Desire Spiritual Growth » Bible Memory

8 Bible Reading and Memory Plans [Weekend Resource]

Daniel C. Wilson — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 00:45:11 +0000

Desire Spiritual Growth has two new pages: Bible Reading Plans and Bible Memory Plans under the Resources tab.

Both pages offer a buffet of Bible reading and memory plans, plus some “how-to” heavy artillery. Remember, our hope is not in the methods. But they are tools nonetheless. There’s value in having a plan to follow when reading the Bible. Maybe you want to methodically follow a beaten path by reading the Bible in a year. Or you want to plunge into a 90 day reading plan. Or maybe you’re like me and just want a plan so you can have something to meander back to once you’ve chased the rabbit trails.

Here’s a list for readers of all stripes.

Bible Reading Plans

How to Have a Quiet Time

Guide to the Quiet Time
7 Minutes with God
How to Use Bible Study Methods [Confession From a Recovering Methods Addict]

Here’s everything you wanted to know about Bible memory, and then some.

Bible Memory Plan and Resources

How and Why to Memorize

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Weekend Resource: Customize PDF Verse Cards for Your Bible Memory

Daniel C. Wilson — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:48:57 +0000

Here’s a simple tool for creating printable verse card for Bible memory.

The Verse Card Maker was created by Michael Scott, who graduated in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in Computer and Information Sciences, but is now in seminary pursuing a Masters of Divinity. He’s offering you a free tool that is one of the fruits of his labor.

It’s as easy as 1-2-3, without the 2
Unless the defaults don’t suit you, there are only two steps.

Type in the references and then click “Make Cards.”

From the website:

“The Verse Card Maker is a simple and efficient way to create customized verse cards for scripture memory. The only thing required of the user is a list of references, and then the Verse Card Maker does the rest by fetching the text and returning a fully formatted PDF ready for front and back printing.”

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Weekend Resource: Fighter Verses

Daniel C. Wilson — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 00:47:52 +0000

Resource: The Fighter Verses, as used by Bethlehem Baptist Church (where Piper pastors), are 5 sets of verses. One set per year. Four verses a month. The goal is to memorize one verse a week, so that our sword stays sharp in fighting sin and treasuring Christ.

Excerpt (from linked website): “Fighter Verses are short passages of Scripture which we as a church have chosen to memorize each week. The Scripture, day after day, reveals to us the greatness of all that God is for us in Christ so that by the power of the Spirit we find our joy in him and the ways of sin become distasteful — indeed ugly and repugnant.”

From the Children Desiring God website: “The Fighter Verses memory system (available in ESV or NIV) was created to help believers persevere in the fight of faith by arming them with God’s Word. Designed for preschool children through adults, this system allows individuals, groups, or entire churches to memorize and review at their own pace. Bethlehem Baptist uses this as a church-wide memory system with hundreds of adults and children committed to memorize one passage per week throughout the year. We invite you to join us!”

Click here to go download the verse sheet pdfs

Click here to buy the full memory system from Children Desiring God on their website.

18 Tricks to Memorize More Scripture

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Weekend Resource: An Approach to Extended Memorization of Scripture

Daniel C. Wilson — Sun, 24 May 2009 03:11:33 +0000

Resource: “An Approach to Extended Memorization of Scripture” by Dr. Andrew Davis.

Summary: Dr. Andrew Davis expounds on not only the value of Bible memory, but the value of memorizing passages instead of single verses. We struggle enough to discipline ourselves to memorize a single verse. How can we be expected to tackle a passage? Davis offers practical ways to accomplish such a task, as well as retain what has been committed to memory. Many of his techniques can also be used to memorize single verses.

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Weekend Resource: 18 tricks to memorize more scripture

Daniel C. Wilson — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 16:11:41 +0000

Resource: 18 Tricks to Memorize More Scripture, by Demian Farnworth. Farnworth gives not only the reasoning behind the importance of Bible memory, but also goes further and gives 18 highly practical tricks for making Bible memory easier and more effective. Recently, I have spent time writing about the importance of the Word in our fight against sin as we seek to taste and see that the Lord is good. Farnworth gives us 18 ways to go further in this area. He also mentions the fact that busyness is often the culprit of memory trouble in all of life, which is interesting to ponder.

Excerpt: “But one of the most compelling reasons for memorizing Scripture I found in John Piper’s sermon If My Words Abide in You: memorizing Scripture shapes the way I view the world by conforming to God’s viewpoint.”

Read the full version here

Here is another interesting idea to aid Bible memory.

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It takes faith to memorize

Daniel C. Wilson — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 16:07:00 +0000

Psalm 119:11 comes to mind when someone mentions memorizing scripture. Psalm 119:11 gives a clear answer to the question, “Why memorize?”

Somehow, though, knowing “why” has not been enough to keep my going when I try to memorize. You could say it is a lack of desire to defeat sin. But I think the problem is deeper. I don’t think it is a lack of a desire to defeat sin, because I try pretty hard to do that whenever I see sin in my life. I think that even if I had a stronger desire to defeat sin, I’d still find myself ignoring the value, no matter how great, of memorizing. Why?

Because there is a fundamental lack of faith. Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

I do try to defeat sin. That happens to be the problem, I am drawing on my own resources and assuming that at some point I will overwhelmed the power of sin. That’s nonsense, because it took the death of a member of the Trinity to overcome sin. It is arrogance to think that I can repeat that victory by my own strength. No, it is more than arrogance. I think it is practical blasphemy to say I am as powerful as God, or to put Him as weak as me. The blasphemy doesn’t come from my mouth, but do my self-sufficient actions not shout it?

It takes faith to spend time memorizing something, taking God at His word that it will do a supernatural work in my heart that is unexplainable yet real. To memorize scripture, it takes more than a head knowledge of the value and benefits of memorization. It takes faith in the heart, that says, “God I don’t understand how Your Word changes hearts, but I know that it alone brings the change because it is Your living Word.” Faith is acting on what you believe, taking God’s truth and applying it to life.

God, it is not by my own strength that I commit to memorizing scripture by faith. It is Your Spirit’s drawing me that has brought me to this place. Continue to draw me as I take each step and trust Your Word to do the work I see only You can do in my wandering heart.

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