I unfortunately am not.  I would like to be, but for the right reasons.  I am totally turned off by people who just spout off verses so that they can let everyone know what they know.  I am in awe of people who "own" verses in their heart & can quote them to help themselves or others.  I am really going to make an effort to try to be better at this so I too can help others & myself when needed.  If you ARE good at memorizing verses what works for you?

AWANA. =)

I memorize along side my children. lol

Start by finding verses that have meaning for YOU. My sort of "theme verse" for this deployment has been Philippians 4:13: I can do all things through Christ which stregnthens me. It's easier to memorize if it means something.

Some verses, I think, should be easy to recall, such as John 1:1 and John 3:16. Verses that lay the foundation of Christianity are good ones to start with.

I'm good at memorization in general - always have been - so I can memorize verses OK.  What I do struggle with is remembering the citations for the verses.  I don't know why.  I usually can remember which book of the Bible it's in, but have a hard time with chapter and verse.  Any suggestions there are helpful!

When I was younger, I could memorize with the best! Now that I am older, NOT good at it at all. Right now I am working on remembering which book of the Bible I found a particular passage in. I am also writing down some favorites and keeping the pad of paper tucked in my Bible tote. These are going to be the ones I practice with first. Then I am going to branch out further, hopefully.

The Lord lays a verse on my heart  and it's there.  Sometimes then later I might forget the exact chapter, and I will look up one of the words of the verse in a Strong's Exhaustive Concordance.  Also, the Lord tells us not to be forgetful hearers.  James 1:25 but whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. 

In this verse, he says not only to not be a forgetful hearer but a doer of the word, then we will be blessed!  Incentive enough for me!

I used to get discouraged that others could memorize scripture and I just couldn't. I repeated and repeated the verse and *poof* it'd be gone within a day. Until one day I realized that I had every sitcom theme song from the '60's and '70's memorized (...just sit right back and you'll hear a tale... etc :) Anyway, for me putting scripture to song works like a charm. I am able to come up with a tune myself, but if you can't, I know they sell CD's with scripture put to song. Many of my friends use these and they work great. I am sure christianbook.com would have them. I wish I could give you an exact name.

Well, that's what works for me anyway :)

Katie, I like that idea of finding CD's with scriptures put to song.  I've noticed my little five year old will often sing along to the Christian radio station in the car.  It would be great if he was singing along to scripture, too.

We also learn some scripture verses by singing them.  The Psalms seem to be the easiest, but my oldest ds loves to sing any of them.  He will often read books that way, as well.  Another way that I helped my DH to learn some was by writing them with a dry erase marker on our bathroom mirror.  He would be able to read them everyday while he was getting ready for work.  I also learned many as a child by attending AWANA!  I know of others who write a verse down and carry it with them throughout the day to read.

It's harder for me to memorize verses now, but my ds (almost 6) memorized Psalm 1-6 (the chapters) and Genesis 1 this past school year, as well as all of the weekly verses/ passages from Children's Church, school, etc.  Amazing!  He is a little sponge.  My ds (4) learned Psalm 1 merely by hearing his brother quote it nightly at bedtime.  He also has weekly verses/ passages that he learns as well.  They have been doing this since they were about 2 and usually can memorize an average-length verse in about 2 to 3 days.  That's it!- we just need to reverse our ages to be young children again :)

I agree with what others have said about scriptures that are sung.  I used to sing along with GT and the Halo Express and I think you can still find cassettes (if anyone even knows what those are anymore ;) ) and other kids' music like Hermie and things that are scriptures set to music.

I'm a scrapbooker and I've spent some time scrapping different verses on my pages and I find that if I create something with a verse, I'm much more likely to remember it, than just reading and re-reading it.  Even writing it a few times on an index card can help.

It's good to know that I'm not the only one who has had a harder time memorizing scripture now than I did as a kid.  I was starting to think it was just me!!

    Easy ones ,a good idea is to take a index card and mark the Scripture down and study it ,you would be suprised how it does become a little bit easier to remember them .

