8 of The Best Times of Day to Memorise Scripture

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We are often encouraged to memorise Scripture, but I get the feeling that many people wonder how on earth they are going to fit something else into their already busy schedule.

However you don’t need to sit down with the Bible and spend half an hour just memorising! I am very busy with the children all day and therefore most of my scripture memory is done while multi-tasking. So I thought I would share some of my best times of the day to memorise.

‘These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.’ Deuteronomy 6:6-7

1. First thing in the morning – Dr. Donald Wetmore says that during the first 15 minutes of your day you are in what’s called an alpha state, which is when your brain waves and physical cycles are slowed and that ‘we can as much as double our learning rate’ in that time. I find that when I grab my scripture memory and take it with me while I get dressed and make breakfast I can go through a lot – much more quickly than I would at other times of the day.

2. On your way to work or school – I used to learn Spanish while cycling to work, and memorise scriptures while cycling to university, keeping an A5 spiral notebook in my pocket. I don’t recommend driving for learning verses as it is not very safe to be reading while you drive! But what I have done is recite a chapter that I already know, and any verses that I’m not sure of I wait till I’m at a traffic light to check. 🙂

3. During devotions – I memorise verses during my daily quiet time, where I go through my index card box of Bible verses. At the moment I also tend to review chapters during my devotional time, and just do a different one every day until I’ve gone through them all and then start again. Because I have a set time for my devotions that means I’m more likely to get it done than if it’s at a random time of the day.

4. While doing housework – folding laundry and washing dishes are great for memorising as you don’t have to think much and can stick your scripture in front of you and memorise while you work.

My scripture memory often hangs out on top of the coffee pot!

5. In the shower – this might sound strange, but chapters that I know really well I often recite in the shower and just check any that I was unsure about afterwards.

6. In some kinds of work or at college – my very first job was a paper round, and since I like multi-tasking I would take a little notebook with me of all my German words to learn for school and test myself while I was cycling around. I had a long route so it worked very well!

I also remember thinking how much scripture memory I could get done if I had one of those jobs where you’re in the middle of nowhere and just sit and wait for ages for someone to come along. But of course you’d have to make sure that it doesn’t in any way make your work less effective.

At university I used to take an index card with a scripture or passage on it and keep getting it out of my pocket during the day and trying to learn it.

7. While waiting – Memorising is great while waiting for a doctor’s appointment!

8. While exercising – exercise bike and walking are great for this. Swimming wouldn’t be, as your Bible would get wet (although I have seen waterproof Bibles)!! Running has worked for me if I think the verses instead of saying them out loud, since I don’t have enough breath for that.

Anyway if you are one of the people wondering when you would fit memorising into your day, I hope this has given you some ideas!

If you have times of day that you find good to memorise scripture which I haven’t mentioned, please do share them in the comments!

Linking up with Spiritual Sundays and Faith-Filled Fridays

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6 Responses

  1. Brooke says:
    22 June, 2012 at 5:54 pm

    I like to put a melody to verses. Making a little song out of verses helps me to keep them memorized. It’s important to fit the reference in the song, though 🙂

  2. Iris says:
    22 June, 2012 at 10:51 pm

    Very very good. I need to memorize Scripture more. When I do I like doing it while I walk the dog. ☺

    -Iris♥

  3. Pamela says:
    23 June, 2012 at 4:21 am

    I’ll add an extra one–memorize them while you are young. I’m so thankful for all the Scriptures I learned as a child and young mother. I still try and you’ve given me a couple new ideas. Nothing takes the place of God’s Word hidden in my heart.

  4. Karen says:
    23 June, 2012 at 4:25 pm

    Great ideas! I like Brooke’s comment, too, about singing the scripture. Thank you.

  5. Rhoda says:
    24 June, 2012 at 12:19 am

    Making a song out of them is good – my kids have learned quite a few verses from a CD with songs turned into scripture. I’ve never done it myself though… maybe I should try!

    Hi Iris, I think walking the dog would be a really good time to do it!

    Pamela that is really true, my husband says the same, that the scriptures he learned as a new Christian were so valuable.

    Karen, thanks for your encouragement 🙂

  6. Charlotte says:
    25 June, 2012 at 6:25 pm

    These are all very good tips. I thought it interesting that some commented making it into a song. This is the way I learned the books of the Old and New Testament. If I’m trying to remember where a certain book falls in the lineup, I find myself singing the songs till I get to that book. Learned the names of the apostles that way too.
    Thank you for sharing.,
    Blessings,
    Charlotte