart. It seems that such a thing requires practice.
Realizing the importance of hiding God’s Word in my heart, I have had a strong desire to memorize scripture, but often times find myself without enough discipline to follow through. :( When I am working well at it, it is usually within the system I discovered about 2 years about by Dr. Andrew Davis.
Click here to read it
I can often times use this system and do my regular study times.
I grew up memorizing Scripture systematically through Bible Memory Association, Int. (which is, sadly, no longer in existence). Then for years as a young adult I only sporadically memorized. Several years ago, as part of our homeschooling, we began memorizing, first, verses, and then larger passages of Scripture. We have been less faithful with this in recent months, but it is one of my top priorities as we get back into our routine with our summer term starting Monday. One of my goals now is to be more consistent with review…we are good about learning, but I tend to drop the ball in reviewing. We are planning to use the system from Simply Charlotte Mason for review.
I am totally amazed at how much Scripture…long passages of Scripture…children can learn/retain! I never will forget when we were working on Psalm 1 well over a year ago, my then-four-year-old was sitting with us as she always did, when I noticed that she was prompting her older siblings when they would hesitate in their recitation. I asked her if she wanted to say it herself…thinking she might do the first verse or so…and she quoted the entire thing! (As an aside, this was our preemie who was supposed to have serious brain damage, but is instead perfectly bright and healthy…God is good!)
Scripture memory time has been a huge blessing for us…and I’m so thankful you posted this article at this time. I needed the motivation as we work to get back on track with our memorizing this summer!
I was a member years ago of a church which encouraged scripture memorization. We memorized all of Ephesians chapter 1. (In those days KJV of course! It is an inspired version). As a child I had flash card type memorization verses which was great. At 53yo I’m now very lazy - to my shame!
I know ministries like the Navigators have a systematic approach to memorization. I’d like to see a list of maybe the top 25 best verses to memorize-and put into categories, like for salvation, for comfort, for temptation, etc…
I know this is a subjective thing, but it would be interesting for some good theologians to put out there their favs.
I think part of the problem is that there are so many translations, and there is simply SO MUCH BIBLE, that just reading the Bible itself isn’t going to commit passages to memory. You need a concentrated exposure to context. Which makes it tough.
I have found for me that the key is to review what I’ve memorized. I’ll do a verse a day (with Sundays off) and before I start on the new verse I recite out loud (another key thing) all I’ve memorized in a previous passage.
Yes, this does build up. I just finished teaching Philippians to my teens and I had a goal to do a verse a day. At the end of just over three months, it would take me 20+ minutes to get through the scripture. I know chapters 1 and 2 of Philippians really, really well. :D
I think take what I’ve memorized and will review it once a week for six months and then once a month there after.
Two things:
My inspiration is my senior pastor, and in many ways my church. We memorize a verse a week and recite it together on Sunday nights. Of course, there are many who sit there like bumps on logs when we do. I believe they are missing out.
This is what I use and, I too, concur it is great.
I really wish that the ESV Online would somehow incorporate some type of Scripture Memory system into that web site. That would be awesome. Anyway, I try to memorize Scripture while on the treadmill… But I have gotten out of the habit lately. Thanks for the reminder!
I have ESV Verse of the Day on my Yahoo home page and the kids have a flipbook of “fighter verses” (Desiring God curric.) that we work on every day. I keep the book on the table where we all eat together and school together, so it’s easy to review several times a day. (Exactly what Deut 6:6-9 says come to think of it!) Our Pastor says that he writes verses on index cards and posts them on his bathroom mirror, in his car, on his computer monitor, all the places he visits most often. He says it makes scripture memory simple. Makes sense.I totally agree with Piper’s list of benefits. It’s amazing how scripture pops into your head in a given situation just b/c you’ve memorized it.
When I was a kid, memorizing verses was a BIG part of Sunday School classes and Vacation Bible School. I know it sounds very outdated, but we were told that if the Soviet Union ever came in and took control (of the U.S.), our Bibles would be taken away from us so it was good to be prepared by memorizing verses. Regardless of the scare tactics used, I’m glad that memorization was part of my upbringing because I still remember at least some of what I memorized. As an adult, I’ve lost my ability to memorize, unfortunately.
To memorize the Scripture can be hard, but we should. I don’t do as often as i want it to be. But i read the Bible on a regular basis. It helps me remember some of the things that can be applied in my life.
