KEYS TO SCRIPTURE MEMORY

[David Young]

God has helped me a great deal with these four keys to memorizing Scripture. You too will find them helpful, especially if you are trying to commit large portions of Scripture to memory. They are to Slow Down, Calm Down, Focus, and Pray. God gave me these things in the struggle to memorize. But I believe you can find each of these emphasized in the fruit of the Spirit, listed in Galatians 5, primarily in the fruit of patience.

 

Slow Down
It seems I have been in a hurry all my life. I always wanted to get to the next place or the next thing, whatever it was. At times this produced and accompanied a good work ethic. But it also made me want to quit whatever I was doing to experience something new. Hurrying does not help Scripture memory. It takes time. And you will need the patience to stay at it to memorize, and to continue to review passages day after day when you have memorized them.

 

Calm Down
Calming down requires the peace of God's Spirit in your heart. You will be tempted to get angry at yourself when you keep misquoting verses that you had memorized earlier. This is counterproductive and will discourage you. With God's patience you can simply read it over and over again until you can say it right.

Focus
My mind strays easily. It is not good to rebuke myself for this either. When your mind wanders, simply refocus it on the Scripture. Focusing is at the heart of meditating on the word of God. 

and
Pray

Each of these is essential to Scripture memory. So it is difficult to say which is more important. Which tire is most important to a bicycle? Which is more important to an automobile, the motor or the wheels? But there is a sense in which prayer is the most important of these. It is necessary for the other three. You need to pray for God to help you slow down. Pray for God's help instead of getting upset at your failure or at the difficulty. Pray continually to keep focused and to restore your focus each time your mind strays.

This whole process needs to be saturated in prayer. Scripture memory should not be impersonal. I need to be aware that God is present, speaking to me in the words I am memorizing. I recommend doing it with an attitude of worship. This needs to be done for God and God alone. Be careful not to think about how this will impress or affect other people. I pray for God to help me memorize. And I pray for Him to plant His word and His character in my heart and life.

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/
http://theanchorofthesoul.blogspot.com/
http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/
http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/

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