Last week we learnt about the benefits of committing scripture to memory. If you missed it, click here to catch up! Today Sandra shares with us some of her favourite methods, tools and resources for scripture memorization.
Learning Methods
There are many different methods that one can use to memorize scripture. We are all individuals and respond differently to different learning techniques. There is no one right approach. Below is a comprehensive list of various learning methods, resources and tools which you can use to help your children (and yourself!) memorize scripture. Have fun playing around with the various methods until you find the perfect fit that works best for you and your kids! And most importantly, don’t forget to enjoy the time spent in committing God’s Word to your heart. Lets get started!
1. Visualize it.
Begin by reading the verse a few times, trying to understand what it is saying and visualizing its’ message. Write the verse on a small card and keep it with you and when you have a free moment, read the verse over a few times and again before you go to bed. Alternatively, stick the card up on your bathroom mirror, or fridge, or by your kitchen sink where you can see it all day.
A great idea would be to put a picture with the memory verse. They say a picture can speak a thousand words! This method works well for visual learners. There is also an app called Bible Memory System by Memlok that emphasizes visuals. It works by giving you word-picture clues of the verse you are trying to memorize.
2. Sing it.
This works well in auditory learning. This method has really helped me, as I find a song usually sticks in my mind very quickly. Scripture songs are a fantastic way to memorize the bible!
Sonlight Education Ministry has all three years of the Family Bible Lesson’s memory verses put to music, and the sheet music is freely available too. You can find them on the Sonlight Google Drive in the same folder as the Family Bible Lesson books. In each Quarter’s folder there will be an MV folder (Memory Verses) containing all the memory verse songs for that quarter.
Wayne Hooper’s “Sing a Bible Verse” CDs are a great resource covering most of the same memory verses that the Sonlight Family Bible Lessons follow. You can purchase them here.
Trilogy Scripture Songs have also been a favourite in our family. These are the scripture songs you will find on Hope Sabbath School presented by Derek Morris. You can purchase the CDs/digital downloads here.
Scripture For Kids is a YouTube channel with KJV scripture songs for children. Here is a cute one that we really liked:
Audioverse has some lovely Scripture songs for free too. You can find them online here and you can also download the app to your mobile device.
3. Write it.
Play games! Make learning fun by mixing the words up and allowing older kids to unscramble them. Try writing out the verse on a whiteboard, leaving some words out as blanks for your kids to fill in.
Memory verses can always be re-inforced for handwriting practice in school. Try copying the verse out a few times using different colours or start a memory verse journal. Mark the verse in your bible in bright colours! There is also an app called Bible Memory where you can type out the memory verse (practice your typing skills!) and memorize it that way.
Another way is to choose a theme or topic like salvation or forgiveness or promises of God, and try memorizing by category. Do a bible study of a certain topic and write out some of the verses related to that topic, highlighting the key words. This method works really well for studying various character traits, like honesty or cheerfulness. As a parent, knowing the right bible verse to share with my children when disciplining them is crucial. Sonlight Family Bible Lessons also has a memory verse each week on various character traits which is incredibly helpful. Character First is a wonderful curriculum that also emphasises different character traits and has stories and crafts to illustrate each one.
4. Speak it.
Say the verse out loud a few times, or even better share it with a family member or friend. Try listening to it from an audio bible.
5. Do it.
This is a great method for younger, more active kids who are more kinetic learners.
Write the bible verse on separate little colourful cards for each word and play hide and seek, or hot and cold games, hiding the words around the house for them to find. Doing sign language or actions with the verse might be helpful too.
Drawing or painting a picture related to the memory verse can also be fun for younger kids as they get to use their imagination and creativity.
For older children, putting together a Microsoft Powerpoint presentation with pictures and/or photos to go with the selected scripture could be enjoyable.
6. Review it.
Previously learned verses need to be reviewed often. This is a key ingredient in memorization! This Charlotte Mason scripture memory system is a great way to go over previously learned memory verses. It consists of a small box with index cards inside, where you can keep all your bible verses in an orderly way.
7. Pray it.
We can do it! Phil 4:13 tells us “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me”. God promises to help us to do things which may seem impossible to us. Memorizing may seem very difficult, but make a start with just one familiar short verse. Pray and ask God to help you remember it. He is faithful, He will help! As we pray and ask God to give us the desire to memorize, and then see how He helps us to remember, it increases our faith.
As a family, we struggled in the beginning to be motivated and focused. But then we started to pray that God would help us to memorize and it changed everything! Memorizing became easier and a joy! May the Lord help us to value what He values!
8. Share it.
The verse you are learning could be of great encouragement to someone. Have a Scripture Memory Buddy! Have someone you can recite your newly learned verse to or, even better, learn verses together as a family. Make a sticker chart for small children and as they correctly recite the verse give them lots of encouragement and praise.
Other Resources and Ideas
The FAST website is dedicated to memorizing scripture with the added benefit of having many other learners in a support group.
Each week in the Sonlight Education Ministries Family Bible Lessons there are memory verses to learn. It is a 3 year curriculum, so that makes an amazing 156 verses to learn! Here is a great opportunity to memorize verses! The memory verses follow the bible story for that week and teach the key lesson to be learnt from that story. We have found learning these memory verses a blessing.
Memorize the names and order of the books of the bible. It took us just over a year as each week we learned a different book of the bible. We coloured pictures we found from the Answers In Genesis website.
Then we made a mini bookshelf with mini books from matchboxes. We put them in a colour-coded way to remind us of the different categories the bible is divided up into (for example, history, poetry, and prophecy).
And we also sang a great song from My Bible First which has the old and new testament names of the books of the bible put to music. My Bible First also has a nice poster of the books of the Bible in their poster collection and a great books of the Bible game.
A Memory Verse Sticker Chart for smaller children or a cut-and-paste chart can be a great motivation and encourage little ones.
Memorize the content of each chapter of the bible. Pastor Ivor Myers teaches “phototheology”, a powerful way of remembering and studying the Bible through images. Take a look at his website The Genesis High Rise Challenge.
Make some Chapter Books. Take a favourite chapter of the bible and give a few verses per page with a picture to go with it (kids can colour it in if they would like). Put this in a flip file or bind it together to make a book. Read the book often to your children – you will be surprised how quickly they can learn a whole chapter!
Alternatively, Thy Word Creations has some great CDs and colouring books which you can purchase from their website here.
Lastly, Milestone Books has two beautiful books with a memory verse, story and colouring page for each letter of the alphabet.
Scriptures That We Are Encouraged To Memorize
Exodus 20:1-17 “…It is so brief that we can easily commit every precept to memory” ML 163.3
Isaiah 53 “The entire chapter should be committed to memory” 4BC 1147.3
Isaiah 58 “The mind must be restrained, and not allowed to wander. It should be trained to dwell upon the Scriptures; even whole chapters may be commited to memory, to be repeated when Satan comes in with his temptations. The fifty-eighth of Isaiah is a profitable chapter for this purpose.”GW92 418.2
1 Corinthians 12 and 13 “The 12th and 13th chapters of 1st Corinthians should be committed to memory, written in the mind and heart.”6BC 1090.13
What methods have you tried to help you remember God’s Word? What blessings have you experienced from making memorization a habit in your family? Share with us in the comments below! It truly is a privilege to learn God’s Word, make it ours, and then share it freely. May God inspire, help and bless you as you choose to memorize His precious Word.
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