FinishYear 2012 - Scripture Memory Facts

Some of my goals for the year was to memorize a great deal of Scripture. Well, it isn't going quite like I had hoped, but that doesn't mean that I am not learning Scripture. I use a program called Memverse.com to help me study and memorize the verses.

Here are a few facts about my memorization so far this year.

• I have currently memorized 117 verses.
  
• Of those 117 verses, 45 verses are from the Old Testament and 72 verses are from the New Testament.
  
• I am currently working on memorizing 6 complete Psalms (Psalms 1, 23, 91, 100, 103, and 121).
  
• I am also working on memorizing Romans 5 and 6, Philippians 1, 1 Corinthians 13, and 1 John 1 and 2.
  
• There are 31,103 verses in the Bible. I have memorized 0.3% of the Bible.
  
• There are 23,145 verses in the Old Testament. I have memorized 0.2% of the Old Testament.
  
• There are 7,958 verses in the New Testament. I have memorized 1% of the New Testament.
  

Now, in full disclosure, the word "memorized" is a very loose term. I am working to be able to recall the verse if someone gives me the reference, but I am not quite there yet. I can, however, recall most of my memorized verses when provided with the first letter of each word in the verse. Some may call this cheating, but I am attempting to hide God's Word in my heart. That can't be said for a lot of other individuals.

I'll touch base in a few weeks or so and we'll see how much these percentages have changed.

An Explosion in the Idea of Scripture Memory

The other day I wrote a post about memorizing verses with children. Since I wrote that post, there has been an explosion in posts about Scripture memory. While I would like to think that it was because of my article, I think it has more to do with the Lord wanting us to memorize His Word.

Here is a round-up of some of those posts:

Andy Johnson gave a stockpile of Scripture memory resources.

The folks at North Point Community Church offered some tips for memorizing with preschoolers.

One of my favorite websites, Memverse.com, had a blog post about adult memorization.

Finally, my wife's blog had a post about a great Scripture memory album.

If you enjoy memorizing Scripture, enjoy. If you don't, well, get with the program.

Memorizing Scripture With Children

As I've made clear before, I am a very big proponent of Scripture memory. I think it is a bit disappointing that so few adults put any value into memorizing Scripture. It is actually a lot of fun and the experience is extremely rewarding.

Here are a few thoughts that I had on memorizing Scripture with children. I have three boys of my own (with another on the way) and my oldest is getting to the age where he can begin to memorize Bible verses.

1. Make it a daily routine. The way to memorize Scripture is to do it daily. Go over the verse a couple of times each day, at the same time. You can do it at dinner, before school, or at night before bed. The idea is to be consistent.
   
2. Choose appropriate verses for your child's age. While all verses in the Bible are inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16), not all of them are necessarily age-appropriate for your child. I would recommend start with John 3:16, Genesis 1:1, John 1:1, or Romans 3:23. As your child progresses and learns some verses, gradually increase the difficulty of the verse.
   
3. Make learning the verse fun. If you can, try to make learning the verse an enjoyable experience. It should not be a chore. When I was in Sunday School, we would often do an activity where the teacher would write the verse on the board, then gradually remove words until the entire verse was gone. You can also try to turn it into a song or add motions to the verse. Doing this will help your child retain the verse long after you have moved to a new verse. I actually still remember 1 John 4:7-8 and most of 2 Timothy 2:15 because of songs I sang as a little kid (Awana, anyone?)
   
4. Memorize Scripture yourself. One of the most awesome privileges of being a parent is the fact that our children want to do everything we do. My little boys pretend to shave when they are in the tub because they have seen me shaving in the morning. If we want our children to love memorizing Scripture, they need to see us doing it as well. Make it a part of your daily life. If you memorize one verse a week, you will have learned 52 verses in one year. Imagine the impact that doing something as simple as one verse per week can have on your walk with God.
   

I am sure that I am missing some tips, so if you can think of something or want to share what you do to teach your children Scripture, please add your tips below.

What are you doing to teach your children (or yourself) Scripture?

FinishYear 2012 - Putting My Memorization into Practice

I had the opportunity to put some of my memorization into practice on Sunday evening. Using Psalm 119:9-16, as our text, we looked at the absolute necessity that Scripture memory is in our Christian walk. My points were based of a sermon I had read by John Piper on John 15.

