How to Memorize the Bible

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. – 2 Timothy 3:16-17

If you are in any way a follower of Jesus Christ, digging into Scripture is an absolute must for essential Christian living, and for getting closer to God. The Bible is crammed full of various reasons and commands to study and adhere to God’s Word, and covering them would make for an excellent blog post that I’ll have to write some other time.

For now, I’ll focus on how to memorize portions of the Bible. You’ll never know when you may need to recall passages of the Bible or recite key verses, so below are several steps you can take to commit God’s Word to memory.

How to Memorize Bible Verses

1. Go to a peaceful place. This can be a quieter room of the house, in your garage, outside on your back porch, or in your car. My advice is to do your best to get rid of loud noises and distractions. And even if you normally relax and unwind with background music with the volume turned down low, I would suggest that you turn these kinds of things off to give your attention laser-like focus.

2. While you’re at it, remove all distractions like your mobile phones, tablets, and computers within your vicinity. Power them off completely (not just put on vibrate). Don’t worry; the world is not going to crash and burn for the half-hour or so you’re detached from the internet.

3. Relax! If something has been troubling you, lay those issues at God’s feet so that you can perform the task at hand. Bring your mind to a place of peace, and seek the Holy Spirit out for serenity and calm.

4. Meditate on the presence of God. Pray to Him both externally and internally. Seek His goodness and holiness.

5. Now it’s time to open your Bible and read the Word. Take the passages into context and not just one or a few verses isolated. See what He has to say to us. See how it affects us personally. Have you ever had a letter written by a loved one, where you take to heart every little thing that’s written and you re-read it several times? Take that same approach here. Hang on to every word of Scripture like it’s a love letter.

6. Pray to God for meaning, clarity, and memorization of what you just read.

7. Memorizing using the “chunking” method: take small sections and parts of verses, memorize them, and place them together into larger and larger sections.

8. Recite verses and passages out loud! Often this solidifies learning Bible verses by hearing it read in addition to just scouring it with your eyes.

9. Use visual helpers! For particularly difficult verses, you can later print them out and place them strategically around your home or work areas. Bring them up on Bible apps, and now and then, open your mobile phone and read the verses from the apps that way. Instead of habitually opening up your Facebook app several times per day, try to open up a Bible app to that passage you’re trying to memorize.

10. Put our faith in the Holy Spirit for strengthening with continual prayer and knowledge.

Remember that it’s not enough that you merely commit Scripture to memory. You must take God’s Word to heart and completely transform you. Feed on the Word like it’s refreshing food for your soul. Treasure it more than anything. Let it change the way think, and the way you live your life and act towards others.