The article may be old, but it sure is timeless especially coming from John Piper.
God bless!
Tim, great to see a post on this important subject. I have also just posted on it at www.encouraging expository excellence.co.uk and am offering to set up a Scripture Memorisation blog to encourage others to work together on this.
Here’s a great tool that I use for memorizing scripture. You memorize verses by typing them; First while looking, then with every other word hidden, and finally without looking at all:
http://scripturetyper.com
Hope this helps you along the way.
Blessings!
Brett
I started memorizing right when I became a Christian through the Navigators. I was doing a verse a day by using my hourly watch beep to remind me to review what I was working on. I’ve kept up with reviewing the whole time except for a dry spot in the middle. In the last few years I stepped it up again with memorizing new ones. I can’t tell you how valuable this is for me for so many reasons. I’m now learning beginning Greek and am memorizing vocabulary instead but I’m still reviewing the memorized Scripture. I look forward to memorizing new ones in the future.Jeff
Biggest challenge… where to begin? Seriously. A friend recommends memorizing 1 John for starters.
FWIW, e-Sword includes a wonderful scripture memory tool.
I go through different times where I emphasize this in my private time. It is frustrating to come back to it and realize that I have forgotten everything. Also, I am horrible at memorizing the reference. Another thing I have heard is useful is memorizing the themes of the books of the Bible by chapter.
I went to a private Christian school as a child and memorized large portions of scripture as part of the curriculum. But that was long ago.Recently I began memorizing the book of 1 John. I have the first chapter memorized and I’m working through the second chapter. It is slow going since my mind doesn’t work as well as it did when I was a school girl!It has helped however in my personal devotion times. I am able to concentrate better on the text and really focus on what it is saying.
As someone who can barely remember where my car keys are and where I parked my car in the church parking lot, I have always found it difficult to memorize things, whether Scripture, academic studies, and…. heck… even my kids names!
But, I certainly am aware of the importance Scripture memory plays in life. Over the past 20 years of being a Christian I have memorized about a dozen or so Scripture verses and passages, but even these are paraphrased. And I can almost always belch out a verse or two that pertains to various life circumstances in just about any conversation, but can never quite place the address, where the verse is located.
When we are told to resist the devil and he will flee from us (where is that verse located?) by using the Word of God as Jesus did in the desert, do paraphrased verses count? If we get it close, does that count? What Bible translation do we use (KJV, NIV, NASB, ESV)? Does the devil understand even the CEV? These are all rhetorical questions of course, please don’t answer them.
On a serious note, I hope to begin memorizing more Scripture to add to my arsenal to be used in spiritual warfare of which I am seemingly in a battle with everyday.
Thanks for this article. Great insight.
Tim,
I sent that same Piper sermon out just last week to a group of 25 women who are memorizing Scripture with me this year! I was so surprised, then, to read today’s post.
Our process is quite simple. I send out reminders every two weeks and they send me the Scripture they’ve chosen. (Key: They choose—not me.) Everyone seems to enjoy the accountability and reminders. We plan to gather every so often to share the Scriptures we memorized. So far I’ve memorized Psalm 19:7-11; Hebrews 4:12-13; Isaiah 55:6-11; Psalm 8; Hebrews 12:1-2; Romans 5:1-11; Phil 2:1-11. The benefits are beyond telling (but Piper does an admirable job)!
Perhaps if your readership was not so large, you could implement a similar approach (like your Reading Through the Classics). Can’t imagine how you would manage the volume. Knowing you, you’ll think of something technologically creative, though!
With gratitude once again for your service to the Kingdom,Susan
P.S. Ditto to Christina and Nat. And thank you to Brett for the link to scripturetyper.com. I’ll check it out and pass it along to my fellow memorizers.
Jen, I wanted to let you know that BMA which you used growing up is now Scripture Memory Fellowship and is being run by Dr. N.A. Woychuk’s son, Dr. Jim Woychuk.
Also, my favorite Scripture memory website is www.memverse.com
Just when I thought I was wasting my time, you hit me right where I was at, struggling to memorize scripture and whether it really was necessary, or would it really have an effect. I am currently trying to memorize rm 3:19-28 and am amazed how difficult it was just getting 19 & 20 down, I’m convinced that forces of nature, my flesh, do everything to prevent it. I have memorized rm 6:1-11 and col. 3:1-17, years ago and even though I could quote them perfectly I have often had to go back and refresh my mind because of how quickly we forget and how the enemy seeks to pluck up the seed planted in our minds. Thanks Tim for the motivation! What timing!Mike
Tim, thanks for sharing John Piper’s thoughts on Scripture Memory. It has played a huge part in my life ever since a verse I memorized in high school, GALATIANS 2:20 came back to me 7 years later, leading me to put a saving faith in Jesus Christ.
