An Approach to Extended Memorization of ????ure

Dr. Andrew Davis

Index
1. Value of ????ure memorization
2. Advantages of memorizing books of the Bible as opposed to individual verses
3. Making the commitment before God
4. Choosing your first book
5. Surveying the terrain
6. Daily procedures
a) retaining old verses
b) learning new verses
7. Long-term retention
8. Memorizing long books or memorizing faster

The Value of ????ure Memorization
There are numerous spiritual benefits to the memorization of ????ure. A proper assessment of these benefits begins
with understanding the role of the written word of God in our spiritual development. Jesus Christ openly stated that our
spiritual existence depends upon the word of God: “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the
mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4) The words of God are found in only one place: the Bible. Also, according to the Apostle
Peter one of our ongoing responsibilities is to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ,” (2 Peter 3:18) and
that we are to “make every effort to add to our faith goodness, and to goodness knowledge…” (2 Peter 1:5). But how are we
to grow? Growth in the Lord is called “sanctification,” the process by which we become more and more like Jesus Christ and
more and more separated from the world. Jesus Christ says that happens by the Word of God: “Sanctify them by the truth;
your word is truth.” (John 17:17) However, the Word of God must enter us through our MIND—through our
understanding—in order to change our hearts. Thus we are to meditate deeply on ????ure in order to understand it better, so
that our hearts may be changed. And we are to meditate on “every word that comes from the mouth of God.” There is no
more useful discipline to this careful process of verse by verse meditation than memorization. Memorization is not the same as
meditation, but it is almost impossible for someone to memorize a passage of ????ure without somewhat deepening his/her
understanding of those verses. Plus, once the passage is memorized, a lifetime of reflection is now available through ongoing
review… while driving on long trips, while walking on beaches, while conversing with friends, memorized verses can flow from
you and cause a deepening of understanding.
Furthermore, these verses also sanctify us by causing us to hate sin and to determine to fight it vigorously. Through
memorization, we are able to stand in the moment of temptation through the “sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of
God.” (Ephesians 6:17) Therefore did the Psalmist say, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your
word. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119:9,11)
In addition, the word sanctifies us by transforming our entire worldview from secular to heavenly: “Do not be
conformed any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to
test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2) The “renewing of your minds”
happens by the flow of ????ure through them like a pure river. As this river flows through your mind constantly, you will see
things more and more the way God does, if you are a child of God… for “we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:16)
This gives us more and more wisdom to deal with this world.
However, this benefit does not merely bless US in our own growth and development, but it becomes a treasure trove
for the growth of the church as well. The ????ure memorizer will be used mightily by God to teach and encourage other
Christians, with an apt word from the perfect Word of God: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and
admonish one another with all wisdom…” (Colossians 3:16) How better can you obey Colossians 3:16 than by ????ure
memorization? The “word of Christ” will indeed “dwell in you richly” as you memorize it, and then work it over in your mind
through meditation. Then you will most certainly be useful to God to “teach and admonish” another brother or sister.
????ure builds the Church to its final doctrinal and practical maturity (Ephesians 4:13-16), and God uses those who memorize
it to do this building in a powerful and eternally fruitful way.
Finally, the memorization of ????ure enables us to bless lost people with a powerful and vivid presentation of the
gospel of salvation. “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” (Romans
10:17) Those who memorize ????ure obey Peter’s command in this regard: “Always be prepared to give an answer to
everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope that you have.” (1 Peter 3:15) The “preparation” Peter had in mind is
best done by memorizing ????ure. Remember that it is ????ure which is “able to make you wise for salvation through faith in
Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:15) The evangelist who stores up ????ure on the life of Christ, for example, can vividly retell the
miracle stories to a generation which is biblically illiterate, which knows very little about the life of Christ. That person can
also give the theology of salvation from Paul’s epistles, if they have memorized those books. In short, ????ure
memorization makes one a much more powerful and effective evangelist.
There are other benefits… comfort during trials and bereavement, power and wisdom for counseling, the
development of heavenly-mindedness, the manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit, conviction over indwelling sin, fruitful
passage of time while waiting for delayed plane flights, etc. Suffice it to say that this is well worth our time.
When Judgment Day comes, we will regret the waste of a single moment not used for the glory of Christ. We will,
however, not regret one moment we spent diligently studying God’s Word and hiding it in our heart. We will only wish we’d
spent more moments doing this.
Memorizing Books Is Better Than Memorizing Individual Verses
Jesus said, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew
4:4) Paul said “All ????ure is God-breathed, and is useful for teaching rebuking, correcting, and training in
righteousness…” (2 Timothy 3:16) Memorizing individual verses tends to miss intervening verses that the individual does
not feel are as significant. Furthermore, most of ????ure is written to make a case… there is a flow of argumentation that is
missed if individual verses are memorized. Furthermore, there is also a greater likelihood of taking verses out of context by
focusing on individual verses.
