Why You Really Can Memorize Scripture: Understand and unlock your mind's natural ability to memorize long passages

by Daniel Morris

Understand and unlock your mind's natural ability to memorize long passages

Called to be a missionary as a teenager, I had a great desire to fulfill God's will, but had a great sense of inadequacy for such an extraordinary purpose. But God says he who meditates in His Word ...shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper (Psalm 1:3). This verse was and still is a great source of encouragement.

Part of meditation is to memorize God's Word, so I began a systematic method of memorizing consecutive passages of scripture. Through the years I learned, both by study and by experience, how God made our memory function. Presently, I have 42 chapters memorized and, best of all, our missionary work has prospered beyond what I could have imagined.

This book describes what I learned about permanently memorizing scripture and will help you be one of the few who experiences the blessing of meditation in God's Word, and the hope that whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

In this book you’ll learn:

•Specific memorization techniques.
•How to memorize scripture, the Bible.
•How to remember what you read.

This Christian book is periodically available for free download on your kindle. We hope you use this to fully embrace and retain all God gave us in His Word. These memorization techniques enable the reader to enjoy Bible memorization, even to the point where you’ll feel this is a Bible memory game.

Genres: Christian, Religion, Nonfiction, Christianity, Christian Non Fiction, Spirituality

37 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2012

About the author

Dr. Morris graduated from Pacific Coast Baptist Bible College and Anchor Theological Seminary. He received his Ph.D. in Biblical Studies from Louisiana Baptist University. Since 1978, he and his wife, Debbie, have served as missionaries in Chiapas, Mexico.
He presently pastors the Baptist church he founded in Tuxtla Gutiérrez and oversees several other churches, missions, and a Christian school. Much of his time is dedicated to training Hispanic pastors and counseling.

Reviews

[Sherrese Holder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative

I think that the information and encouragement was great. The steps he gave I believe will work and are valuable.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had some good tips and some of his method was very helpful. Some of it was more complicated than remembering the verse. It was a good little book to get for free, I probably wouldn't be as pleased with it if I had paid.

[Della Loredo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear & Simple plan for Bible Memorization

I have enjoyed the blessings of memorizing Scripture for some time, but I find it difficult to convey the HOW of it to the kids in my class at church. This little booklet presents a step-by-step process simply and clearly. Not only will I now be able to share specific steps/ideas with the kids at church, but I'm sure that my own devotional life will also benefit.

[Chantale Roxanas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very practical guide

This is a very practical guide to memorising scripture. Well written with great tips, this guide walks you through the process of memorisation in a clear and easy to follow way. Beyond rote memorisation and repetition, the author does well in reminding us of the why of memorisation and not just the how. Great little guide. Would recommend!

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Memorization Techniques Made Simple

Loved this book, and the author's writing! Looking forward to beginning my 10 minutes a day on memorizing God's Word. This book made me think differently about memorization. I used to think I was too old, but i now see the folly of such thoughts that had more to do with enemy attacks than pure logic. Will try it and provide an update.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Think you can’t memorize Scripture? Dr. Daniel Morris’ book Why You Really Can Memorize Scripture challenges that mindset with his concrete steps that will enable anyone, with practice, to memorize scripture.

If we do not have Scripture memorized, we may enter spiritual warfare unarmed. To be properly prepared for battle, evangelize, or teach spontaneously we must have Bible passages memorized from God’s Word that we can recall when needed. Dr. Morris stresses the more Scripture committed to memory, the more knowledge we will have available to guide others to Christ or walk through a personal trial.

Why You Really Can Memorize Scripture contains steps to enable you to gather, store, and recall verses of Scripture, as well as a practice passage of Scripture to utilize the memorization methods presented in the book. For example, readers are encouraged to read the verse several times. Next, he puts forth questions you should answer about the Scripture you are trying to memorize to gain a better understanding of the Scripture. Such as, the background story of the verses. What is happening in the passage you are trying to memorize? Placing the verse in context certainly helps you hold it in your memory. Other things he suggest to retain the information is to observe the sentence structure, such as anything unusual, which further aids in cementing the information into your mind. The author also illustrates how to associate the verses with something else that you can easily recall to aid the memorization process. Why You Really Can Memorize Scripture by Dr. Daniel Morris offers solid tools and words of encouragement to help anyone memorize Scripture.

