I’ve always been forgetful.

My mom begs to differ, but really: I have a Dory complex.

While I was at camp, I locked myself out of my room at least six times because I forgot to unlock it in the morning.

Just today and yesterday, I forgot my student ID card for required college activities.

So, whenever people mention . . . GULP . . . memorizing, I kinda panic.

Now, honestly, I know I can memorize. There’s a difference between forgetting to unlock a door and sitting down to memorize terms for history class. However, just the idea of REMEMBERING SOMETHING . . . it still kinda makes me shake in my boots.

So, what do you do if you really, honestly, completely, wholly, 100% believe you just AREN’T capable of memorizing Scripture?

1. God knows your characteristics.

Right now I’m studying Psalm 139. I’m just in the fifth verse, but already David keeps hitting this point home: God. Knows. Me. INTIMATELY.

He knows me better than I know me.

He knows you aren’t the best remember-er. He knows memorizing sounds scary to you.

BUT

God calls us ALL to do things that are hard for us. Life is a trust exercise. He wants us to learn to trust that He will provide in the areas we’re lacking.

2. God commands your meditation.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (known as the Shema) commands that we

• HEAR (which is what Shema means)—Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
• LOVE—You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
• MEDITATE—And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.
• TEACH—You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
• REMEMBER—You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

What better way to complete all these objectives than memorizing God’s Word?

Okay, okay: don’t click away yet.

I. HAVE. TIPS.

These have been test-driven by myself, the Queen of not-being-able-to-memorize-verses (ESPECIALLY in weird old KJV English) (although KJV really helps because it tends to have a good cadence so I usually end up memorizing in KJV anyway).

Ways to memorize Scripture

1. The index card method

This is by far the best method I’ve discovered to date. A year ago, I wanted to memorize three short passages. I wrote them down on index cards (one at a time . . . I’m not about to memorize three passages at the same time haha), underlining separate phrases I was planning on conquering.

Then I placed it in either

1. My pants pocket (if you wear the same pair of pants a lot or can remember to transfer it) or
2. My phone case.

The phone case idea is ingenious because you’ll always have it with you and can just pop it out any time you have a free moment. I did this a lot during my break at work.

2. The art method

Now, not everyone is a Graphic Design major and can just pop over to Adobe Illustrator and draw up a super cool verse-related graphic . . . BUT anyone can make a free account on Canva. Figure out the size of your cellphone wallpaper, or use the already-set desktop background maker and design a graphic with the words to the verse(s) you’re trying to memorize. They have lots of pretty free photography and graphics that’ll be super cool. If you’re a little scared about going free, you can always use their free templates as well.

Every time you open up your phone or power up your laptop, you’ll be reminded of your verse. You can take a few seconds to just look over it and add a few more words to your memorization.

3. Scripture typer

I used this free online service to memorize verses for a class at school, actually. It was weird: it helped me on some verses, but others I just had to straight-up memorize the old-fashioned way.

4. Write it down

My memorizing usually goes like this

• I get the first part down easy,
• then struggle with the middle,
• then literally cannot get the end,
• then totally forget the first part,
• then mess up the middle,
• then it just all goes out the window.

Sometimes writing the verse down from memory helps. You’ll be surprised at where you hit a blank spot . . . and that’s the part you know you need to keep memorizing. Sometimes we just keep looking at the verse and memorizing it but as soon as it’s gone and we have to actually write it/prove we know it, BAM: it gone.

So, those are my very practical, test-driven, PROVEN ways to memorize Scripture. I’ve also heard some people are literal machines and can memorize the first letter of each word and piece it together that way . . .

Um . . .

NAW. (If you’re one of those people, let me know in the comments below and I’ll shower you in praise)

How do you guys memorize Scripture? How do you guys choose which passages to memorize? Are you memorization-incompetent?