Making the Commitment Before God
Go to the Lord in prayer and ask Him if He wants you to invest time in ????ure memorization. Listen to Him,
confident that He will guide you. Once you have that sense from God, ask Him humbly for help from the Holy Spirit. Ask
Him to protect you from spiritual pride… God HATES pride in every form (see Isaiah 2:6-22 and Luke 18:9-14), and while
knowledge of the Bible is absolutely essential to spiritual maturity, yet biblical knowledge without love for God and neighbor
“puffs up” a person (1 Cor. 8:2) and is useless to God and actually harmful to the church. God is well able to take away
your ability to memorize if you use it for your own glory. Then, humbly make the commitment before God that you will
invest time in ????ure memorization. Later, after you choose your book to memorize, you will have the opportunity to make
a written covenant before God concerning your commitment.
Choosing Your First Book
Once you have sensed God’s leadership and have made the commitment before God that you will memorize a whole
book of the Bible, the next step is to choose the book. This, too, should be done with prayer and a sense of the leadership of the
Holy Spirit. Some practical concerns should guide your choice as well:
1) Not too long (or too short?): Your first book should not be too long, lest you get discouraged in the way and give up.
The greatest obstacle to lasting achievement in this arena is lack of perseverance… just giving up. We give up usually
because the way seems too long and we feel we lack the strength for the rest of the journey. Just as one who someday
wants to finish a marathon does not begin simply by running 26.2 miles but must rather work up to that level, so also with
extended ????ure memorization. You must get the discipline deeply rooted in your daily habits and you must develop
your memory skills before you can attempt a really long book. Start with one around 90-160 verses long. There are
shorter books of the Bible, but 2 John or 3 John may not have the same impact on your life as one of the longer epistles.
However, all ????ure is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16), and therefore God may call you to start with 2 John.
2) One that stirs your passions: Choose a book that God has used in the past to minister to you, and that you think would be
most useful in your personal walk with Christ and in your ministry to others. You should also choose a book that still has
some mysteries to you (as all ????ure should and does!), and that you see as an adventure in learning.
After you have assessed your options, bring various options before the Lord in prayer and listen to His voice. Ask Him to guide
you, and He will direct your choice.
Surveying the Terrain
The next step is to survey the entire book for length, and decide how quickly you feel you can memorize it. Perhaps you
can start at one verse per day, six days per week. I always recommend taking one day off per week so you don’t get burned out, or
to take up the slack for days in which you are sick or exceptionally busy.
The way you survey the terrain is this:
1) Count the number of verses in the entire book.
2) Divide that number by the number of verses you will memorize per week. This is how many weeks the book should
take you.
3) Look at a calendar and determine a tentative finish date.
4) Add 10% so as to not feel under tremendous pressure until you get used to this lifestyle (i.e. If you are doing
Ephesians—155 verses—at the rate of 6 verses per week, it will take you 26 weeks, or exactly 6 months; add 10%--3
weeks—for a total of 29 weeks).
5) Make a covenant before the Lord that, with his help, you will memorize this book by this date:
“Lord, having sought you in prayer, I believe that you have led me to memorize (name of the book) . I now dedicate myself
to begin this task with your help and for your glory. I commit myself to memorizing this by (date) .”
Sign and date the covenant, and put it in a place where you can get to it regularly when the times get tough.
The purpose of surveying the terrain is to mark out a reasonable pace which will make achievement of your goal a
probability. It will teach you how much you need to do every day, and when you should finish. The survey leads to a covenant that
helps you keep persevering.
Daily Procedures
Priority of reviewing old verses: Always give priority in your mind to the retaining of old verses even over the learning of new ones.
What’s the point in going on to new ones if you don’t hold onto the old? This doesn’t mean you should re-memorize the old
ones… just that you should begin every day’s work with review of old verses. Look on that at what you need to do to
earn the privilege of acquiring some precious new verses. (Work before play!)
Repetition over time: Saying a verse 100 times in one day is not as helpful as saying it every day for 100 days. The
absolute key to successful ????ure memorization is repetition over a long time period. This is how you retain old verses
while learning new ones.
Memorizing the verse numbers: An important note is that it is well-worth the extra effort to memorize the verse numbers
as if they were part of each verse. This will help prevent you from dropping out verses or even whole paragraphs when
you’re reciting the book all the way through. It will also help you in being able to pick individual verses out to quote to
someone for ministry or evangelistic purposes. Finally, it will help you to be able to recall the verses as you are reading
Christian books that cite them… you won’t have to look them up! Ephesians 1:1-3’s verse numbers would be said like
this: “ One-one. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus;
One-two Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. One-three Praise be to the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…” etc. Longer verse numbers are no different… Ephesians 6:11 would be “ Six-eleven.
Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” Acts 27:25-26 would be
“ Twenty-seven twenty-five. So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.
Twenty-seven twenty-six. Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.” DON’T SHORT-CUT THIS
DISCIPLINE!! It actually makes memorization easier in the long run!
Photographing the verses with your eyes: Memorization is partly visual. This is not to say that blind people can’t
memorize the Bible, but just that the memorization process is connected very closely to the eye. Read each new verse
ten times, covering each word as though photographing it with your eyes. I can still remember where some particular
verses were on the page of the Bible I first used to memorize them. Burn each verse into your brain with your eyes.
