My brother-in-Christ, James, memorized Psalm 91 before he became a Christian.
He was struggling with opposition, and his mom encouraged him to memorize Psalm 91 and say it whenever he was afraid.
One day, he recited the whole Psalm for his neighbor, who invited James to come to church. James went. He heard the Gospel. He accepted Christ that day.
Needless to say, Scripture memory is an important spiritual discipline in James’ life. Every week, he encourages our church members to memorize Scripture and say it aloud to one another.
“I work the late shift, and when I get home, the house is empty. I know I can cast all the anxieties of the day on God. I can choose to focus on Him and His Word and have peace. I know His Word protects me from Satan’s attacks. His Word is living and active, you know?” James told me.
Some of us (ahem) have more trouble memorizing than others. I asked James for his tips and tricks to memorizing whole chapters and passages of Scripture. I thought I would share them with you so that they might help you in your New Year’s Resolution to memorize more Scripture. That is one of your resolutions, right?
I asked James, “How do you choose which passages to memorize?”
“I read the Word everyday, and as I’m reading, I pay attention to which passages would especially help me with a struggle or problem I’m facing. I choose those passages. There is quite a few I want to memorize, but I try to do them one at a time.”
“So, do you try to memorize verse by verse, one verse at a time? Or how do you get started?” I asked.
“No. I usually read the whole passage everyday, over and over. Read the whole thing and make sure to say it aloud. That way, both your eyes and your ears are getting it.”
“Once you have a passage memorized, how often do you repeat it?”
“I say most of mine everyday. You can say them while you’re riding along, or working, or walking.”
“How have you seen Scripture memory help others?” I ask, because I know he has seen it help me as he has encouraged me and my kids to memorize more.
James mentions a mutual friend and says, “You know, I encouraged him to memorize Psalm 91. He worked on it everyday. After he got it memorized, he said, ‘I never thought I could do that, but now I know that I can do anything in God’s strength.’ There is power in God’s Word.”
James shares the love of Christ and His Word at work. He said, “Sometimes, I get frustrated because they don’t know how much Jesus loves them. They are afraid to go to church. But, I know if they hear God’s Word, they will at least be hearing some of the Truth about Him instead of believing the lie.”
I am thankful for James and for his encouragement to memorize Scripture. I hope God’s Word will be living and active in your life as you follow Him this new year.
Sarah Dixon Young 