Scripture memory is probably the most overlooked of all the basics. It is an essential part of the Christian way of life that somehow gets lost on the masses and isn't preached from the pulpit. Why?

  • "It's too hard"

  • "My mind doesn't work like that"

  • "I can barely remember where I put my keys"

  • "I can always just look it up on my phone"

  • "It's enough to just know the gist of a passage"

BIBLICAL IMPERATIVE

What does the Bible say? This blows me away every single time. What is the greatest command? Deuteronomy 6:5 - "Love the Lord your god with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."

What is the very next verse after the greatest command? Another command: "These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts" (v6). Why is this the very next verse? Because the best way to obey God's Word is to memorize God's Word! David says the same thing: "How can a young man keep is 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).

Song of Songs 3:8 also says of the mighty men of Israel: "All of them wearing the sword, all experienced in battle, each with his sword at his side, prepared for the terrors of the night." The Word is our sword (Ephesians 6:17). Who charges the front lines with his sword still in its sheath? Or who tells the enemy, "Hold on, I know I've got a weapon for this somewhere, just let me find it"?

For some reasons, most pastors just don't talk about this. Looking for sermons on YouTube, John Piper is about the only one who has any appreciable content on the subject. Let me link you to one of my favorite sermons on the subject, if you're interested: here. Don't know where to start? Here's where I began.


HOW TO

References

First and foremost: memorize the references. Why?

  • If you ever forget the verse, you know where to find it again.

  • Lots of people will have trouble buying into the "trust me, it's in the Bible somewhere" excuse

  • When you share it with someone, they may need to look it up for context, like the Bereans of Acts 17

Meditation

Regarding methodology, I like to use what I call "piecemeal meditation." Break the verse down into several components and let each one seep into your mind gradually. So, if I were memorizing 1 Samuel 12:23, I would say ...

  • "As for me," and then ponder what that means

  • "As for me, far be it from me" and then try to meditate on what might cause a person to say something like that

  • "As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord," and then meditate on the aspects of why we shouldn't sin against the Lord and how the "far be it from me" attitude factors into that.

  • "As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you" - how does failing to pray fit into the rest of the concept and how often do I make that mistake?

  • "As for me, far be it from me that i should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you; and I will teach you the way that is good and right" - what does teaching people have to do with prayer? Ask all kinds of other questions about the passage.

  • Add the reference at the end every time.

By doing things this way, you're not just memorizing words, but meaning and application as well. You're meditating on Scripture in a way that commits it to memory with a purpose. Then repeat it several times.

Organization

In fact, Dawson Trotman suggests a verse isn't truly memorized until you've reviewed it every day for 49 days after the day you learned it. To help keep verses organized, I use what's called a verse pack, which can fit in your pocket to be pulled out whenever it's convenient - most easily used between sets or while doing cardio at the gym.

My discipler has one of the most impressive systems I have seen on Scripture memory. As a result, he has a verse for virtually every single scenario I have ever brought to his attention. His system?

  • In the front pouch of the verse pack, keep verses you're currently trying to memorize. Review those multiple times a day.

  • In the opening of the pack, keep verses you memorized within the last month that you still need to keep reviewing. those should be reviewed once a day.

  • The pouch on the other flap on the inside is for long-term verses (over a month) that either need to be reviewed or honed. He would also review these once a day.

  • All of his back-logged verses were divided into 30 groups and a new group entered that back pouch every day so that every verse he knows was erviewe at least once a month. If he had trouble, it went into the other middle pouch for closer review.

Bulk Memorization

I have developed my own niche in Scripture memory through working on longer passages. I find that by doing successive verses, it's easier to maintain a flow from one topic to the next. This also helps me understand and meditate on verses because I don't need to open my Bible to get the context - it's already stored in my heart and head, making application that much easier.

Again, the gym/cardio is a great time to get this done. Record yourself reading the passage and play that sucker on a loop, pressing the "restart" button every time you begin to falter.

If you want a verse pack, let me know and I'll PM you a number where you can order one ... or several - I like to hand them out to people I disciple after they get their first 5-10 verses down as a motivator.


Why does any of this matter? Because part of being a man is being disciplined. We shouldn't just discipline ourselves on matters that affect our outward appearance, like lifting and dieting. Much of MRP content is about developing emotional and mental discipline as well, such as passing tests, abundance mentality, amused mastery, stoicism, etc.

As Christians, developing spiritual discipline is even more important than all of the above. Sure, Scripture memory has a mental component, but the spiritual benefits are undeniable.

Most notably, John 1 references Jesus as the Word of God. The Bible is literally an expression of everything Jesus has to say to us as God's voice to the world. By internalizing the Word, we are asking Christ Himself to dwell within us. Think on that as you pick out your first verse to get started with.