Memorization and Meditation Working Together

When you hear a new verse, it's gone almost before you can process it. Especially if, like me, you're not an auditory learner. When you read Scripture you have a little more time since you can read it over and over as you're praying and trying to discover how to apply it to your life, but you can't sit forever with your eyes glued to the verse. When something is memorized however, you can recall it, pray through it, consider it from multiple angles, compare it with other verses, apply it to whatever situation you're facing in the same moment--in short, meditate on the verse anywhere and at anytime that is convenient to you. I heard someone observe once that memorization is a form of meditation since it internalizes Scripture. You still have to apply it to your life (coldly memorizing the words isn't enough) but that's easier to do when you don't have to stop your activities to re-read a verse. Don't get discouraged by all the different activities needed to bring God's Word more deeply into your life. Make it easier on yourself: combine them and use one task to make the next task happen more naturally. Making meditation easier by first memorizing a verse Works for Me.

Bible Study: Memorize

Memorization is nothing more than repeating, again and again, until the words are internalized so completely that they roll right off your tongue. We've all memorized nursery rhymes, cultural sayings, short prayers--all by simply repeating them over and over. We know who Jack and Jill are, and the endings to "Waste not, _____" and "Now I lay me down to sleep, __________". Memorization may seem to be boring and challenging to stick with, but it's not hard. Repeat anything a million times, and it will be memorized.
What I find works for me is to choose a passage (rather than just one verse) and build upon it very gradually. We've decided as a family to begin with John 1:1 and continue indefinitely through this Gospel. I write down 2-4 verses together on an index card, my husband reads it aloud every day before our family meal, and everyone repeats it. It may take a few weeks, but eventually everyone can recite the verse with him without trouble. At that point, we count the passage as memorized and I write down the next 2-4 verses. The cards of already memorized verses are kept in a box near the table so we can review them regularly. My husband or I often pull out a card at random before other meals and ask everyone at the table to recite the passage with us. Sometimes my husband will pull out 3 or 4 cards in order so we can recite John 1:1-? as a unit. Eventually we might increase the number of cards enough to put more structure into the box we keep them in and have enough for the full system.

Bible Study: Memorize

Memorizing Scripture may take a bit of time and effort, but it sets the Word of God into our hearts. Nearly all of us has known someone with Alzheimer's and seen the effects of memory loss. What stays the longest in a rebellious memory are the things experienced earliest and most often. A song sung frequently by a mother to her child will be kept in the person's memory longer than a one-time event or a memory from adulthood. The importance of Scripture memorization for me is to set the words of the Bible into that part of my memory where they will stay with me no matter what. If I lose my memory someday to Alzheimer's or am in a position due to torture or depression or any other circumstance where it's difficult to remember much of anything from my life as it is right now, I hope at least to remember portions of the Word of God.


In the meantime I find memorization extremely powerful in influencing my thoughts and emotions. If I am listening to a lot of Christian music, or actively memorizing Scripture, the words sink into my thoughts and repeat their messages over and over. I find my thoughts and reactions to the people around me are much more upbeat, positive, respectful, peaceful, merciful, and loving. I am happier and the people I live with are happier. If I read or listen too much to secular material, I notice the opposite is true. While I don't want to stick my head into the sand and ignore the reality of the world around me, I also don't want it to determine how I relate to other people. I continue to listen to the news on secular stations and read about what is really happening, but I also try to make the vast majority of the music I listen to be Christian and I actively work at memorizing Scripture.

Read it again

"It is a gift of grace for one to recognize his own blindness before the Word of God and to pray that his eyes be opened." -Dietrich Bonhoeffer, "Eyes Wide Open"

No matter how many times I've read a particular verse I still find God can teach me new things when I read that same verse over again in a spirit of prayer. Whether it's new insights from Scripture studies about the original language or connections between verses that enlighten each other, or simply a change in my life circumstances that provides a new perspective, the Lord uses whatever verses I happen to be reading that day to speak into my life. So it's worthwhile reading each verse once again, recognizing my blindness and praying that God opens my eyes to today's lesson.

Memory Verses

My most important job, by far, is helping my husband and children reach heaven. I realized when my 2yo sang Agnus Dei around Easter time that she's ready to memorize Scripture at home. After all, we do not speak any Latin at home and it's not even included every Sunday at Mass. So an English (or Spanish) verse repeated before every meal and snack every day is easily manageable. Yet I would never have expected such a young child to be memorizing a couple Bible verses each month...

We're about to begin our 4th verse.

She's memorizing them much faster than I.