Showing posts with label memorization. Show all posts
Showing posts with label memorization. Show all posts
Friday, January 9, 2009
Warfare--Sword of the Spirit, memorization
One of the things the Lord has really impressed on me for this year is the importance of memorizing scripture. I have heard many excuses for avoiding this Christian discipline. However, the reality is excuses are just that--excuses. They are a justification for our not wanting to take responsibility for doing the right thing--the thing that feeds our soul, attacks a situation, brings down mountains, and breaks forth life. The Word says the Sword of Spirit is the Word of God. Why do we make excuses for refusing to pick up a weapon so powerful that it brought for the universe in six days?
If you have chosen to pick up your sword, one way you learn to wield is by memorizing scripture. I want to share a few methods for memorizing scripture.
1. Repeating aloud. Simply read the verse aloud repeated. For people who learn by hearing, this is great.
2. Technology aided. You can record it on an iPod or MP3 player and let it play back to you. Say it as it plays. This is great if you use your iPod for exercise or copy it to a CD to play in your car on the way to work or run errands. Hit the repeat button and let it go. Listen to it and repeat aloud. After awhile, you should be able to turn off the voice or CD and simply say it alone. Again, this is great for those who learn by hearing.
3. Write it down...over and over and over. I use this method because I remember what I see or read. One of the blessings of a photographic memory. There are 3 tactics for this. I use different ones at different time.
a. Break the verse or passage up into pieces, such as sentences or phrases.
Example: My children learned this in one day.
I command you to brave and courageous.
Do not be terrified.
Do not lose hope.
I am the Lord your God.
I will be with you
in everything you do. (Joshua 1:9 NIrV)
I wrote it on the white board that way. We read it several times. Then I started erasing words.
I command you to be brave and
Do not be
Do not
I am the Lord your God.
I will be with you
in everything you do.
More words were erased.
I command you to be
Do not
Do not
I am
I will
At that point, they had it memorized. Then we simply went through it a few times each day.
By the way, they each have their own journals, and they write down the verses they memorize and the date. We are building a foundation for them, and these are part of the bricks we use.
b. I write the scripture over and over. Each time I try to write more without having to look at the text. Usually, I have to write it four or five times to make it stick, and I try to keep my focus text under five written lines. If I am doing a long passage, I do it in sections. Today I worked on James 1:2-4. I worked on verses 2 and 3 by themselves.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
Then I worked on verse 4.
Perserverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Then I put the whole section together and wrote it several times. I use a simple spiral to write these in.
c. The last method incorporate color coding. An example is:
This is what I am commanding you to do.
Be strong and brave.
Do not be terrified.
Do not lose hope.
I am the Lord your God.
I will be with you
everywhere you go.
I use this with the children a lot. I make multiple copies on the computer and put them around the house. I put one in the bathroom, by their beds, on the wall so everyone can see it from the kitchen table. You get the idea.
Our goal is one sentence at a time. Breaking them up in colors makes the bites edible and not overwhelming.
Don't forget!!!
And that brings us to my final suggestion, put it everywhere so you can review it.
My friend Debra has verses on the wall in front of her toilet.
She has them on the cabinets in her kitchen.
She puts them like posters and post cards all around her bedroom.
If you walk in the door and turn to the side, there are verses.
You cannot walk into her house or move from room to room without seeing the verses.
She also has a packet in her purse at all times.
She takes them out and read them when she is waiting for her children.
She hands them to her girls to read while they are in the car driving from place to place.
Standing Together
Find an accountability partner or two. Tell them what you are memorizing and give them (or every other day) updates. Memorization really is a daily exercise. It takes about 27 days for something to become a habit, so try to make a goal of reviewing a verse everyday for a month. You can work on multiple verses at once. Write them all down in an email to your Accountability Warrior every day. If you are doing a whole section, and it takes two weeks to memorize, then write the whole thing you have memorized each day from the time you start that passage until a month after the last part is memorized. Does that makes sense?
After a month, the passage should be concreted in your brain.
So tell me, what scripture are you memorizing? Why? What is the Lord speaking to you through the verse(s)? You can email me through my profile if you want it private or share on the comments. Make it as long as you like. You never how much a fellow warrior may need what the Father is speaking into you, so share.