                         Dolores

I don't try to memorize scripture verses ever.  I have found that verses come back to me a lot better when they have some sort of personal connection to me.  If I read a verse that seems to really be something God has for me at the time, it tends to stay with me.  When I used to try to memorize just for the sake of it, I couldn't recall diddly squat!

I've done them both.

I used to spend a lot of time on the road and I listened to the Bible on tapes. I have listened to it many times, and I often think of, or know, verses of scripture when I need them. I am a listener-learner, and I remember things that I hear better than things that I read. I agree with other posters and I can remember even better if words are put to music. I do remember a lot of the bible.

Memorizing is harder work. I have memorized many verses and even tried to memorize the whole book of 1 John on a couple of occassions. I never made it all the way through. I got 4 of the 5 chapters committed to memory and then failed to achieve my goal. You learn so much when you do something like that because you have to think about the scriptures so much. When you are able to recite an entire book (or a large portion as I could back then) from memory, it seems to carry a lot of impact - both to the hearer and to the one reciting.

When I was trying to memorize 1 John, I used one of those little spirial bound packets of 50, 3 x 5 index Cards - with rainbow colors! I wrote 1 verse (usually) per  side. They wear well in a pocket or bouncing around in the seat beside me. It's easy to flip them over, go back and forth ect. even glancing at the cards while driving and they don't get lost.

I should try doing that again... What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes and our hands handled concerning the Word of life...

My kids go to a Christian school and are required to memorize monthly passages of scripture to stay level.  I found this WONDERFUL computer software that is easy to use, inexpensive and it has helped my daughter tremendously...She also loves using it, so that's definately a plus:)

www.memorizehisword.com

Pat - Thanks for that link!! It looks like something we can use.

This topic is one that means a lot to me, since I coach our church's Bible Quiz team. These teens learn about 500 verses from a selected book (or several of the smaller ones) in a six-month quiz season. About once a month they quiz against other teams. For most of them, the quiz season ends at the state finals, but the top teams get to go to Nationals.

The techniques that they use have already been mentioned here by others, but one of the keys to keeping what you've worked so hard to learn is review!

Needless to say, these teens have to make a commitment to carve out time from their busy lives to attain this goal. One of the first things we tell them is to set a study time EVERYDAY. It won't just happen... and then to review previously learned material before memorizing new verses. Consistancy is vital.

The moms here that have helped their children memorize passages of Scripture for school or Awanas can probably quote most of it themselves. The children's Bible quiz program usually does about 300 verses a season. The moms usually know the verses as well as their children, because they must also be committed for these younger ones. Just as parents commit to making sure their children practice a musical instrument daily, or attend sports practices.

My married daughters learned SO much from quizzing in their teen years. Study skills, discipline, goal setting. They are now involved in coaching other people's children in the churches they attend.

But they would tell you that the best benefits have been Spiritual. Time spent getting to know the Word of God is time spent getting to know God - the Word Who became flesh. Jn 1:1 & 1:14

These verses can never be taken away from them. No man is going to be able to deceive them with false doctrine, because they know the Bible, and they are able to filter out anything that doesn't line up with the whole counsel of God. And if the time ever comes that America loses the freedoms we hold so dear, and the Bibles are stripped from our land, as they have been in others - His Word is in their hearts!!

To what better cause could we commit our time, hearts, and minds?

Chandra,

Ooh, Bible Quizzing!!!  Over a decade ago;) my husband and I coached a Bible Quizzing team.  It was hard, hard work, but we placed 3rd in the state that year.  It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.  You are right, NOTHING can take those scriptures out of a kid's mind and heart.  Praise God! 

I had not thought of it before your post, but I agree that the MemorizeHisWord software is perfect for quizzing.

Blessings,

-Pat

Pat, I'm the same way! I could memorize long passages of the Bible when I was young but now I can't even  remember my own cell phone # much less an entire sentence. Thankfully I can still remember all the passages I memorized when I was younger, it's a good thing I learned them back then, since now my brain is shot  ;)

All of you have said such wonderful things that I want to respond to but don't have the time:)  But, Shayla, I especially loved your statement ..."I am in awe of people who "own" verses in their heart ".  I love that.

Just honestly, I STINK at remembering the references, but when I need a scripture, God is faithful to bring it back to my mind.