I have right now a stack of Bibles on my shelf, one on my bedside table, and another in my car. My children all have at least one Bible. They’re in the pews at church and handed out on campuses, available in almost every hotel room I can remember.
But so many never have that kind of access to the Word. In the 1950’s, in the harsh totalitarian regime of communist Soviet Union, a secret network of house churches brought students together for a conference. The conference was illegal, the house churches illegal, but worse — it was illegal for a parent to teach his own children in his own home about the Bible and Christianity.
Not one of the several hundred students attending the conference had ever owned a Bible.
During the week-long conference, the youth met every morning in small groups to see how much of the four gospels they could remember by heart. By the week’s end, they had recreated Matthew, Mark, Luke and John with only 12 mistakes.¹
Maybe your jaw hangs open as mine does at that story. Students who’d never had a Bible but were rich with the Word. That’s the beauty of memorizing scripture — when you know God’s Word by heart, it’s yours to keep.
I fell into memorizing large chunks and chapters of scripture almost by accident. Though I’d grown up active in church, scripture memory was completely foreign to me. But I wanted it for my kids. So one weekday, I gathered up kids and we started in with Psalm 23. One verse a day, some days just repeating and refining, and little by little we got it.
We went onto John 15, followed by Psalm 1 and others. Days turned into months and years. I had no idea then of the huge rewards I’d reap for those 10 minutes each weekday. I am a different person today for memorizing scripture. It sculpted my heart and helped make a warehouse of truth mine.
Why memorize scripture? These 7 reasons are a start.
1. Memorized verses are yours when you don’t have a Bible. In the car, on a run, rocking a colicky baby in the wee hours or immobilized for hours in that MRI. Memorized verses are yours when you want or need them.
2. Memorized verses are yours for deep Bible study. Memorizing scripture makes for slow Bible study. Memorizing one verse at a time allows you to really consider, dissect and apply it. It helps you chew on each phrase, word choice, prepositions and connecting words for layer upon layer of deep understanding.
3. Memorized verses are yours to confront the enemy’s lies. Our thoughts can so easily be clouded with fear and and the world’s served-up twisted truth. Memorized verses are like an internal fact checker. They’re a virus scanner that helps keep our thoughts clean of lies.
4. Memorized verses are yours to encourage you. Passages we’ve memorized come back like old friends. For years after memorizing Psalm 139 with my kids, I’d awake with its words running through my mind. That is the best kind of wake-up. They were a love note from God to me each morning as I prepared for the day.
5. Memorized verses are yours to encourage others. One way to let our conversations be full of grace and seasoned with salt is to share scripture. Friends have used scripture to help me soften my heart, clear my understanding and guide my thinking and my actions.
6. Memorized verses form your faith. Memorizing scripture cements truth in our heart. You cannot practice the words of Psalm 91 day after day without knowing deep down that God is infinitely trustworthy.
7. Memorized verses are yours when you need them most. Verses memorized on the ordinary days will anchor your soul on dark and painful days. They’re an investment which you’ll draw on over and over again on hard days.
If you’ve never memorized scripture on your own or with your family, it’s never too late to start. It’s a great day to find a good passage in your favorite translation and just press go.
If you’re wondering HOW to go about it? In Tips for Starting and Thriving in Scripture Memory, I’ve shared favorite tips from our experience as well as others who have shared with me.
xoxo, Lisa
¹This story is recounted by Nik Ripken in The Insanity of God: A True Story of Faith Resurrected.
Great reminder, Lisa! God’s Word is so amazing, and I could definitely use work in this area.
I was memorizing Psalm 27:13-14 (13 I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.) this summer, and I asked one of my 3 teenaged sons if he would listen while I recited it.
He did, and then said, “Raising teens, huh Mom?” : )
Lol! Psalm 27 would be a great psalm to memorize. What strengthening verses!
awesome!!
Thank you Rhonda and thank you for sharing. I know you’ve seen this and more in your own home.
Yes! I’m going to memorize this year! And you perfectly stated my reason: “They are yours to confront the hard of life and the wrong thinking that comes with it. ” Thanks for this inspiration!
Fantastic. Karen! Thank you for sharing.
amen…I so agree with everything you said, and have experienced it in my life ❤️
Thank you Beth ~ it’s sweet to share these experiences.
I love this post for so many reasons! This is on my radar to do much more of this next year…and instill in my children now that we are homeschooling and I have more control. Your reasons for getting scripture in us are so valid and make perfect sense. And we live in a time when we could have our rights to a Bible taken away at any time…and we take that for granted. This is good stuff. Can’t wait to hear what you share next…Blessings on your week,
Meredith
Thank you Meredith for hosting and for reading! I don’t think I even realized how deep this nerve hit for me until I started writing about it. I’m forever grateful God taught me this. You will love doing this with your family in the mornings before the hard stuff starts! 🙂
Awesome inspiration and encouragement here… I don’t know if I can memorize the gospels in a week… but I can memorize some of it. Thank you for the challenge to put to memory the greatest gift we live with everyday – His Word!
Stopping by from Coffee for your heart 🙂 blessings
Thank you for visiting Danise! Yes, just writing this post renewed my passion for memorizing scripture.
Hi Lisa. I’m visiting you from Meredith’s link up. Wow, I love thinking about how memorizing God’s Word makes it OURS. I’ve been working on it for three years, but this last year have gotten a bit lax. I love memorizing passages. With my kids we memorize passages throughout the school year: Romans 1:1-17, John 1:1-18. But if we don’t review we quickly forget! I can’t wait to see what you have to say next week!
Faith ~ John 1 is a favorite. Though I have to review as well, I’m always amazed how much kids retain! Thank you for visiting.
Great Post!
Thank you Jenny.
I love how you said when you memorize Scripture, it’s yours. Wish I could triple underline that! 🙂
Yes, lol. I could not have predicted how deep it gets into your soul. Thank you Sarah!
It is so important to memorize Scripture. I have thought so since Communist China was taking Bibles away during their regime.
I’ve known for years the importance of memorizing scripture, but haven’t always been the best at taking the time to do it. Now more than ever, I’m understanding the importance of hiding scripture in my heart. It gives me tools to get through every situation in life.
Thank you for a great reminder!
The blessings are tenfold the investment we make. I’m so grateful my kids keep me accountable to do this!