Reviving a Lost Art - Renewing the Mind!

By Rob Morgan

Pastor Earl Langley of Nashville, looking back over a fruitful life, recently told me his earliest memories. At age 6, he attended a church where a woman named Mrs. Peters was keen on Scripture memory. To anyone who would memorize Psalm 23, she offered a pencil with a plastic cover imprinted with a Bible verse. 

“I remember being intrigued with those small shiny pencils,” said Earl. “I memorized Psalm 23 and won one of them. But what I really won was a far greater prize—a marvelous passage of Scripture that has stayed with me through all these years. I’m 73 now, and while other passages seem to escape my memory, the Twenty-Third Psalm remains firmly entrenched there. Praise the Lord, who is and has been my Shepherd for all these years.

”How many of our youngsters will be able to give a similar testimony 70 years from now? Two classic Christian practices are endangered by our swiftly changing world. One is the singing of the great hymns; the other is the discipline of Scripture memorization. I encourage Christians to learn the hymns without neglecting newer songs of praise, and I believe we also need to learn Bible verses.

Our world has forgotten how to memorize. Our retrieval devices do it for us. We carry translations of the Bible on our cell phones. We search data on our computers. All the information of life fits on our electronic devices, and with a click of a button we recall what we need.

I’m not complaining. We should praise the Lord for the portability and accessibility of Scripture! Our expanding technologies hold unbelievable potential for evangelism and discipleship. But no electronic device can replace our God-designed brains. Just because the Bible is clipped to our belt doesn’t mean it’s inscribed in our minds. Just because it’s at our fingertips doesn’t mean it’s sinking into our souls. 

There’s no substitute for engraving the very words of God into the furrows of our thoughts. The Bible doesn’t say, “Your Word have I clipped to my belt.” It says, “Your word I have hidden in my heart” (Psalm 119:11).

The genius of Scripture is its capacity to transform us by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2). Ephesians 4:23 commands, “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” Colossians 3:2 tells us to set our minds on things above. Scripture memorization is a way of digging into the mind and planting the truth a little deeper in order to achieve a richer harvest. Prior generations memorized vast portions of God’s Word; we can memorize more than we think.

Restoring the art of Scripture memory is crucial for us and our churches and children. It’s vital for mental and emotional health and for spiritual wellbeing. Though it’s as easy as repeating words aloud, it’s as powerful as acorns dropping in the forest. It makes the Bible portable; you can take it with you everywhere without packing it in your purse or briefcase. It makes Scripture accessible day and night. It allows God’s words to sink into your brain and permeate your subconscious and even your unconscious thoughts. It gives you a word to say to anyone, in season and out. It fills your heart and home with the best thoughts ever recorded. It saturates the personality, satiates the soul and stockpiles the mind. It changes the atmosphere of every family and alters the weather forecast of every day.

Memorizing Scripture produces clearer and cleaner thoughts, steadier nerves and healthier emotions, happier homes and boundless optimism. And it allows our minds to feed on His faithfulness.

Where to Begin?

Whatever your age or circumstances, find a verse to memorize and begin now. Children can often memorize more quickly, but unless we’re suffering mental illness we can memorize at any age. As we grow older, Scripture memory becomes increasingly vital. It is mental and spiritual therapy to keep the mind sharp and young. Here are some suggested texts to tackle: 

John 14:1-6. This passage begins with Jesus saying, “Let not your heart be troubled.” It ends with “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” These verses will be a tremendous comfort to you and to those to whom you quote them. Yes, it’s a passage of six verses, but take one phrase at a time and add line upon line.

Psalm 100. There are five verses here, but all are relatively short. Notice the words joyful … gladness … singing … thanksgiving … praise. You could choose any of the verses or learn them all, one at a time.

Psalm 4:8. This is a bedtime verse, a pillow for our heads: “I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.”

Psalm 5:3: Your day will go better when you start with this attitude on rising: “My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning I will direct it to You, and I will look up.”

Romans 6:23: When you internalize this text, you’ll always be able to lead someone to Christ, for this verse is the Gospel in capsule form: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

How To Memorize

Don’t be daunted by the task. Just find a way of working Scripture memory into your routine. It can fit into things you’re already doing. Driving to work each day? Put a verse on your dashboard. Brushing your hair? Post a verse on your mirror. Turning on your laptop? Create a homepage with your verse. Quote it several times upon awakening and before retiring. Say it aloud until its words begin to sound wonderfully familiar. Learning a verse is like making a new friend. At first the relationship is a bit stiff, but then it becomes more relaxed, and finally it’s as comfortable as an old shoe.

Devise some homemade mnemonics and mental associations, either for the verse or the reference. I remember the location of Proverbs 19:11, for example, because my dad was born in 1911 and this verse reminds me of him: “The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger.”

Make a list of verses you want to memorize. As I have my daily devotions, I frequently read a verse I’d like to learn. I put it on the list. It’s a lifelong habit, for I don’t expect to exhaust His Word or outlive my need for its strength.