Say it out loud: Another help in memorizing is to say the verse out loud to yourself. The additional sensory input to your
brain helps the memorization process. It doesn’t have to be very loud, just loud enough so you can hear it. Also, try
putting some feeling and interpretation into reciting the verses… this is actually a form of meditation on the verses as you
are learning them.
Sample daily procedure: The following is an example of how someone could go about memorizing Ephesians at the rate
of one verse per day:
1) Day one: Read Ephesians 1:1 out loud ten times, looking at each word as if photographing it with your eyes.
Be sure to include the verse number. Then cover the page and recite it ten times. You’re done for the day.
2) Day two: Yesterday’s verse first!! Recite yesterday’s verse, Ephesians 1:1 ten times, being sure to include
the verse number. Look in the Bible if you need to, just to refresh your memory. Now, do your new verse.
Read Ephesians 1:2 out loud ten times, looking at each word as if photographing it with your eyes. Be sure
to include the verse number. Then cover the page and recite it ten times. You’re done for the day.
3) Day three: Yesterday’s verse first!! Recite yesterday’s verse, Ephesians 1:2 ten times, being sure to include
the verse number. Again, you should look in the Bible if you need to, just to refresh your memory. Old
verses next, altogether: Recite Ephesians 1:1-2 together once, being sure to include the verse numbers.
Now, do your new verse. Read Ephesians 1:3 out loud ten times, looking at each word as if photographing
it with your eyes. Be sure to include the verse number. Then cover the page and recite it ten times. You’re
done for the day.
4) Day four: Yesterday’s verse first!! Recite yesterday’s verse, Ephesians 1:3 ten times, being sure to include the verse
number. Again, you should look in the Bible if you need to, just to refresh your memory. Old verses next,
altogether: Recite Ephesians 1:1-3 together once, being sure to include the verse numbers. Now, do your new
verse. Read Ephesians 1:4 out loud ten times, looking at each word as if photographing it with your eyes. Be sure
to include the verse number. Then cover the page and recite it ten times. You’re done for the day.
This cycle would continue through the entire book. Obviously, the “old verses altogether” stage will soon swell to take the most
time of all. That’s exactly the way it should be. The entire book of Ephesians can be read at a reasonable rate in less than fifteen
minutes. Therefore, the “old verses altogether” stage of your review should not take longer than that on any given day. Do it
with the Bible ready at hand, in case you draw a blank or get stuck… there’s no shame in looking, and it actually helps to nail
down troublesome verses so they will never be trouble again. Therefore, your 60th day should look like this:
60) Day sixty: (eight days off in that span means you’re on your 52nd new verse, which would be Ephesians 3:7)
Yesterday’s verse first!! Recite yesterday’s verse, Ephesians 3:6 ten times, being sure to include the verse number.
Again, you should look in the Bible if you need to, just to refresh your memory. Old verses next, altogether: Recite
Ephesians 1:1-3:6 together once, being sure to include the verse numbers. LOOK IN THE BIBLE IF YOU NEED
TO, SO THIS PROCESS WON’T TAKE TOO LONG!!! Now, do your new verse. Read Ephesians 3:7 out loud ten
times, looking at each word as if photographing it with your eyes. Be sure to include the verse number. Then cover
the page and recite it ten times. You’re done for the day.
Long-Term Retention
Assuming you continue this procedure in Ephesians with no missed days (other than your one day off per week), you
should be done with the whole book in 26 weeks. When you have learned Ephesians 6:24, “ Six twenty-four. Grace to all who
love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.” you should stop to celebrate!!! Get on your knees and give thanks to God for
His goodness to you.
But after your celebration is done, you need to get back to work. If you have done the “old verses altogether” stage
faithfully, this next stage should not be overly burdensome, even though it may seem like it will. RECITE THE ENTIRE BOOK
FROM MEMORY FOR 100 CONSECUTIVE DAYS. If you have done your work well, after about the second week you probably
won’t even need the Bible anywhere near you while you do this. Thus, you can do this step while in the shower, while driving,
while washing dishes, while walking down the road, while exercising… IT WILL ADD NO EXTRA TIME TO YOUR BUSY
SCHEDULE!! What is more, it is in this stage that you begin to see the scope of the entire book of Ephesians (or whatever book
you have memorized). You will see large themes that unite chapters together, you will see the flow of the argument, you will
discover new things that you never knew before.
Be tough with yourself… 100 days without missing a single one! You can do it, and you’ll be glad you did.
When that is over, then stick the book in a slot (Monday morning, let’s say), and recite on Monday morning for the rest
of your life. You will never forget it. However, don’t forget to weed the garden… as I will describe now:
“Weeding the garden”: As you recite a book over a long period of time without looking at the Bible, you will gradually
being to make little mistakes or leave verses out. Again, this is why memorizing verse numbers is so essential!!!
However, to “weed the garden,” simply take one of your Monday morning times after the 100 days (perhaps every
other month) and just read the book by sight all the way through. This will correct errors… this will “weed the
garden.”
Now, you are ready to memorize your next book!!!