67 Ways To Memorize
1. Immerse yourself in God's word. Then you will already be familiar with each passage you memorize.
2. Point. Establish a mental picture of each person or thing in the verse and point that direction each time the name or a pronoun for it is used.
John 13:32: "If God [point up] is glorified in Him [point across], God [up] will glorify Him [across] in Himself [up], and will glorify Him [across] immediately."
3. Act it out. Physically go through the motions of the verse: speaking, walking, giving, kneeling, etc.
4. Use sign language.
5. Use natural gestures.
6. Use unnatural gestures. This works well to emphasize a word that you tend to forget.
7. Use logical hand motions. Children are often taught verses this way.
8. Use unusual hand motions. This can make a verse memorable.
Luke 1:71: "Salvation [cover chest with arm, as a shield] from our enemies [poke elbow out] and from the hand [open palm] of all [gesture out with hand] who hate us [extend arm with pointed finger]."
Enemies don't just poke us with their elbow, and hating someone is more than pointing a finger at him, but these motions flow together well, to help in saying the verse faster.
9. Make motions for sound-alike words.
Philippians 1:27: "Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ." Conduct as directing a choir, with hands facing yourself.
10. Memorize with someone else, using interesting 2-person motions. One's person's motions will interact with the motions the other person is doing.
11. Say it in rhythm.
Psalm 78:34: "When He killed them, then they sought Him."
12. Accent wrong words. Accent the words you tend to forget, or put into rhythm something not written in rhythm.
John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
John 14:1: "Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me."
13. Count syllables.
Matthew 5:1: "And when He was the multitudes" (eight syllables) "He went upon the mountain" (seven syllables)
14. Sing a verse to the tune of a scale. This works wonders to remember the number of syllables.
Mark 9:17, "And one of the crowd answered Him," would not easily be misquoted, "And someone in the crowd said."
15. Speak with an accent.
16. Speak expressively and slowly. Much more is remembered when speaking very slowly (aloud) than when speaking fast. Try closing your eyes, too.
17. Speak like someone else.
18. Make up a tune for the passage. This is not as hard as it may seem, and makes the verse almost impossible to forget.
19. Put it to an existing tune.
Jeremiah 33:3 was put to "Farmer in the Dell": "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not."
20. Memorize or listen to it while listening to classical style music.
21. Listen to it on a cassette tape.
22. Draw a picture of the passage.
23. Write out the passage. Keep a copy handy with you to look at throughout the day.
24. Type the passage.
25. Highlight key words.
26. Outline a passage. This provides a ready frame of reference. Philippians 1: The beginning of joy: suffering
Philippians 2: The basis of joy: humility
Philippians 3: The broadening of joy: knowing Christ
Philippians 4: The bringing of joy: peace Chapters can also be subdivided.
27. Type the passage in outline form. Each time a new thought builds upon a previous one, indent it.
Isaiah 51:15-16:
For I am the Lord your God,
Who stirs up the sea and its waves roar
(The Lord of hosts is his name.)
And I have put My words in your mouth,
And have covered you with the shadow of My hand,
to establish the heavens,
to found the earth,
and to say to Zion,
"You are my people."
28. Diagram the sentence. This can be simply done mentally, finding the subject and verb, or you can practice sentence analysis skills with a thorough written diagram.
29. Use an envelope. Cover the passage with a small piece of paper (I use an envelope) as you read it. Say as much as you can of each line before you uncover it.
30. Read through the passage (up to five verses) as many times as you are years old. Read with tip #29, and the passage should be memorized when you're done.
31. Use mistake ± n method. Read through the passage using tip #29. Note the last verse you quoted perfectly, and read five verses beyond. Then begin again five verses before your mistake, or ten from where you stopped. This is also the best review method I've found; for review, use two or three as your number instead of five.
32. Read remainder of chapter to be memorized, halving portion each time.
Suppose that I have memorized the first 12 verses of Philippians 1, which has a total of 30 verses. Now I would read verses 13-30, using tip #29.
Since that was 18 verses I just read, I would now read half of that, nine verses, 13-21. Half of nine is rounded to five, so next I would read verses 13-17.
Then I'd read three, 13-15, then two, and by the time I got to the portion to be memorized that day, I would already know it.
33. Divide by punctuation. Read a phrase, then quote it.
Mark 12:1: First memorize, "And He began to speak to them in parables:" then "a man planted a vineyard;" then say from the beginning. Then memorize "and put a wall around it," and say from the beginning, then memorize "and dug a vat under the wine press," and say from the beginning, etc.
