Growing Your Faith: Storing God's Word In Your Heart

The three things that I am working on being intentional about this year are being in God's Word daily, being in prayer always, and lastly, storing God's Word in my heart.

I would be the first to say that I am absolutely horrible at memorization! I grew up going through the AWANA program - which is all about memorization of scripture. But I became the pro at short term memorization!

This is such an important aspect to our relationship with God though, and needs to be a priority in our lives. It needs to be something that we are intentional about doing, along with devotions and prayer.

As you can probably tell, I am a big fan of the Desiring God website - I've referred to it quite a few times over the last month on being intentional about growing your faith. There is a great quote I came across this week on why we should memorize scripture from Dallas Willard, a professor of Philosophy at the University of Southern California (emphasis added by me):

"Bible memorization is absolutely fundamental to spiritual formation. If I had to choose between all the disciplines of the spiritual life, I would choose Bible memorization, because it is a fundamental way of filling our minds with what it needs. This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth. That's where you need it! How does it get in your mouth? Memorization!"

I love that - it being a way of filling our minds with what it needs. I love when a verse comes to mind just when I need to hear it, and this only happens through memorization. Be sure to check out the entire article by John Piper - it lays out a few great reasons why memorization of scripture is essential to our lives. Here's another good article on scripture memorization by Jon Bloom.

The one thing with memorizing scripture is that there is not one way to do it better than another way. You just need to find out what works for you. Here are a few tips that I have found helpful:

1. Write It Out

For me, repetition is key. Whenever I have needed to learn something, if I write it out a few times or more, I tend to be able to recall it better. Just the simple act of putting pen to paper a few times really helps me out.

2. Surround Yourself With It

Write out the verse or verses you are working on memorizing on index cards and place them in key spots. In your house, in your car, on your desk at work, on your mirror in the bathroom. Anywhere you might come across it throughout your day.

3. Take Advantage of the Tools You Have

Pretty much everyone I know has a smartphone nowadays. Or a tablet or computer. Use it to your advantage! It is so easy to take a picture and add text to it - set it as your background or screensaver. Every time you look at your phone or computer, you will first see the verse!

4. Speak It Out

Not only does it help me to write it out, but as I come across the verse(s) in the key places I have set it, whenever I see it, it helps to speak it out too.  The visual and oral aspect of it is really helpful!

Wondering where to start? Pick a few of your favorite verses to start with, I find that this makes it easier to ease into the process of memorization. After that? There are lots of books out there, or even websites, with lists of some great verses for memorization. Even further - memorizing a big chunk, or even a complete book? I came across this tool that was recommended in quite a few articles I read: An Approach to Extended Memorization of Scripture by Dr. Andrew Davis {PDF}

What are some ways that you find helpful in memorizing scripture? Share below!

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