I received this book free of charge from Life Sentence Publishing with no expectation for a positive review.

[Debbie Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good little book, actually more like a booklet. It was free and I really wanted to read it to find some tips on memorizing scripture. When we had the Internet at home I was enjoying using the ScriptureTyper website. Now that I don't have that I am struggling more to learn, and review, my verses. I did find some tips in the book, but mostly it just says that you need to go over the verse(s) every day and set up a time to learn new ones and to review the ones you already learned. Yeah, I know. Doing it is the hard thing.

I am doing pretty well on my verses for the year. My goal was 24 verses, which is of course 2 a month. At least I have not given up. I want to keep memorizing scripture. I need the verses for the battles Satan throws my way every day. I need all my armor on... including having the Sword of the Spirit,which is the work of God, readily available. (Eph. 6:17) It is no good to have to go look something up when Satan attack my mind. I need verses ready in the moment. So I want to work on my memorizing, it is something I have neglected most of my adult life.

Since the book was free it was worth the read. It only took me a few minutes to read the booklet. I will be trying the techniques they taught in the book. I don't remember what it's original price was but I probably wouldn't pay more than a dollar for it, two at the most.

[Christy Bower · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why You Really Can Memorize Scripture is a brief guide to memorizing Scripture using techniques that help store the information in long-term memory rather than short-term memory that is quickly forgotten. The key is to understand how the brain works to store short and long term information in different ways. Long-term memory files things that are deemed unique in some way. So a sequence of ordinary words isn’t very unique unless you explore ways to identify unique features of the verse such as a series of pairs, the number of commas or phrases, or even turning the first letters into a nonsense sentence to help you remember the text.

I’m not very much into rote memorization because I retain things better if I absorb them naturally from seeing the verse on the left page of my Bible, underlined in blue, and referred to often because of a felt need. In this natural way, I memorize plenty of verses.

But if you’re one to memorize lots of Scripture or long passages such as entire chapters or entire books of the Bible, then you might find some useful tips in Why You Really Can Memorize Scripture.

This review first appeared on my blog, ChristyBower.com.

[Betsy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did like the idea of spending ten minutes a day working to memorize new scriptures plus using the daily routine times, such as when showering, brushing teeth, doing housework, etc. to practice and refresh your memory of previously memorized verses. However, this was really the only helpful idea for me. The idea of using silly sentences to help you recall the first words of a difficult passage seems to make memorization more difficult, not easier. The other tips were so obvious we really did not need the author to point them out.

[Marla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and I learned some new principles to help me with memorizing scripture. It was also good to find that some of the things that I had figured out on my own were mentioned in this book! I love memorizing scripture and I am always trying to learn something new to help me do a better job at memorizing. This is the best book I have read on the subject. It is to the point and Dr. Morris uses real examples to walk you through the process.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This would be an excellent book for new Christians to read. Sometimes memorizing Scripture is hard - especially if it is a totally new concept. However, Dr. Morris suggests ideas for developing the discipline of daily Scripture memorization, as well as concentrating on how our brain actually works.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good ideas on how to memorize scripture and to make it a priority for continued growth. I liked the idea that it is "not about capability but consistency " that makes memorizing scripture possible. It must become a habit in order to see the fruit.

[Jaguar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I can memorize scripture well, and I think this book was pretty good. It helped me learn a bit more and it provided ways on improving your memory. I would read this book again and I liked it. If you are having trouble memorize scripture, try this book.

2014-Summer-Reading-Review

[Lynette Karg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated the exploration of why we sometimes fail in our memorization efforts based on the different way our short term and long term memory works. Laying that groundwork first makes the suggestions given all the more helpful.