The Bible is the unfailing message from a God who is both intimate and infinite, and who is omniscient and omnipotent. It verbalizes His revealed intelligence about how we should think, feel, act and speak. Its theology is therapeutic; its advice sensible. Every verse is priceless, for all Scripture is given by inspiration of God; and we’re to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (2 Timothy 3:16, Matthew 4:4).

As our minds become saturated with Scripture, we think more nearly as God thinks. As we meditate day and night on His Word, we become like trees planted by rivers of water that flourish and bear continual fruit. 

In his book “How to Be Born Again,” Billy Graham told of a woman imprisoned by the Japanese in China and placed in a concentration camp where the Bible was forbidden. Somehow she acquired a copy of John’s Gospel, and every night she pulled her head beneath the covers and, using a small flashlight, began memorizing the book. As she memorized a page, she would tear it out and flush it down the drain. 

Just before the prisoners were released, a reporter for Time magazine entered the camp to interview the detainees. Later, this reporter was standing at the gates as the prisoners came out. Most shuffled along looking like zombies. This little missionary, however, was beaming and bright as a button.

“I wonder if they managed to brainwash her?” someone asked.

“No,” said the reporter. “God washed her brain.”

This year let God wash your brain. Rediscover the nearly forgotten art of lifelong Scripture memorization and devise a plan for hiding His Word each day in your heart. 

©2011 Rob Morgan?

Scripture Quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version.

Rob Morgan is senior pastor of The Donelson Fellowship, in Nashville, Tenn., and a best-selling author with more than 25 books in print.

Praying for 2012: a Significant Year

"We are beginning a new year, and I believe we are facing what could be one of the most significant years in our nation’s history. While we prepare to choose our political leaders in the upcoming elections, our country is in a mess—morally, economically, and spiritually. People are anxious about the future, and many have lost any hope in the political process. 
During election season we hear a lot about effecting change, but the only change that will help our nation is a true change of the human heart. The Bible says that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick” (Jeremiah 17:9, ESV) and there is no cure except for men and women to repent of their sin, ask God’s forgiveness, and accept His salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.
I hear of people praying for revival and that our nation will turn around. We need God’s help. That is the only answer for our country and for our sin-sick world." -- from Franklin Graham " Praying for 2012: a Significant Year" (Dec.28/2011)

Ripping into the Gift of another Year

In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly. -- Psalm 5:3

The first of the month has always been my own personal holiday. I just love ripping the old month off all my calendars and starting fresh on a whole new page. How wonderful to look at those clean, fresh, unblemished squares representing days I haven't messed up yet!

God has given us measurements of time so we have some perspective on our lives. Think how hopeless we would feel if we were stuck in some stressful situation and thought it would never end. But God gives us a new morning - a new month, a new year - to start over again and again. With each new start we lift our voices heavenward, laying out our hopes and prayers. Then we "wait in expectation", as the psalmist said, to receive the gifts and blessings -- and yes, challenges -- God has planned for us.

Whatever comes, we know He will be there with us, throughout the day, throughout the night, and as we begin afresh tomorrow. Without Him, our lives stretch out to a hopeless end. With Him we have the endless hope of a heavenly tomorrow. -- by Barbara Johnson

Billy Graham's Prayer for the New Year

Help us to humbly put our hands into Your hand, and to trust You and to seek Your will for our lives during this coming year.

Our Father and our God, as we stand at the beginning of this new year we confess our need of Your presence and Your guidance as we face the future.

We each have our hopes and expectations for the year that is ahead of us—but You alone know what it holds for us, and only You can give us the strength and the wisdom we will need to meet its challenges. So help us to humbly put our hands into Your hand, and to trust You and to seek Your will for our lives during this coming year.

In the midst of life’s uncertainties in the days ahead, assure us of the certainty of Your unchanging love.

In the midst of life’s inevitable disappointments and heartaches, help us to turn to You for the stability and comfort we will need.

In the midst of life’s temptations and the pull of our stubborn self-will, help us not to lose our way but to have the courage to do what is right in Your sight, regardless of the cost.

And in the midst of our daily preoccupations and pursuits, open our eyes to the sorrows and injustices of our hurting world, and help us to respond with compassion and sacrifice to those who are friendless and in need. May our constant prayer be that of the ancient Psalmist: “Teach me, O Lord, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end” (Psalm 119:33).

We pray for our nation and its leaders during these difficult times, and for all those who are seeking to bring peace and justice to our dangerous and troubled world. We pray especially for Your protection on all those who serve in our armed forces, and we thank You for their commitment to defend our freedoms, even at the cost of their own lives. Be with their families also, and assure them of Your love and concern for them.

Bring our divided nation together, and give us a greater vision of what You would have us to be. Your Word reminds us that “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Psalm 33:12).

As we look back over this past year we thank You for Your goodness to us—far beyond what we have deserved. May we never presume on Your past goodness or forget all Your mercies to us, but may they instead lead us to repentance, and to a new commitment to make You the foundation and center of our lives this year.

And so, our Father, we thank You for the promise and hope of this new year, and we look forward to it with expectancy and faith. This I ask in the name of our Lord and Savior, who by His death and resurrection has given us hope both for this world and the world to come.

Amen