34. Memorize by lines in your Bible. Learn first one line, then the next, etc., even if it's not separate phrases.
Memorize in the same manner as the previous tip, but with lines instead of phrases. The logical order of words will remind you what word comes next, and then you will know the entire line.
Here's Acts 24:1 in one Bible: "And after five days the high/ priest Ananias came down with / some elders, with a certain attor- / ney named Tertullus; and they / " etc.
35. Memorize the last phrase first, then add previous phrases.
36. Memorize all the "He said"-type phrases in a passage first.
In Matthew 4, you would learn "And the tempter came and said to Him," "But He answered and said," "And said to Him," "Jesus said to Him," "And He said to Him."
37. Learn the first letter of each word.
Proverbs 4:23, "Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life," would be WOYHWAD, FFIFTSOL
38. Associate first few words of chapter with its title.
Luke 7: "When He had completed . . ."
39. Know very well the first word of each verse.
Ephesians 6:
1-Children
2-Honor
3-That
4-And
5-Slaves
6-Not
7-With
8-Knowing
9-And
40. Say first word of next verse. This helps to remember the order of verses.
Romans 6:20-22: "For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness-therefore . . . what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed-for? . . . the outcome of those things is death-but . . . having been freed . . . "
41. Review the same chapter twice in a row.
42. However you review, always say before you see. If you read it first, you can probably quote it perfectly immediately afterwards, but since you don't know the mistakes you would have made, you will probably make them again the next time you say the passage.
43. After each verse you memorize, quote all the preceding verses.
44. Teach the passage to a sibling. You will both benefit greatly. This stretches creativity, and attentiveness to mistakes he might make.
45. Have someone teach you by rote. That person should say a section with hand motions, and have you repeat it with him, until you know the passage well. Learning it without reading it can have both benefits and detriments.
46. Get insights from the passage. Ask God how you can apply it. Even if your mind can't remember it, your life can!
47. When memorizing a story in Scripture, understand its broad outline before you gradually get to details of words.
48. Read aloud a section of names several times before starting to memorize it. This will help with pronunciation.
49. Associate unfamiliar names with familiar words.
In Genesis 14:1, "Chedorlaomer, king of Elam," picture a kettle to remember "Chedorlaomer".
50. Construct mental word pictures. See example above, #49.
51. To test knowledge, read an unrelated Scripture for a moment, then try to quote the verse you memorized. This works well with verses that seem easy to memorize but don't stay in your head.
52. See patterns. The genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3 has five names in almost every verse.
53. Find lists wherever you can.
54. Count the number of items on a list. You can then use a number of other tips to remember them.
55. Work on memorizing throughout the day. Several small portions of time will be more effective than one large portion.
56. Set reasonable long-range goals. Think this through carefully, considering what your life will be like and how much time you can commit to memorizing. Expect the unexpected. Project a reasonable daily memorizing goal, then multiply to find when you can finish a book, or how much you can memorize by a certain date. After subtracting verses or adding time to account for unexpected hindrances, record your goal.
Suppose it is January 1, and you want to memorize Philippians. You can sometimes memorize three or four verses a day, but you decide to commit to a reasonable two verses per day. At that rate you can memorize all 104 verses in 52 days, finishing on February 21. You decide to add a week for illness or other interruptions, and set your goal to memorize the book by February 28.
57. Set short-term goals to exceed your long-term ones.
Continuing the above example, I would try to memorize three verses every day in the first week, and memorize four today.
58. Have someone keep you accountable for attaining goals. Set a regular time to recite what you are learning.
59. Memorize with someone else for accountability. If you are memorizing the same thing on the same day, and sharing insights about the passage, you will want to be sure to keep up with your partner.
60. Keep a visual chart of your progress. Make it creative, and mark your progress every day toward the goal.
61. In the middle of a tedious passage, take a break to memorize something else. You will probably be more motivated to finish the first passage when you return to it.
62. Set aside a certain amount of time–not verses–to memorize each day. This way you will be much more likely to review and memorize thoroughly.
63. Memorize alone, in a quiet place.
64. Commit to memorize before some daily activity you enjoy. This could be lunch, recreational reading, playing a sport, etc.
65. In Isaiah, constantly review from beginning of chapter. Isaiah is like oil; it seems easy to memorize but doesn't stick!
66. Take Romans 6 a verse at a time, analyzing the logic. Along with Isaiah, Romans six and seven were the hardest chapters I ever memorized.