Blessings, Warriors and Warriors-in-the-Making!
Remember:
This is what I command.
Be strong and brave.
Do not be terrified.
Do not lose hope.
I will be with you
everywhere you go.
If you have chosen to pick up your sword, one way you learn to wield is by memorizing scripture. I want to share a few methods for memorizing scripture.
1. Repeating aloud. Simply read the verse aloud repeated. For people who learn by hearing, this is great.
2. Technology aided. You can record it on an iPod or MP3 player and let it play back to you. Say it as it plays. This is great if you use your iPod for exercise or copy it to a CD to play in your car on the way to work or run errands. Hit the repeat button and let it go. Listen to it and repeat aloud. After awhile, you should be able to turn off the voice or CD and simply say it alone. Again, this is great for those who learn by hearing.
3. Write it down...over and over and over. I use this method because I remember what I see or read. One of the blessings of a photographic memory. There are 3 tactics for this. I use different ones at different time.
a. Break the verse or passage up into pieces, such as sentences or phrases.
Example: My children learned this in one day.
I command you to brave and courageous.
Do not be terrified.
Do not lose hope.
I am the Lord your God.
I will be with you
in everything you do. (Joshua 1:9 NIrV)
I wrote it on the white board that way. We read it several times. Then I started erasing words.
I command you to be brave and
Do not be
Do not
I am the Lord your God.
I will be with you
in everything you do.
More words were erased.
I command you to be
Do not
Do not
I am
I will
At that point, they had it memorized. Then we simply went through it a few times each day.
By the way, they each have their own journals, and they write down the verses they memorize and the date. We are building a foundation for them, and these are part of the bricks we use.
b. I write the scripture over and over. Each time I try to write more without having to look at the text. Usually, I have to write it four or five times to make it stick, and I try to keep my focus text under five written lines. If I am doing a long passage, I do it in sections. Today I worked on James 1:2-4. I worked on verses 2 and 3 by themselves.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
Then I worked on verse 4.
Perserverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Then I put the whole section together and wrote it several times. I use a simple spiral to write these in.
c. The last method incorporate color coding. An example is:
This is what I am commanding you to do.
Be strong and brave.
Do not be terrified.
Do not lose hope.
I am the Lord your God.
I will be with you
everywhere you go.
I use this with the children a lot. I make multiple copies on the computer and put them around the house. I put one in the bathroom, by their beds, on the wall so everyone can see it from the kitchen table. You get the idea.
Our goal is one sentence at a time. Breaking them up in colors makes the bites edible and not overwhelming.
Don't forget!!!
And that brings us to my final suggestion, put it everywhere so you can review it.
My friend Debra has verses on the wall in front of her toilet.
She has them on the cabinets in her kitchen.
She puts them like posters and post cards all around her bedroom.
If you walk in the door and turn to the side, there are verses.
You cannot walk into her house or move from room to room without seeing the verses.
She also has a packet in her purse at all times.
She takes them out and read them when she is waiting for her children.
She hands them to her girls to read while they are in the car driving from place to place.
Standing Together
Find an accountability partner or two. Tell them what you are memorizing and give them (or every other day) updates. Memorization really is a daily exercise. It takes about 27 days for something to become a habit, so try to make a goal of reviewing a verse everyday for a month. You can work on multiple verses at once. Write them all down in an email to your Accountability Warrior every day. If you are doing a whole section, and it takes two weeks to memorize, then write the whole thing you have memorized each day from the time you start that passage until a month after the last part is memorized. Does that makes sense?
After a month, the passage should be concreted in your brain.
So tell me, what scripture are you memorizing? Why? What is the Lord speaking to you through the verse(s)? You can email me through my profile if you want it private or share on the comments. Make it as long as you like. You never how much a fellow warrior may need what the Father is speaking into you, so share.
Blessings, Warriors and Warriors-in-the-Making!
Remember:
This is what I command.
Be strong and brave.
Do not be terrified.
Do not lose hope.
