How to Memorize Scripture: 7 Proven Approaches

If you want to know how to memorize scripture quickly and make it stick for the long-term, please understand the following. There’s no single way to do it. That said, there also isn’t an infinite number of approaches. You can use either: A Memory Palace NetworkMnemonic imagesRote RepetitionFlashcardsSpaced-repetition softwareCloze testsA combination of all the above On this page, I’ll walk you through each of these options as a PhD who memorized a lot of scripture as part of my studies. I even included some scripture I memorized in my popular TEDx Talk. As I walk you through each strategy for memorizing scripture, consider focusing especially on the Memory Palace technique. You’ll get my best tips for all of the other methods listed above, but using Memory Palaces has helped the largest amount of people in the fourteen years I’ve been teaching memory techniques for scripture. How to Memorize Scripture: 7 Proven Approaches Before you start memorizing scripture, please consider following my P.E.A.C.H. formula (practice encoding at calm hours). Memorizing the Bible is possible. But you have to set aside the time to do it. And it’s very important not to let yourself get interrupted. For best results, explore each of the methods on this page in a well-thought out study place and a time when you won’t be disturbed. One: The Memory Palace Network for Memorizing Scripture and Verse Numbers Many people are aware of the Memory Palace technique and related memory techniques like the method of loci and the journey method. It works like this: Choose a familiar location, like your home or a neighborhood. Next, assign a path through that location, strategically following a journey where you will place mnemonic images that help you remember verses and their numbers. For that reason, it helps to have a numbered Memory Palace, as illustrated in this Kelvin Grove Memory Palace I used for one of my scripture projects: For best results, I suggest you sketch your Memory Palaces and keep these in a Memory Journal. Then, as you’re learning to use the technique, you have a self-created visual reference to work with as you place mnemonic associations in the Memory Palace. For some people, it will be easy to memorize multiple words at the same time. For others, it will be necessary to encode the verses with an image for every word. When it comes to memorizing the verse numbers specifically, you’ll want a number memory technique like the Major System or the PAO System. I’ll give a detailed example further down showing you how all this works. Two: Mnemonic Images without a Memory Palace Some people do not want to use Memory Palaces. They wonder if they can simply create associations to scripture and have them float “in the void of their mind.” One of my students just did that. In fact, Mike McKinley shared how he used just a part of my teaching to memorize 66 Psalms on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast. But as we discovered in our conversation, he still used a certain level of spatial memory. You can contrast his experience with those of Matt Barclay, who joined me to discuss how he memorized and delivered an entire Psalm to his congregation. The reason most of us prefer to use a Memory Palace is that it helps reduce the cognitive load. Using a familiar location to place images is like having a canvas to paint on. It helps you look back at a reference point and reconstruct the target verses you want to recall. Three: Rote Repetition Of course, it’s worth noting that you’re perfectly welcome to simply repeat the verses until they stick. This approach is traditionally called rote learning. It doesn’t work very well for many of us. In fact, it can be downright destructive because it’s often frustratingly boring. That said, it’s worth experimenting with in order to see how it compares to using other mnemonic techniques. Often people are pleasantly surprised and come to realize the benefits of the active recall mnemonics provide compared to rote. Four: Flashcards I just mentioned “active recall.” One of its most important principles is that you need to personalize the associations you make when memorizing scripture. Obviously, this is not possible with rote learning. That approach involves literally repeating the same thing over and over again. But let’s say you want to memorize the books of the Bible by name. This is a great way to use flashcards. For example, I drew this to help me remember the name Zephaniah: I know. I’m not a great artist. But the zipper helps me remember that the word starts with ‘Z.’ And Shaniah Twain helps me remember the sound of Zephaniah. The trick here is that the exact name of the Bible is nowhere on the card. I have to use the way I’ve personalized the mnemonics as a clue that triggers the target information. This is what active recall is all about. Notice something else: The card is itself a kind of Memory Palace. Even without looking at any individual...