As a busy mom, I have found it hard to be in the habit of memorizing Scripture. It’s a habit that I would start doing, but then it always fell apart. Usually, I just forgot to do it, or I didn’t know what Bible verse to memorize next. I would tell myself, “I’ll find a verse or passage to memorize tomorrow.” But that never happened. I thought I needed a special notebook, or a nice stack of cards with verses on them.
I grew up going to AWANA. If you don’t know what AWANA is, it’s a Bible club for kids. They play games, sing songs, learn Bible stories, and memorize Bible verses. It was popular in the 1990s, and I think it has fizzled out since then. When I was young, my mom would take me and my siblings. We were in the habit of memorizing a couple of verses every week. To this day, I can remember the verses I learned when I was a child. That being said, I liked that memorizing Scripture was a habit for me as a kid, but once I started college and stopped going to AWANA, then I stopped memorizing Scripture. Up until recently, I hadn’t been able to make it a steady habit.
However, this past year has been the first year that memorizing Scripture has been a consistent and steady habit. Sometimes the word habit can remind me of boring things like brushing my teeth or taking vitamins, but memorizing Scripture is a rich habit that has changed me. By consistent I mean that it happens five or six days a week or so.
Pick a Book of the Bible to Memorize
It all started with this great idea of memorizing a book of the Bible. I have had friends in the past who have done this, and it’s something I always admired and wanted to do. I was drawn to memorize a book of the Bible because it would solve the problem of not knowing what verse to memorize.
Back in November of 2023, I decided I was going to memorize the book of James. I picked it because it’s small and not very intimidating. I had no idea how long this would take, but I figured that if I spend a few minutes each day memorizing a verse or two, it would all add up.
Currently, it’s December 2024, and I just finished memorizing the book of James. It took a whole year, which is longer than I thought. Despite the fact that it took me a year, I was encouraged because if I continue this habit for twenty, thirty, or forty years, then that’s a good chunk of the Bible I will have memorized.
Reading and Rereading Scripture
What I did each morning was read and reread the verse or verses I was working on. I would say it in my head or out loud several times. Nothing was written down only because I wanted it to be simple. I would also review the preceding verses. What I found was that constant reviewing was necessary. Usually, I spent about three to four minutes a day on memorizing. That’s it. Sometimes I would listen to James read aloud on my phone. I wasn’t very consistent with that, but I would recommend doing it.
Use a Bookmark
I have bookmarks in my Bible that remind what books to read each day (and Old Testament book, Psalms, Proverbs, and James). As silly as it sounds, placing a bookmark in James has helped me be consistent. If I see it popping out, then I remember to do it.
Be Realistic
I actually can’t stand up and recite James perfectly. Like I said earlier, I needed to review a lot to keep it all memorized. Once I was done with the last chapter of James, I had forgotten some of the verses in chapter one. After I reviewed them, it quickly came back to me. What helped me not feel defeated about not actually having James all perfectly memorized at once was asking myself what my goal was. My goal was to memorize more Scripture because 1) the Psalm 119:11 says to hide God’s word in our hearts that we might not sin against God, and 2) I wanted to be able think about Scripture during the day. I was still able to do that without being able to recite the whole book straight through.
Last Thoughts
Memorizing a whole book of the Bible makes sense. You get a better grasp of the flow of the book, the themes, the style, and the sequence of verses. Scripture memorization sounds harder than it actually is. All you need is a bookmark, a couple of minutes each day, and consistency. The hardest part for me was being consistent, but the more I was consistent, the easier it got to grow in consistency. Consistency and routine is something you can grow into and strengthen over time.
After I am done reviewing James one last time, I will go on to Ephesians. Who knows, maybe you will memorize a book of the Bible. Also, someday I will go back to James and memorize it again, and I bet it will be a bit easier the second time through.