I will be with you
everywhere you go.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
The Lord's Prayer--Beyond Memory to Meaning
My Beloved Daughter was soaking in the Word this week when she ran across a passage that left her unsettled.
The Word says, "And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. (Matthew 6:7)." Anna was concerned because she pours her whole heart out to the Lord. She tells Him all about her day--good and bad parts. She tells Him if she is concerned about something, and when she is mad, she unleashes on Him instead of people. Her question: Mom, is that babbling?
I pointed out verses like:
Cast all your care upon Him for He cares for you.--Psalm 55:22 and 1 Peter 5:7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.--Philippians 4:6-7
"Then what is 'babbling'?"
I explained that folks often say prayers without thinking about what they are saying. Rote prayers are common.
"God is great. God is good. Let us thank Him for our food. Amen."
Do we really think about how great and good God is that we are eating the food we have, or do we just give lip service because that is what we are to do at meals?
Bedtime prayers can be the same way. We say the same thing, or virtually the same thing, every night and never really stop and think about what we are praying. We're supposed to say something to acknowledge God, so we do. We talk at God, not to God. That is babbling.
I gave her an example from the Bible--The Lord's Prayer. Many of us can recite it, and I will admit I've used it when my heart was so heavy I had no words. I admit for a long time my children and I prayed it every day at nap time because I wanted it deep into their memories. I wanted it firmly planted in their mind.
At some point, though, God has to go from our mind to our heart. Our prayers cannot be merely words we recite because someone told us they were good. Our prayers are to words of relationship, an acknowledgement of who we are and Who we know God is.
With that premise in mind, we talked about The Lord's Prayer in terms of relationship, not rote memorization.
These are the thoughts I shared with her. I hope they bless you, too.
The Lord’s Prayer
(the Mommy Translation)
Our Father who is in Heaven,
Father—the Loving One who meets all my needs, whose heart is for my good, who desires only the best for me, who is willing to die for me to live, who loves me enough to discipline and correct me, and leads me and teaches me to be like Him, who enjoys my company and delights in me, who will never abandon me or forsake me, hunts me down when I mess up or miss hearing you
In Heaven—Above all things, all situations, all circumstances, all needs, all sickness, all authority, all of the earth
Holy is your name.
You are holy. It is a defining characteristic of who you are. You cannot lie, cannot change, cannot do less than perfect. You deserve all of my respect, honor, and obedience.
Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Your kingdom is a kingdom of blessing, salvation, healing, and prosperity.
Your will is that none should perish but all know Jesus as Savior.
I give you permission to use my life and all influence you give me to bless others, lead others to salvation, heal others, and prosper them.
Show me your will for my life so that I can release your glory, your presence, and your spirit into this world so that you may save and heal those which are lost.
Give us this day our daily bread,
I refuse to worry about tomorrow. Meet my needs for today. Give me the strategy for living today, what to do, how to use my time and resources, and where to invest.
I refuse to lose today by focusing on what can and should be done tomorrow or being ashamed or regretful of anything in the past.
Show me Your plan for TODAY so that I can be fed body, soul, mind, and spirit and give of my abundance to others.
And forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Father, I know I sin, and I need you to forgive me.
I also ask that you would show me if I have offense against anyone because I do not want to hold on to it. You have forgiven me out of the love in your heart, not because I earned it. I do not expect others to earn my forgiveness either. Instead, I choose to freely give it.
When my flesh tries to hold on to offense, enable me to let it go and walk in the freedom of forgiveness-both received and given.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Father, protect my heart, mind, and spirit. You are my refuge and stronghold. Remind me of your promises, your strength, your love, your faithfulness, and your mercy. Go before me and behind me. I trust you to not leave or forsake me but to lead me for your name’s sake.
For yours is the power and the glory and the honor forever.
You are all powerful. There is nothing that can stand up against you. There is no sickness—mental or physical, no kingdom, no lie, no temptation, no need of any form, no prison, no form of captivity, NOTHING that can stand against you. You are powerful above ALL.
All glory and honor is given to you because all good things come from you. All freedom comes from you. All life comes from you. All joy comes from you. You deserve all the glory and honor belong to you because you have kept your promises and stayed true to your name.
Amen.
