Bible Memorization by Phone

One of the most important things Christians can do is commune with God through the Word of God, the Bible. We constantly make this an emphasis in our church, handing out Bible reading schedules in late December every year and regularly mentioning it in the preaching.

When you are in the habit of faithfully reading the Bible, you are taking God’s own words into your spirit. You hear His voice, you learn (or relearn) His will for your life. While godly counsel is useful in understanding God’s will (through preaching, one-on-one discipleship, etc.), there is no substitute with “getting it from the source.” God gave us a great gift in the New Testament era by not only speaking through his Son, but also having the Son speak through the apostles to us in the written word. When we read, we are hearing the voice of God.

An often-overlooked spiritual discipline is Bible memorization. This takes Bible reading to another level. Of course, it starts with reading, but in memorization, we deliberately look at a portion of Scripture more intensely. We work hard at simply getting the exact words in the right order in our minds so we can recite them, at least to ourselves. As we recite, we move past “just getting the words right” to thinking about what the words mean. They become part of our spiritual arsenal as we walk for Christ in this life.

What do I mean by a spiritual arsenal? In Ephesians 6, Paul describes the Christian armour. All the elements he mentions are defensive, except one, the sword of the Spirit. Years ago, a friend of mine told me about a challenge he had given to fellow students at BJU on this concept. The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. My friend simply asked, “How long is your sword? Are you well-armed to fight off the attacks of Satan, or are you just using a stubby little penknife?”

So, there are at least two benefits of memorization. First, the idea of meditation, thinking deeply about what God means in his Word. (Christian meditation isn’t the emptying of your mind, but the filling of your mind.) As you think deeply, the way you think about life changes. You learn to approach life God’s way.

The second benefit of meditation is as a weapon against temptations. As the world, the flesh, and the devil try to lead you astray, the Word of God is your ready tool to turn aside the thrusts of one of your spiritual enemies.

Now, I will say that my own Bible memorization has been up and down. “Sporadic” is the adjective I’d use. When I was younger, there was a lot more of it. As I grew older, and wasn’t accountable to a Sunday school teacher or Bible class professor, it was hard to keep up with it.

There are two things I want to recommend that will help you with memorization. One is an accountability partner. Get with a friend every week and try to memorize a chapter together. You will find you are motivated to keep it up and you will grow as the two of you work together on the project.

The second is using modern technology to help. Something I discovered recently is a Bible memorization app for my phone, Versify. It is available for both Androids and iPhones. It is completely free, with no ads, and is very intuitive to use. (There are other apps as well, but this one is so good I quit looking at others.) You will find ways to test yourself as you memorize and will find that the app helps you keep on track with your memorizing. It has become part of my daily devotions.

A new feature for the app is Voice mode. As you get better with the verse (or verses), you can simply speak your verse back to the phone. If you say the right words, they will show up on your screen. This is really cool, in my opinion! (But of course, I am a gadget guy.)

For further encouragement I’d like to draw your attention to an article in the September/October FrontLine (Using Your Words: Glorifying God with Language (FrontLine) – Proclaim & Defend), “Hidden in My Heart” by Rachel Mayes Allen. Rachel talks about her memorization practices. I think you will find her article encouraging.

• I recently interviewed Rachel Allen on the Proclaim & Defend podcast. You can find that conversation here: Interview 94: Hidden in My Heart.
• As you walk with God, do everything you can to fill your mind with His Word. Read your Bible, pray, memorize, meditate, and apply God’s word to your life.
• Read up on the Versify app here: Versify

You can memorize the Scripture on your phone, just spending five minutes a day. You will find this practice very helpful for your spiritual life.

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Don Johnson is the pastor of Grace Baptist Church of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada.

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Photo adapted from an original by May Gauthier on Unsplash