How can I remember where passages are?
Question:
Hello,
I do appreciate all the questions you have answered and the guidance that you have provided. I have a student who is concerned that she cannot recall scripture to support her beliefs. I understand the basic knowledge of how to commit something to memory. While in nursing school, I sometimes did not fully understand when I had to commit the information to memory. Oftentimes, we would use acronyms. How can I put into words how she may learn scripture? I plan to suggest reading and re-reading as well as making note cards. Then, practice and practice. Of course, reading from the Bible daily can help facilitate memorization. I was hoping you might have some additional insight to help me assist her.
I thank you for your time!
Answer:
Memorizing passages is important because we don't always have a Bible at hand, but it sounds like your student is more concerned with locating passages to support her points.
"For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil" (Hebrews 5:12-14).
"But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does" (James 1:22-25).
Book learning is good, but it is hard to retain if it is not put to use.
When I study with someone and a point comes up that I can't recall the passage for, I apologize and ask if I might get back to them on it. Once I locate the passage, I write the verse and a short description of how it can be used in the blank pages at the front and back of my Bible. Over the years, I compiled an index of passages I frequently used in studies (see "Quick Reference for Personal Workers"). I encourage people to develop their own lists. Over the years, I've found that I look at the list less and less because I've used the verses so often that I've memorized them without actually setting out to memorize them.
Today, with smartphones in everyone's pocket, it isn't difficult to create a note file with your favorite verses. But this leads to another technique. Instead of memorizing whole passages, try to remember keywords. For example, I'm studying with a Calvinist who denies that baptism can save. I recall a passage that says "baptism now saves." Perhaps I also remember that the passage is somewhere near the end of the New Testament. I start up my Bible on my phone, type in "baptism" and then scroll down to the last entry, which is I Peter 3:21, just the one I was looking for!
Another example: I want to encourage someone who just had a disastrous slip-up with sin not to give up. I recall there was a verse in Proverbs that said something about the righteous falling seven times. So I look up "seven," scroll to Proverbs in the list, and notice that Proverbs 24:16 is the verse that I wanted.
Again, I find that as I look for the same verses a number of times each year, over the years, I begin to remember the references without having to look them up. Remembering key phrases is much easier for me than being able to quote the entire verse.
A final technique I've been working on is learning what each book of the Bible is about. It helps me narrow my searches. Once I got comfortable with that, I started memorizing what each chapter is roughly about. For example, II Peter 3 is about the second coming of Christ and the destruction of the world. II Corinthians 3 about the difference between the Old and New Law and how the New Law is superior. Hebrews 11 is about faith and features a list of "heroes" of faith. Once again, the more I use this, the more it becomes a part of my memory. While I might not remember the exact verse number, I often can say, "A verse about the destruction of the world is near II Peter 3:12," which is good enough to quickly locate the exact verse.
A new Christian should never expect to know everything about the Bible in their first year. Instead, do you know more than you did a year ago? Then you are making progress. I admire people who can quote large portions of the Bible from memory, but I know my mind doesn't operate that way, so I work on techniques that help me teach others. As of this writing, I've been preaching for 51 years, and I'm still working on improving my recall. I figure I'll be at it for the remainder of my life.
Response:
Thank you very much!
