Memorizing Bible verses and passages can be a struggle, especially if you’re trying to memorize them quickly without thinking about remembering them for the long haul. Today, some suggestions to help you keep God’s word in your heart.
Crosswalk Contributor, Scott Slayton shares several tips for Bible memory:
First, Memorize Bible Verses in Their Context
Instead of memorizing just a verse, memorize the entire paragraph where the verse you want to remember is found.
This approach has practical and theological advantages. Practically, you get into the flow of how the author of the passage wrote the letter and this always helps recall. You start with the first few words of a paragraph and the rest has a way of coming back to you as you pick up momentum. It also helps you to keep Bible verses in their proper theological context.
Next, Review Bible Verses on a Schedule.
Ideally, you would spend a few days memorizing a verse and then the next couple of days reviewing it. Then, let it sit for a couple of days and review it again. After that, review it next week, the in two weeks, and then in a month.
Slayton says this is one area where smartphones can be an aid to your devotional life as there are several helpful Scripture memory apps on the market. Both Fighter Verses and Verses have great interfaces and use multiple types of interactive quizzes to memorize Scripture. Slayton says his personal favorite is ScriptureTyper. It allows him to keep verses in collections and puts them on a review schedule.