Why Memorize Scripture?
The Bible is God’s word, His message to mankind (2Tim 3:16 KJV). The God of the universe has spoken to humanity; we should certainly take it seriously; take Him seriously. The Spiritual Workbench was developed to make the process of memorizing and meditating on God’s Word easier.
Several have suggested a number of reasons to memorize God’s word. Some are shown below:
Reasons to memorize God’s word:
Please note: To show the Scripture references use your desktop mouse to hover over the blue verse reference or touch on the link from your mobile phone.
- Hiding God’s word in you heart brings success to our lives (Josh 1:8 KJV)
- It gives answers to prayer (John 15:7 KJV)
- Scripture Memory gives you renewed life (Ps 1:2-3 KJV)
- It is how God gets stuff done (Isa 55:11 KJV)
- It keeps our minds sharp as we grow more mature…
- It may eventually be shown to help prevent the effects of aging, like dementia and Alzheimer’s.
- You can use verses you have memorized in your prayer time… specifically calling a verse to mind as you pray for someone’s request.
- Memorized verses can be easily meditated on as you ask the Spirit to understand and apply a verse in areas you need to work on (Ps 119:9-11 KJV)
How to Get Started…
Most people end up memorizing things they use on a frequent basis, that is if you use your memory in recalling the item. If you don’t use your memory, that item may become harder and harder to recall. So, periodic review, recalling items from memory is important in maintaining our ability to recall them in the future as needed.
As you can see from the previous discussion, this web site called the Spiritual Workbench is specifically geared toward scripture memory. In the bullets above, you will see the verse references are highlighted in light blue with an underline. That indicates that the software used on this web site, has transformed the reference into a link to the verse itself. We use a piece of software called an plug-in from Biblia.com to show the verse when you hold your mouse over the reference or click on the reference from your smart phone. This is a convenient way to talk about a verse and then to quickly look at the verse. If you hold your mouse over the references above, or if you click on them from your cell phone, you will see the verse actually says.
Let’s get started… The best approach is to start out your scripture memory journey is with a single verse. Memorize it in segments or phrases. Start with a topic that will trigger the correct verse in you mind and then memorize the first phrase. Once you learn these, start your recall / review process with the topic, reference and first phrase. If you include the reference to the verse (book chapter : verse) in this process, you will also burn into your memory where in the Bible to go to find the verse in the future. So, I have found the best practice is to progressively add phrases to the what you just memorized until I can say the whole thing from memory in the following order… Topic – Reference – Verse (word for word) – Reference. I tack the reference on at the end to burn into my memory the reference one last time.
One verse we are all familiar with…. John 3:16 KJV. What is a good topic for this verse? How about… “God Loves the World and Gave Himself for it”. The idea behind this topic is to bring to mind this verse specifically over other verses you have memorized or will memorize in the future. It should bring to your mind first the reference and hopefully the first phrase over all the other verses you will have memorized on this subject. So, it cannot be too similar to the verse itself, otherwise you will be reading the verse instead of recalling it from memory. In addition, it cannot be too vague or you will get it mixed up with other verses you have memorized. Next, this topic should trigger recall of the verse reference, John 3:16 KJV. Including the translation. It is important.
On this web site, we have built a set of tables similar to that shown below. It shows the topic and reference for the verse when I originally memorized them years ago. It also shows the text of the verse shown in the column to the right. I have hundreds of verses listed by various categories to help you select verses to memorize. You will eventually be able to enter your own set of verses and track your progress. Currently, you can piggy back on my original set of verses.
| Topic | Reference | Text |
|---|---|---|
| God Loves the World and Gave Himself for it | John 3:16 KJV | For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever beleiveth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. |
Best Approach:
Several tables have been set up to facilitate the above process efficiently. The above table is formated with limited formating to allow you to see all columns. This same example is shown in the following table for review purposes. Some columns have been hidden to enhance the memorization process. In this table, the only column that is visible is the Verse Topic. This will force you to come up with the verse reference and verse text from memory. A detailed process is listed following this example:
| Topic | Reference | Text |
|---|---|---|
| God Loves the World and Gave Himself for it | John 3:16 KJV | For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever beleiveth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. |
- Look at the topic listed in the left column. Use the topic which is unique to this verse to trigger your memory of the verse reference and text. Which is stored in the middle, dark-blue column, blue on blue… This color scheme hides the text making you use your memory to recall the reference.
- For quick review, just click at the top of this dark blue area and the system will show you the verse card, the reference at the top followed by the verse text. How did you do? Did you remember both?
- If you draw a blank. Click on the the upper left corner of the light blue column (on the right). This will highlight the first few words of the verse. This may give you a kick start… You will then know if you are on the right track.
- In addition, you can use this method to progressively reveal this verse text as you are trying to learn the verse. Many times it only takes a look at the first word to remind you of the verse, with this approach you can reveal only the part of the verse necessary to trigger your memory.
- Finally, click again in the dark blue column for a final confirmation that you have it right.
- Review in your mind the verse reference to burn the whole process into your memory.
- Move to the next verse once you are confident you have finished.
- Repeat this entire process as often as needed to keep these verses fresh in you memory.
This approach provides a method to expose the verse progressively as you learn it, or give you a hint if you are a bit rusty. The standard way to quickly show the text of the verse is to hold your mouse over the reference or click on it from your smart phone. A virtual card will pop up showing you the whole verse at once. This method is good for a quick review of verses you have already memorized… Give it a try… Read the topic (on the left); see if you can remember the verse and then check your memory by holding the mouse over the verse reference (to the right) or click on it from your tablet or cell phone… As mentioned, you can also progressively select phrases from the text column as you learn the verse for the first time.
Now, try it again. Repetition is good. Look at the topic. See if you can recall the reference without looking at it (in blue). That is a tough thing to do sometimes. Then review the verse itself…. every word, exactly as written. Finally, hold your mouse over the reference to see the verse displayed. Click outside the pop up (or move the mouse) and it will disappear. Thoroughly, learn one verse at a time. Review it periodically throughout the day. Review it as often as you can. Try to review it at least once a day for a while as you memorize other verses. As you develop the habit, it will become easier to remember and you can spread out your review for the verses you just memorized. Remember, the more you review the better you will be able to recall the verse when you need it.
Keep Going… Review, Review, Review.
Suggestions… When you first memorize a verse, give it 5 minutes. Go do something totally different and come back in a little bit. This first time back can be difficult. But go through the same process you did initially to learn the verse. Start with the Topic… “God Loves the World and Gave Himself for it” and then see if that triggers the verse reference… John 3:16 KJV Quote the verse in your head, then hover over (mouse over) or click on the reference to see how you did.
Some words will disappear from your memory; others will be replaced with a synonym. This will be your opportunity to correct these errors and make the version you carry with you (in your mind) exactly like the version you memorized. Next give it 10 minutes, then 20 minutes. When you come to the point that you can quote it word for word with out difficulty, you can call it good… for a while. However, you are not done, you may never be completely done. After a day or so, you may have to go through the same process of relearning the verse. This process will get easier and easier the more times you do it. Finally, develop a systematic approach to review all your verses periodically, often enough to keep them ready and available for the Spirit to use in your life.