Ten Secrets of...

What if I told you that you could sharpen your mind, deepen your peace, strengthen your confidence in all things spiritual and enhance your prayers with one simple secret? You’d probably think I was trying to sell you a new herbal supplement! I’m not. No herb can do for you what I’m recommending. In fact, you can’t buy what I’m selling. It will cost you some time and effort. But it is one of the best investments you will ever make.

I’m talking about Scripture memory. I’ve been in a project since February to memorize Matthew chapters five through seven, the three chapters that make up Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount. It has done all of what I mentioned above and more (about which I will blog on later).

Memorizing large segments of anything can be difficult. But many years ago I was playing the roll of Luke in a musical called THE APOSTLE produced by our college group at First Baptist Church of Atlanta. The musical was based on the book of Acts, which Luke wrote, so as the narrator I had a lot to memorize. I developed a system for doing it.

Here are my secrets for memorizing large portions of scripture:
1. A Good Translation - Use a readable translation—NIV will work for most, but use the one you are most familiar with.

2. Quiet Space—Make sure you will not be interrupted. Turn off the TV, Radio, Computer, etc.

3. A Fresh Mind - Set aside time—Morning is best, when your mind is fresh, or take a nap before you start so your mind will be sharp. Plan on spending at least fifteen minutes but no more than thirty.

4. Read it Out Loud—the whole chapter, two or three times, like you were reading it to a group of children to get the feel of what the writer emphasized and the flow of his thoughts.

5. Memorize Whole Thoughts - Read the paragraph you plan to memorize—again out loud. Don’t try to remember the verse numbers. They aren’t inspired anyway. The more you say it the better it will stick. Don't try to do one verse at a time. You want the whole thought, the whole paragraph.

6. Use Your Imagination - Focus on the scene. Pick a spot on the wall or close your eyes and see yourself in the scene. Imagine that you are the speaker or writer. You are Jesus on the hillside or Paul at his desk. See what they saw and feel what they felt and their words become yours.

7. Repeat The Last Paragraph Before You Start the Next — This is the real key: Repeat what you memorized last time before you start the next paragraph. That’s how you get your cues from one topic to the next and how you build up a long passage.

8. Listen for Patterns— Jesus and the authors of the New Testament used literary forms and patterns. “You have heard that it was said...But I tell you” repeats six times in the Sermon on the Mount. Watch for them. They save time in the process.

9. Meditate on the Text - Integrate your memory work with your devotions. Talk to God about what you see in the text. As you repeat the thoughts new thoughts come to mind, links with other scriptures emerge, deeper understanding of spiritual things develops. Now you are really cooking!

10. Incentivize — All of us need motivational help. Set a goal and give yourself a reward when you achieve it!

Congratulations! You are now on the way to thinking God's thoughts like never before.