67. Ask God to make you want to memorize and do so well.
1. Immerse yourself in God's word. Then you will already be familiar with each passage you memorize.
2. Point. Establish a mental picture of each person or thing in the verse and point that direction each time the name or a pronoun for it is used.
John 13:32: "If God [point up] is glorified in Him [point across], God [up] will glorify Him [across] in Himself [up], and will glorify Him [across] immediately."
3. Act it out. Physically go through the motions of the verse: speaking, walking, giving, kneeling, etc.
4. Use sign language.
5. Use natural gestures.
6. Use unnatural gestures. This works well to emphasize a word that you tend to forget.
7. Use logical hand motions. Children are often taught verses this way.
8. Use unusual hand motions. This can make a verse memorable.
Luke 1:71: "Salvation [cover chest with arm, as a shield] from our enemies [poke elbow out] and from the hand [open palm] of all [gesture out with hand] who hate us [extend arm with pointed finger]."
Enemies don't just poke us with their elbow, and hating someone is more than pointing a finger at him, but these motions flow together well, to help in saying the verse faster.
9. Make motions for sound-alike words.
Philippians 1:27: "Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ." Conduct as directing a choir, with hands facing yourself.
10. Memorize with someone else, using interesting 2-person motions. One's person's motions will interact with the motions the other person is doing.
11. Say it in rhythm.
Psalm 78:34: "When He killed them, then they sought Him."
12. Accent wrong words. Accent the words you tend to forget, or put into rhythm something not written in rhythm.
John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
John 14:1: "Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me."
13. Count syllables.
Matthew 5:1: "And when He was the multitudes" (eight syllables) "He went upon the mountain" (seven syllables)
14. Sing a verse to the tune of a scale. This works wonders to remember the number of syllables.
Mark 9:17, "And one of the crowd answered Him," would not easily be misquoted, "And someone in the crowd said."
15. Speak with an accent.
16. Speak expressively and slowly. Much more is remembered when speaking very slowly (aloud) than when speaking fast. Try closing your eyes, too.
17. Speak like someone else.
18. Make up a tune for the passage. This is not as hard as it may seem, and makes the verse almost impossible to forget.
19. Put it to an existing tune.
Jeremiah 33:3 was put to "Farmer in the Dell": "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not."
20. Memorize or listen to it while listening to classical style music.
21. Listen to it on a cassette tape.
22. Draw a picture of the passage.
23. Write out the passage. Keep a copy handy with you to look at throughout the day.
24. Type the passage.
25. Highlight key words.
26. Outline a passage. This provides a ready frame of reference. Philippians 1: The beginning of joy: suffering
Philippians 2: The basis of joy: humility
Philippians 3: The broadening of joy: knowing Christ
Philippians 4: The bringing of joy: peace Chapters can also be subdivided.
27. Type the passage in outline form. Each time a new thought builds upon a previous one, indent it.
Isaiah 51:15-16:
For I am the Lord your God,
Who stirs up the sea and its waves roar
(The Lord of hosts is his name.)
And I have put My words in your mouth,
And have covered you with the shadow of My hand,
to establish the heavens,
to found the earth,
and to say to Zion,
"You are my people."
28. Diagram the sentence. This can be simply done mentally, finding the subject and verb, or you can practice sentence analysis skills with a thorough written diagram.
29. Use an envelope. Cover the passage with a small piece of paper (I use an envelope) as you read it. Say as much as you can of each line before you uncover it.
30. Read through the passage (up to five verses) as many times as you are years old. Read with tip #29, and the passage should be memorized when you're done.
31. Use mistake ± n method. Read through the passage using tip #29. Note the last verse you quoted perfectly, and read five verses beyond. Then begin again five verses before your mistake, or ten from where you stopped. This is also the best review method I've found; for review, use two or three as your number instead of five.
32. Read remainder of chapter to be memorized, halving portion each time.
Suppose that I have memorized the first 12 verses of Philippians 1, which has a total of 30 verses. Now I would read verses 13-30, using tip #29.
Since that was 18 verses I just read, I would now read half of that, nine verses, 13-21. Half of nine is rounded to five, so next I would read verses 13-17.
Then I'd read three, 13-15, then two, and by the time I got to the portion to be memorized that day, I would already know it.
33. Divide by punctuation. Read a phrase, then quote it.
Mark 12:1: First memorize, "And He began to speak to them in parables:" then "a man planted a vineyard;" then say from the beginning. Then memorize "and put a wall around it," and say from the beginning, then memorize "and dug a vat under the wine press," and say from the beginning, etc.