Father, let it be so.
Copyright Jerri Phillips 2008
The Word says, "And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. (Matthew 6:7)." Anna was concerned because she pours her whole heart out to the Lord. She tells Him all about her day--good and bad parts. She tells Him if she is concerned about something, and when she is mad, she unleashes on Him instead of people. Her question: Mom, is that babbling?
I pointed out verses like:
Cast all your care upon Him for He cares for you.--Psalm 55:22 and 1 Peter 5:7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.--Philippians 4:6-7
"Then what is 'babbling'?"
I explained that folks often say prayers without thinking about what they are saying. Rote prayers are common.
"God is great. God is good. Let us thank Him for our food. Amen."
Do we really think about how great and good God is that we are eating the food we have, or do we just give lip service because that is what we are to do at meals?
Bedtime prayers can be the same way. We say the same thing, or virtually the same thing, every night and never really stop and think about what we are praying. We're supposed to say something to acknowledge God, so we do. We talk at God, not to God. That is babbling.
I gave her an example from the Bible--The Lord's Prayer. Many of us can recite it, and I will admit I've used it when my heart was so heavy I had no words. I admit for a long time my children and I prayed it every day at nap time because I wanted it deep into their memories. I wanted it firmly planted in their mind.
At some point, though, God has to go from our mind to our heart. Our prayers cannot be merely words we recite because someone told us they were good. Our prayers are to words of relationship, an acknowledgement of who we are and Who we know God is.
With that premise in mind, we talked about The Lord's Prayer in terms of relationship, not rote memorization.
These are the thoughts I shared with her. I hope they bless you, too.
The Lord’s Prayer
(the Mommy Translation)
Our Father who is in Heaven,
Father—the Loving One who meets all my needs, whose heart is for my good, who desires only the best for me, who is willing to die for me to live, who loves me enough to discipline and correct me, and leads me and teaches me to be like Him, who enjoys my company and delights in me, who will never abandon me or forsake me, hunts me down when I mess up or miss hearing you
In Heaven—Above all things, all situations, all circumstances, all needs, all sickness, all authority, all of the earth
Holy is your name.
You are holy. It is a defining characteristic of who you are. You cannot lie, cannot change, cannot do less than perfect. You deserve all of my respect, honor, and obedience.
Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Your kingdom is a kingdom of blessing, salvation, healing, and prosperity.
Your will is that none should perish but all know Jesus as Savior.
I give you permission to use my life and all influence you give me to bless others, lead others to salvation, heal others, and prosper them.
Show me your will for my life so that I can release your glory, your presence, and your spirit into this world so that you may save and heal those which are lost.
Give us this day our daily bread,
I refuse to worry about tomorrow. Meet my needs for today. Give me the strategy for living today, what to do, how to use my time and resources, and where to invest.
I refuse to lose today by focusing on what can and should be done tomorrow or being ashamed or regretful of anything in the past.
Show me Your plan for TODAY so that I can be fed body, soul, mind, and spirit and give of my abundance to others.
And forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Father, I know I sin, and I need you to forgive me.
I also ask that you would show me if I have offense against anyone because I do not want to hold on to it. You have forgiven me out of the love in your heart, not because I earned it. I do not expect others to earn my forgiveness either. Instead, I choose to freely give it.
When my flesh tries to hold on to offense, enable me to let it go and walk in the freedom of forgiveness-both received and given.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Father, protect my heart, mind, and spirit. You are my refuge and stronghold. Remind me of your promises, your strength, your love, your faithfulness, and your mercy. Go before me and behind me. I trust you to not leave or forsake me but to lead me for your name’s sake.
For yours is the power and the glory and the honor forever.
You are all powerful. There is nothing that can stand up against you. There is no sickness—mental or physical, no kingdom, no lie, no temptation, no need of any form, no prison, no form of captivity, NOTHING that can stand against you. You are powerful above ALL.
All glory and honor is given to you because all good things come from you. All freedom comes from you. All life comes from you. All joy comes from you. You deserve all the glory and honor belong to you because you have kept your promises and stayed true to your name.
Amen.
Father, let it be so.
Copyright Jerri Phillips 2008
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