At the end of the sermon (which I will post the video from at some point, as well as the points I used), I had the opportunity to share some of the passages that I have memorized. I was a bit nervous, so I took notes with me. Here are some of the notes that I used to recite the passages.

1 John 1:1
T w w f t b, w w h h, w w h s w o e, w w l u a h t w o h, c t w o l –

1 John 1:2
t l w m m, a w h s i, a t t i a p t y t e l, w w w t F a w m m t u –

1 John 1:3
t w w h s a h w p a t y, s t y t m h f w u; a i o f i w t F a w H S J C.

Looks a bit undecipherable? Well, this is a tip that I've learned about memorizing: using the first letter of each word until you have the passage down cold. While some make think of this as cheating, you have to know the verse in order to understand the "code."

Best of luck. What passages are you going to memorize using the code?

Most Bookmarked Verses of 2011

I came across an interesting link the other day about the verses that were bookmarked on YouVersion. The list is below:

1. Philippians 4:6 – 123,035
   
2. Jeremiah 29:11 – 100,044
   
3. Proverbs 3:5 – 97,758
   
4. Romans 12:2 – 95,804
   
5. Philippians 4:13 – 87,120
   
6. Philippians 4:7 – 83,193
   
7. Romans 8:28 – 78,491
   
8. Proverbs 3:6 – 74,770
   
9. Matthew 6:33 – 73,544
   
10. 1 Corinthians 13:4 – 71,923
    

Not surprisingly, I was working to memorize most of these verses already. The only ones I had to add were Jeremiah 29:11 and 1 Corinthians 13:4.

By the way, if you haven't already downloaded the YouVersion app for whatever device you have, what are you waiting for? Download it right away and make sure you download some of the free versions (KJV, ESV, HSCB, NKJV) so you can still read and study, even when you don't have an internet connection.

Congratulations, Jennifer Carter

I didn't really ask her permission and she isn't one to seek glory for herself, but I wanted to take a moment to recognize the achievements of a friend. Jennifer Carter, who attends First Baptist Church Inwood, has recently memorized 427 Scripture verses using a website called Memverse.com. That is an amazing achievement. I am actually in awe of what she has done.

Scripture memory is the redheaded stepchild of biblical disciplines. We tend to give it a lot of polite nods, but no one spends much time doing it. For most of us, Scripture memory ended when we stopped going to Awana or Word of Life. No more Vacation Bible School, no more Scripture memory. This needs to change. We are commanded in Scripture to learn and meditate on Scripture.

I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:11

For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel. Ezra 7:10

How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. Psalm 119:9

Jennifer, I'm proud of you. Congratulations.

Memory Verse of the Week (July 25-31, 2011) - Philippians 1:6

Our verse to memorize this week is Philippians 1:6 -

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

A great way to memorize Scripture is to get in the habit of reading/reciting the verse at least 10 times every day. When I am learning a new verse or passage, I will work through the verse as many times as I can in on sitting. Later, I will come back to it and repeat the process.

Happy studying!

Memory Verse of the Week - Ephesians 6:16-18

I believe that one of the most neglected spiritual discipline is that of Scripture memory. If you think about it, those of us who grew up in church memorized a lot of Bible verses as children. We memorized verses to get candy bars in Junior Church. We memorized verses to win points at Vacation Bible School. At a summer camp that I attended, it was possible to earn points for your team by memorizing what was known as a "Sword", a group of six verses in a row. Almost every kid in my cabin would attempt to memorize Psalm 136 (look it up and you'll understand why). One time I earned a scholarship to camp for memorizing the most Bible verses one week. Awana, Word of Life, Sunday School...the list goes on of places that we memorized Scripture as children.

However, once we left middle or high school, the importance of Scripture memory is no longer stressed. Ask anyone and they will tell you they either can't memorize or don't have the time.

In response to this, I am suggesting that we work together to memorize a Bible passage per week. By spending a little bit of time each day memorizing and reviewing the passage, you will have an incredible tool at your fingertips to help you fight sin that you may be faced with (Psalm 119:11). Continue this for a year and you will have at least 52 verses or more memorized.

The verse to learn this week is Ephesians 6:16-18. I have listed the passage below as it is found in the English Standard Version (ESV).

[16] In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;

[17] and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,

[18] praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
(Ephesians 6:16-18 ESV)