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)
- Exercising our memory 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 include the reference at the end of my review to burn into my memory where the verse is in the Bible 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. It cannot be too similar to the verse itself; otherwise, you will be just 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 the Spiritual Workbench (this website), we have developed a new technique to hide everything but the topic and then to progressively reveal the verse reference and verse text. We believe this process will enhance your learning experience and result in advanced Spiritual growth.
Best Approach:
Lets start out with a verse we all know. Read the following Topic and see if you can guess the verse reference. Click the show button to see if you were right.
16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. – John_3:16 KJV
At the start, only then topic is visible. This should trigger in your mind the verse reference. Does it? Click on the show button to see if you are correct. If you thought it was, John_3:16, you are correct. The show button also expanded space to include the verse text, but it is invisible. Actually, it is shown white text on a white background.
That now brings us to the second task to memorize a verse. If you long-press the show button (to select it) the system will highlight it and two blue buttons will appear to adjust the selection. You can use these buttons to progressively expose the verse text word by word. This approach will force you to come up with the verse reference and verse text from memory.
- Use the topic which is unique to this verse to trigger your memory of the verse reference and text. The text is stored in the white space below the reference… This color scheme hides the text making you use your memory to recall the reference an verse text.
- For quick review, just click at the blue reference link (mouse over it) 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 outside the highlighted area to start over. Long press kshow and see if you can recall the first phrase. 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, check the whole verse card again for a final confirmation that you have it right.
- Review in your mind the verse reference to burn the whole process into your memory.
- Once you have conquered your first verse, you will be ready to move on to the next verse.
- 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 blue 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; see if you can remember the verse and then check your memory by holding the mouse over the blue verse reference link or click on it from your tablet or cell phone… As mentioned, you can also progressively select phrases from the text area as you learn the verse for the first time.
Put it aside for a while; take your mind off it. Then, try it again. Repetition is good. Look at the topic. See if you can recall the reference without looking at it (without the show button). 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.
Start you way through the Navigator Topical Memory System (TMS). There are seven or eight groups in the next section. This will give you a well-rounded grasp of your relationship with Jesus. Once completed, you can expand to memorize verses you find interesting from your own studies.
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… “Salvation, given to anybody believing in His Son” 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.