Keys for Effective Evangelism #4: Memorize Scripture

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…” (Col. 3:16) That's a biblical command, and it is extremely helpful for evangelism. The previous key for effective evangelism in this series was “Load your preaching with the Word of God”. In order to do that, you must have your mind and heart saturated with God’s Word –and what better way to do that than to memorize Scripture? As a disclaimer, I do not claim to be an authority on this subject, and I openly confess my own failure in this regard in many ways. However, the little that the Lord has allowed me to memorize despite my inconsistency of discipline in this area has certainly been a huge blessing to me and has greatly helped me in evangelism.

I want to give you some tips to memorizing Scripture. These are things that I have either done in times past and they have helped me, or have been told me from friends who have memorized much more Scripture than I.

The Necessity of Discipline and Consistency

 When mentioning the memorization of Scripture, most people balk immediately and say they can’t. The excuses are always similar, such as “my brain is not wired that way” or “the ability to memorize is a spiritual gift I don’t have”. While I think there is some truth in the thought that for some people it comes with greater ease than with others (I have some friends who are walking Thompson Chain-Reference Bibles who naturally gravitated toward memorizing Scripture and seem to be peculiarly blessed and facilitated in doing so), the truth is that everyone who is capable of coherently engaging in intelligible communication is able to. Just think about how much everybody memorizes as a routine part of life: Names, phone numbers, addresses, how to get to a certain person’s house, what you order at a certain restaurant, etc. It is not uncommon for a high school teacher to memorize the names of a couple hundred students every school year with a little effort. Even speaking the English language itself is the fruit of tremendous amounts of memorization that we did in our earliest years of childhood when our brains had nowhere near the mental capacity they currently do!

If you’re going to memorize, the first thing you must do is rebuke the lies of the enemy that tell you that you can’t! By God’s grace, and with the conscious resolution to launch forward, you certainly can! Let love for God’s Word be your motivation. What better way to invoke the blessing of the Lord than to meditate on His Word day and night in memorizing it?

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. (Psalm 1:1-3)

Get it settled in your heart: if you want to truly prosper in evangelism, you must meditate on the law of the Lord day and night. All it requires is: (1) the conscious decision and resolution to discipline yourself and work for it and (2) consistency and perseverance without giving up or neglecting the practice. This is where most of us have failed. Many have never succeeded at memorizing much Scripture because they lack discipline, not because they’re unintelligent.

Two Different Ways to Memorize

There are basically two different approaches you can take to Scripture memorization. You can practice either one or the other, or preferably, practice both. The first consists of memorizing key verses that are of particular benefit for evangelism. Specific passages that consist of only one to three verses at a time from all over the Bible are memorized according to this approach. If you're going to run with this method, you may consider starting with the evangelistic verses Living Waters has compiled. The Fighter Verses website is also particularly helpful (though not necessarily focused specifically on evangelistic texts). The second method consists of memorizing large passages and entire books of the Bible. If you're going with this method, Andrew Davis has a very helpful article on the subject.

Methods of Memorization

• Reading and Repetition. Just by reading a verse over and over, silently and out loud, will work wonders at locking it into your memory. Read it ten times silently, then ten times out loud, saying the book and verse each time you read it. Most people will find that just by doing this for 5 to 10 minutes each day, they can memorize huge amounts of verses over a period of time. Hey, if this method works for John Piper, why not for us?

• Index Cards. I have found that the good old fashioned method of using index cards is the most helpful method for me personally. Just simple write the text of the verse(s) you will memorize on one side of the card, and on the other, the book and reference number. For instance, on one side write: “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” Then on the other side write: “Colossians 2:13-14”. Then carry the cards with you and flash through them regularly as you go about your daily routine. This turns standing in lines, waiting in traffic, and other such things that are typically squanderers of precious time into profitable activity that benefits your soul and equips you for more effective evangelism. You will want to memorize the cards both ways, making sure you memorize both the passage and the reference well. Obviously, this works well when memorizing sporadic verses from all over the Bible, but believe it or not, it also helps when memorizing larger passages because it helps you to lock the verse numbers into your memory and not just the words. Just write out the whole chapter or book on index cards one verse at a time, one verse per card, and memorize them systematically, reviewing every day what you’re memorized previously until you’re done with the chapter or book. Each day take on one new verse, memorize it, and review your previous memory verses. Try to recite the whole passage then without looking at the cards, and recite it both forwards and backwards. They also have an audio of Ray Comfort reading them. Living Waters has a zip file of their evangelistic Scripture list formatted for printing on card stock. Or, if you prefer a more well-rounded Scripture memory program, you can purchase a Fighter Verse pack or Memorization Journal in the ESV from Desiring God.

• Record and Listen to Yourself. This might sound a little silly to some, but who cares? If it helps to hide God’s Word in our hearts, then let us be fools for Christ’s sake. If you have an IPod or personal Mp3 player, this works the best. Just record your voice on it, or use the audio recorder on your computer (if you’re using Windows, go to the Start Menu, then to Programs, then to Accessories, then to Sound Recorder). Record yourself reading your memory verses, being sure to say the verse references as well as the text of the passages for each verse, save the file, upload it to your audio device, and listen to it over and over. Recite your verses out loud as you hear yourself reading them.