34. Memorize by lines in your Bible. Learn first one line, then the next, etc., even if it's not separate phrases.
Memorize in the same manner as the previous tip, but with lines instead of phrases. The logical order of words will remind you what word comes next, and then you will know the entire line.
Here's Acts 24:1 in one Bible: "And after five days the high/ priest Ananias came down with / some elders, with a certain attor- / ney named Tertullus; and they / " etc.
35. Memorize the last phrase first, then add previous phrases.
36. Memorize all the "He said"-type phrases in a passage first.
In Matthew 4, you would learn "And the tempter came and said to Him," "But He answered and said," "And said to Him," "Jesus said to Him," "And He said to Him."
37. Learn the first letter of each word.
Proverbs 4:23, "Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life," would be WOYHWAD, FFIFTSOL
38. Associate first few words of chapter with its title.
Luke 7: "When He had completed . . ."
39. Know very well the first word of each verse.
Ephesians 6:
1-Children
2-Honor
3-That
4-And
5-Slaves
6-Not
7-With
8-Knowing
9-And
40. Say first word of next verse. This helps to remember the order of verses.
Romans 6:20-22: "For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness-therefore . . . what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed-for? . . . the outcome of those things is death-but . . . having been freed . . . "
41. Review the same chapter twice in a row.
42. However you review, always say before you see. If you read it first, you can probably quote it perfectly immediately afterwards, but since you don't know the mistakes you would have made, you will probably make them again the next time you say the passage.
43. After each verse you memorize, quote all the preceding verses.
44. Teach the passage to a sibling. You will both benefit greatly. This stretches creativity, and attentiveness to mistakes he might make.
45. Have someone teach you by rote. That person should say a section with hand motions, and have you repeat it with him, until you know the passage well. Learning it without reading it can have both benefits and detriments.
46. Get insights from the passage. Ask God how you can apply it. Even if your mind can't remember it, your life can!
47. When memorizing a story in Scripture, understand its broad outline before you gradually get to details of words.
48. Read aloud a section of names several times before starting to memorize it. This will help with pronunciation.
49. Associate unfamiliar names with familiar words.
In Genesis 14:1, "Chedorlaomer, king of Elam," picture a kettle to remember "Chedorlaomer".
50. Construct mental word pictures. See example above, #49.
51. To test knowledge, read an unrelated Scripture for a moment, then try to quote the verse you memorized. This works well with verses that seem easy to memorize but don't stay in your head.
52. See patterns. The genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3 has five names in almost every verse.
53. Find lists wherever you can.
54. Count the number of items on a list. You can then use a number of other tips to remember them.
55. Work on memorizing throughout the day. Several small portions of time will be more effective than one large portion.
56. Set reasonable long-range goals. Think this through carefully, considering what your life will be like and how much time you can commit to memorizing. Expect the unexpected. Project a reasonable daily memorizing goal, then multiply to find when you can finish a book, or how much you can memorize by a certain date. After subtracting verses or adding time to account for unexpected hindrances, record your goal.
Suppose it is January 1, and you want to memorize Philippians. You can sometimes memorize three or four verses a day, but you decide to commit to a reasonable two verses per day. At that rate you can memorize all 104 verses in 52 days, finishing on February 21. You decide to add a week for illness or other interruptions, and set your goal to memorize the book by February 28.
57. Set short-term goals to exceed your long-term ones.
Continuing the above example, I would try to memorize three verses every day in the first week, and memorize four today.
58. Have someone keep you accountable for attaining goals. Set a regular time to recite what you are learning.
59. Memorize with someone else for accountability. If you are memorizing the same thing on the same day, and sharing insights about the passage, you will want to be sure to keep up with your partner.
60. Keep a visual chart of your progress. Make it creative, and mark your progress every day toward the goal.
61. In the middle of a tedious passage, take a break to memorize something else. You will probably be more motivated to finish the first passage when you return to it.
62. Set aside a certain amount of time–not verses–to memorize each day. This way you will be much more likely to review and memorize thoroughly.
63. Memorize alone, in a quiet place.
64. Commit to memorize before some daily activity you enjoy. This could be lunch, recreational reading, playing a sport, etc.
65. In Isaiah, constantly review from beginning of chapter. Isaiah is like oil; it seems easy to memorize but doesn't stick!
66. Take Romans 6 a verse at a time, analyzing the logic. Along with Isaiah, Romans six and seven were the hardest chapters I ever memorized.
67. Ask God to make you want to memorize and do so well.
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Bible Verse
"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." - II Chronicles 7:14