How to Memorize Scripture —
So You'll Never Forget
by Dr. Waylon B. Moore
Here are eight simple suggestions that will aid you to successfully memorize
and recall hundreds of verses almost instantly:
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Plan & Prepare
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Passage
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Paste the Reference
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Phrase by Phrase
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Perfect
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Partner
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Ponder
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Persistence
And, here's how I apply each suggestion in memorizing Scripture
so that I never forget!
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Plan & Prepare: Make a commitment to the Lord to memorize one to three verses
per week over at least a 6-month period. Use a tried memory system you can recommend to
others, such as the Navigator's Topical Memory System, instead of having to select verses
from scratch. After you've mastered this system, add your own verses. Put each
verse on a blank calling card or something of similar size. Put the cards inside a
plastic or leather cardholder, which you will take along on your daily routine.
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Passage: Start memory work in your Quiet Time when possible, perhaps early in the
morning. Commit to begin memorizing the first verse for the week before you eat Monday
lunch. Read the Bible passage (context) where your memory verse is located. See
how your verse flavors and is flavored by the verses before and after it.
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Paste the Reference: The Bible reference is like a street and house
address. Learn to “glue” the Bible reference to the first words of
the verse. Use this sequence: topic, reference, verse phrase, reference.
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Phrase by Phrase: Learn the verse by sections, versus all at once. For example,
say “John 16:24: ‘Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name,’ John 16:24.”
Quote the reference before and after, and repeat that phrase over and over. When you're ready
to add another section of the verse, start again with the reference. Learning it only a few
words at a time, you can easily memorize long verses or even a chapter.
“It's a cinch by the inch, but hard by the yard.”
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Perfect: Strive for word perfection. Use whatever translation touches your mind
and heart. I have learned more verses in the King James Version, but certain verses hit me
better in newer translations. I want to eat the word (
Jeremiah 15:16) and have it in my heart like a fire (
Jeremiah 20:9).
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Partner: Memorize with a friend. Team up with your mate, brother or sister,
or best friend. Check each other out. Make it fun!
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Ponder: “Chew up” the verse with meditation. Ask questions about
different words. Visualize how you can apply the verse. Pulverize the verse's
meaning. The goal of meditation is the Word becoming flesh, infusing our
beings! We want to be
“doers of the Word, not hearers only deceiving your own selves.”
(James 1:22) Ask God to let this verse
“dwell in your heart richly in all wisdom” (Colossians 3:16). There is
a whole chapter on how to memorize and meditate with delight in our newest book,
Living God's Word, published by LifeWay Press.
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Persistence: Review, review, REVIEW the verse daily for 100 days. Reviewing
isn't the same as meditation; it's recalling the reference with the verse and
saying it perfectly. The best way to review a verse is to use the verse. Use
spare time during the day, quoting the verse multiple times. Say it as you
travel or wait in line. Stick a verse card on your auto dashboard, by the sink,
or on a bathroom mirror. Find a small box to place verses into for later
review. You can average reviewing 30 verses per day quickly.
More than one person has asked me, “Give me your best 100 verses.” There are
31,176 verses in the Bible, and all are inspired and profitable. However, through Scripture
memory and application, the Lord has especially used certain verses to mark my past and
shape my future. With some reluctance I've selected my top 100 “gold nuggets,”
from the staggering wealth of God's Word — His “goldmine.”
Click
here to see a listing of My Favorite 100 Best Memory Verses from
His goldmine. They are arranged by topic with links to topics and verses. Each verse, at its
link, is quoted in the New International Version and each topic has its verses quoted together,
at its link, to facilitate your memorizing. Download them or print them for easier memorizing.
Don't forget to look each verse up in your own Bible to read the context.