I want to share with you my favorite free Scripture memory website, http://www.memverse.com which stores, organizes and maximizes Scripture verses. It is especially great for groups who memorize together.
I also want to share my favorite Scripture memory event, the new National Bible Bee (Now in its 2nd year) It is a competition for 7-18 year olds with outlandish cash prizes, but it is also a great resource to help everyone of all ages memorize a lot of Scripture http://www.biblebee.org
If you have questions on memverse or the Bible Bee or any thoughts on Scripture memory, please feel free to get in touch. In Christ, Phil Walker philjohn1558@yahoo.com (573)822-4015
Pastor Greg Locke has very practical advice, like pace to and fro as you re-read, as that gives your body a rhythm that helps you memorise it, and it keeps your blood flowing to the brain:http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=626081244250
While I’m new to Scripture memorization, we just started our almost-three-year-old daughter on Proverbs 12:27 and 1 Corinthians 10:31. We were shocked by how quickly she got it!
Our church started out this year with an emphasis on learning 10 key verses. We had a verse to memorize each week, and the Sunday morning sermon and Wednesday night study unpacked each verse. http://www.tenforlife.com/scriptures.html
I’m working on memorizing Ephesians right now. I was inspired to start this after hearing the lecture audio from Wheaton’s theology conference last month, where N.T. Wright challenged the students to memorize a book of the Bible by learning a verse a day, and each day quoting all they had learned so far from the beginning of the book.
I read “When I Don’t Desire God” by John Piper as a sophmore in college, and it awoke a desire in me to memorize scripture. Within a few years I had memorized Romans 1-6, 8, Ephesians, Colosians, Isaiah 55 and 8 or 10 different Psalms using the system in that book. Then I got lazy and have not made it a discipline for the last couple of years. I miss it.
I definately agree with the comment by James, above, which recommends pacing while memorizing. I have not been able to memorize effectively while sitting down. Almost all of what I memorized in those years involved pacing back and forth in a deserted section of the library at around 8am.
I want to encourage all of you (and myself) to memorize. The Lord used it to impart great grace to my soul!
I have found memorizing Scripture set to music is incredibly helpful. The folks over at Scripture Release have kindly set the Navigators Topical Verses to music. I was a little bit worried at first at the quality but after giving it a listen, the quality is surprisingly good. Check it out after the jump: http://www.scripturerelease.com/
I have been a huge fan of memorizing Scripture in the past three-to-four years. I have encouraged people to do the same, not just with verses, but with whole books of Scripture. I would IN NO WAY say that GOD is displeased by memorizing verses, but I think it is wiser to memorize larger contexts.
I think a big part of memorization is getting up the steam to do big portions. I did Jude (25verses) in the same amount of time that it took me to do Colossians (96 verses). You just have to look at it in small chunks, deciding that you are going to do a verse and then another verse and then another…until finally you have a chapter behind you, and so on. I cannot tell how blessed I have been by this process.
In regard to review, I have come to the realization that we can break our backs reviewing all the time. But, I have personally found, the Spirit is faithful and will bring to mind what we have faithfully memorized when we need it.
My husband puts verses to music, which takes a little extra time but it’s well worth it!
One added benefit of scripture memory: It helps clean my mind of evil thoughts. Even if the verses I’m memorizing say nothing about the particular evil thought-patterns that are tempting me at the time, memorizing the passage helps clean my mind. Any time spent on scripture memory cannot be spent on feeding those old, sinful thoughts. Maybe that’s why Ephesians 5:26 speaks of Christ cleansing the church “by the washing of water with the word.”
I heartily agree. One of my favorite commands from the New Testament is “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” There’s nothing like being able share the right verse at the right time. It can change the course of a person’s life. Your points are all very excellent. Thanks for sharing!
Great post! My wife and I actually felt so strongly about memorizing Scripture that we decided to build our own iPhone app to do so. The app is called Bible Memory and it’s become the leading mobile Scripture memorization tool around! Check it out at www.mobilizefaith.com.
Thanks so much for making people aware of the need to memorize the Word of God!