The memorization of verses in the Bible is often delegated to the young in Sunday School. However, it’s just as important for adults to memorize the Bible as it is for children.
Many adults avoid the practice of memorizing the Bible finding it dull and boring. Others perform the Christian discipline due to authoritarian coercion. But then there are the believers that understand the importance and find great joy in memorizing what they affectionately call the Word of God.
Memorizing the Bible is an important practice full of empowerment.
The Bible is more than a collection of stories, or a record of historical events.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).
The Bible contains God’s word, which is the most powerful thing we can have anything to do with.
The Word of God is what God has to say about everything. There is the written word, the spoken word, and the living word.
In his gospel, John reveals Jesus as the living Word of God who created all things and is the source of all life.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind (John 1:1).
By memorizing the Bible, we open ourselves to impartations from the Spirit of God, the source of all life.
During his temptation in the wilderness, Jesus responded with what God had to say — both written and spoken.
His first response, as recorded in Matthew 4:4, is, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
In Luke 4, we see it this way: “It is written… it is written… it is said.”
The first temptation challenged who Jesus was and who his source was. He responded with the written word.
The second temptation challenged what Jesus’ position was and who he loved. He responded with the written word.
In the third temptation, the devil used the same weapon of the written word against Jesus. The written word is powerful but the Rhema (spoken) word of God is more so. Jesus responded with words that came from the mouth of God through the power of the anointing.
Bible verses alone can be powerless when disconnected from the source of life.
Jesus was fully God but also fully human. It was in his connection to the Father, and the Holy Spirit that he partook of the anointing and imparted it to others.
Memorizing the Bible is like having an electric power cord. When you connect to the Spirit of God with that power cord, the anointing can impart what you need.
The anointing imparts power, wisdom, comfort, direction, protection, faith, transformation, healing, and more.
The Bible never tells us to memorize it or have it just in our heads as the Pharisees did. Instead, it reveals various ways knowing (being intimately acquainted with) the Word of God and the resulting benefits.
David put it this way to protect himself from sin, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:110).
Paul put it this way to his protégé Timothy regarding wisdom and salvation., “…and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15).
When Joshua was taking over after Moses, God directed him on how he would be able to obey and prosper through it, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful” (Joshua 1:8).
Paul instructs believers on how holding onto, internalizing the word of God brings transformation, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18, ESV).
Paul encourages believers that connecting to God and his word transforms thinking and behavior, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2, NLT).
Memorizing the Bible and connecting to the source of life is a privilege God gives his children.
The Bible tells us that death and life are in the power of the tongue, and out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
When we memorize the Bible and hide it in our hearts, we have the power to speak life. Not only in our own lives but in the lives of others, just like Jesus did.
Being speakers of life is a gift from God and memorizing the Bible is an important step in the process.
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Danielle Bernock is an international, award-winning author, coach, and speaker who helps people embrace their value and heal their souls through the power of the love of God. She’s written Emerging With Wings, A Bird Named Payn, Love’s Manifesto, Because You Matter, and hosts the Victorious Souls Podcast. A long-time follower of Christ, Danielle lives with her husband in Michigan near her adult children and grandchildren. For more information or to connect with Danielle https://www.daniellebernock.com/