Introduce kids to the Savior of sinners. This is a series of audio podcasts for kids who want to meet with Jesus by using Meeting with Jesus: A Bible Reading Plan for Kids. Listen to previous episodes here.
USA Memory Champion Nelson Dillis can memorize 240 names and faces in 15 minutes. He can memorize a deck of cards in 30 seconds and three decks in five minutes. He memorizes 100 lines of poetry a day.
That’s incredible isn’t it! God has given us amazing abilities to memorize. Imagine if we used that ability to memorize Scripture.
WHY MEMORIZE SCRIPTURE?
It helps us beat sin and Satan: When we are tempted, we can recall Bible verses to help us be strong, as Jesus did when he was tempted by Satan.
It helps us draw near to God: Scripture is God speaking to us and therefore if we go over it in our minds we are hearing God’s voice, and that helps us talk with him.
It helps us speak God’s Word: If we have God’s Word in our hearts, we can speak it to others without opening a Bible. Perhaps you can encourage a Christian or witness to a non-Christian with the verses you’ve memorized.
These are three good reasons to memorize Scripture, aren’t they? But how do we do it?
HOW DO WE MEMORIZE SCRIPTURE?
Here are some tips to help you memorize the weekly Bible verse in Meeting with Jesus.
1. Write it out: Science tells us that writing something out helps our minds to remember it. There’s a space in the book for you to do this. But you could also write it out on an Index card so you can put it in your pocket and refresh your memory with God’s Word wherever you are.
2. Highlight it: Once you’ve written it out, you can maybe highlight different sections of the verse or different words in the verse with color highlights. Our minds remember color better than just black on white.
3. Add graphics: Maybe you can draw a small picture of some of the things mentioned in the verse. Our minds remember funny and weird things really well, so you don’t need to be a great artist to do this. In some ways, the worse the picture, the better you will remember it!
4. Speak it out: Don’t just go over the verse silently in your head. Speak it out as you do so. You are then hearing the verse as well as reading it and that helps your memory. As you read it out, emphasize some words, or put the words in a rhythm. That also aids memory.
5. Short and often: It’s better to do a little at a time, maybe three words a day. If you can go back over the words a few times in the day, your memory will really thank you for that. Once you have cemented three words in your mind, then add another three. You’ll get better and faster at this with practice.
6. Test: Ask your mom or dad to test you at the end of the week of learning a verse. That will make you want to learn it. And maybe they can give you a reward as well!
We may never be a memory champion like Nelson Dillis. But if we memorize Scripture, we’re memorizing something far more important and far more helpful than decks of cards and telephone numbers.
Listen to this episode on Living the Bible podcast. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Spotify.