• Listen to the Audio Bible. This is primarily for those memorizing entire books or longer passages. Listen over and over again to your memory passages. If you have a CD player in your car, and you drive to work every day, listen to your memory books on the way to and back from work. Soak your ears with you memory passages and recite them out loud along with the audio.

• Write it Down. (cf. Deut. 17:18) Some people learn well by writing since it causes them to slow down, think, and visualize what they’re saying. Write down your memory verses over and over on a piece of paper. Do it to memorize them and to review them from time to time. Some people may prefer to type them out on their computer. 

• Stick them all over your house or office. (cf. Deut. 6:9) The wall next to your desk is a great target for sticky notes of God's Word. So is the space around the bathroom mirror -brushing your teeth can become a spiritually profitable way to redeem the time. The refrigerator is typically a frequently visited location, so why not tape a heap of verses to it and pause to read one every time you open it up for refreshment? Or how about the dash of your car (be careful not to block your gauges in case you get pulled over)? Or how about hanging a cork-board in a prominent location in your house or office full of Bible verses you could pin to it as you memorize them? 

• Sing God’s Word. (cf. Col. 3:16) Even if you’re musically incompetent and sing like a stray dog that just got his leg ran over by a car, what’s important is not what you sound like but locking the Scriptures into your memory. By creating a tune in your mind and singing your memory passages, the distinct vocal sounds and repetition of tune actually helps to lodge God’s Word in your mind. This can especially help if you make up little songs for your verses or passages and then use this method in unison with the voice recorder. How often have we been driven into a state of emotional instability by an annoying little tune stuck in our heads that just won’t go away no matter how hard we try? It’s time to use such annoyance for our spiritual benefit. If the silly little tune has our memory verses in it, then it’s a good thing that it doesn't go away easily! If you're particularly interested in finding CD's of Scripture songs, again the Fighter verses pulls through to not only help you memorize Scripture, but to grow in sanctification as you learn patience amidst annoyance. (Sorry guys, but that's my opinion! Actually, to be fair, just some of the songs are bad, but most of them are quite tolerable!) They have an interesting story of how they got started. Whatever you do, even if you just try to sing out loud inventing the tune as you go, this method can help you memorize Scripture.

• Discuss your memory verse(s). (cf. Deut. 6:6-7) For those who are heads of the household, while in conversation with your family at the dinner table, tell them your memory verse(s) and invoke a discussion about it. Share your insights on the passage, what you think it means in its Biblical context, how it applies to you and your family’s lives, and ask your family members questions that provoke discussion about the memory passage(s). Meaningful discussion helps to lodge the Scriptures deeper down into your heart. This is especially helpful if the whole family is memorizing Scripture together. 

I’m sure there are other things you can do to help you memorize God’s Word. The important thing is not the method(s) we use, but that we have consistent discipline in actively seeking to know God’s Word by heart.

Here’s a few more tips:

• Spend a little time every day memorizing. We are forgetful creatures by nature. If you don’t review the verses you’ve already memorized on a consistent basis, you will forget them.

• Don’t give up! Sometimes we get busy and to our shame, neglect our spiritual disciplines. When it comes to Scripture memory, it can easily be laid aside for several days. After a good period of time of consistently committing a little time each day to Scripture memory, it gets pushed aside for a week or two. We get discouraged, and give up. Don’t let that happen! If you neglect your practice, don’t throw in the towel, just acknowledge that you lost some ground and jump right back in. Review where you left off, and start afresh.

• Stick to one Bible translation. This is very important. You don’t want to be quoting some verses out of the NASB, some out of the ESV, and some out of the NKJV. That can be chaos. Choose your translation of choice, and stick to it. And just a word of advice: stay away from the looser translations –the more paraphrased they get, the further away from God’s actual written Word they wander. While they can be helpful for reference, avoid them for memorization.

• Consider using the Bible translation of your church. If your church uses the NASB, and you plan on being there for an extended period of time, my advice is to avoid using other translations for memory. Memorize in the translation your church uses so you can talk the same language as the people you fellowship with most often. However, if your church uses the NIV or other even looser translation, I would advise you to consider either the NASB, the ESV, or the NKJV for memory, just because I think the NIV and other translations are too loose to be considered accurate and faithful to the original text. In Spanish, I use the Reina-Valera 1960, not only because it is the translation our church uses, but also because the vast majority of Christians in Mexico use it and it is a faithful translation. When I cite Scripture, I want those who know their Bibles to be able to follow along in their minds and I don’t want to throw them off with unfamiliar terminology from a translation they’re not used to.

• Find a memory partner. It’s always helpful to have an accountability partner for stuff like this. If you have a definite plan of Scripture memory, try to find a partner to memorize it together with. Hold each other accountable. When you see each other, recite the week’s memory texts to each other. This also works for small group Bible studies that meet on a regular basis. The group leader can hold the people accountable and set the example.

If you are able to quote myriads of Scripture texts in your evangelism, it will add a tremendous impact to your witness. God’s Word is powerful and convinces souls of the truth like nothing other.

If you have other helpful tips or methods, or helpful resources, please share them in the comments section!