The Fading Verse
- Leann Williams
- 20 hours ago
- 7 min read
Have you worried that if your memory starts to fail that your Scripture will leave you as well?
It is a well-founded fear among people who feel Scripture memory is important that it helps to guard the mind and body from the daily battles against evil, and that if they start to lose mental discipline, their mental spiritual battles may suffer as well. Often, Bible readers have a favorite verse or passage that they cling to in times of need or trouble. That verse being taken away or forgotten presents a problem. Thankfully, there are resources and methods available, even to those with memory impairments, that can help a failing memory.
The great news is that many techniques can be used to improve your memory for Scripture, and they can be applied to all other areas of your life as well.
Chunking
Chunking is breaking the verse into small, manageable parts that are easier to remember. You can chunk a verse like this:
Memorize them one chunk at a time and then string them together. It also matters actually WHEN you memorize Scripture as well, at least according to some memory experts.
Ebbinghaus Curve
The Ebbinghaus curve, or the "forgetting curve," shows how quickly we forget information that we first learn - unless we make an effort to retain it! The basic idea works like this:
Learn a new Bible verse in Sunday small group. (100% retained)
After 1 day (Monday). (35-40% retained with no additional effort)
After 2 days (Tuesday). (25% retained with no additional effort)
After a week (following Sunday). (<15% retained if no effort toward memorization)
After a month the entire memory will be gone.
There is a way to beat the curve. Spaced repetition at regular intervals is the key. There are "smart" intervals that will keep your Scripture squarely in long-term memory. Let's say you are trying to memorize Psalm 1.
Day 1: Read and recite it 5 times
Day 2: Review it once
Day 4: Try to recall it from memory then check and see how you did. Correct yourself and recite it correctly.
Day 7: Recite it again and reinforce the weak spots by going over those again and again.
Day 14: Do a full recall of the entire Psalm to yourself.
Day 21: Say it casually during a prayer or journaling it to yourself to show you have mastery of the material
Reminders, Timers, Schedules, Oh My!
So, you want to try and remember the Forgetting Curve days but now you can't remember what day you have to remember to remember the verse practice! Ah! It's ok - we got you. You hold in your hand the best thing ever invented for reminders - the smart phone. If you haven't taken advantage of the features on there yet, well you just haven't been getting your money's worth out of what you paid for that device. It already goes with you everywhere, so you might as well put it to work. And, if you need help figuring it out, I've got a 20-something helper who can be your IT guy.
If you have an Apple device, setting a Reminder is very simple. So, following the above "Forgetting Curve" plan or any other memory enhancement should be very easy. Option 1 is always to say "Hey, Siri, remind me to say Psalm 1 at 2 pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and next Monday." She might ask you a question like "what sound should I play" or to clarify the dates, but the more you talk to her the better she will get to know your preferences. Option 2 is to do the following steps:
Open the Reminders app
Tap "New Reminder" at the bottom left or the "+" button
Type your reminder "Say Psalm 1"
Tap the (i) button next to the reminder if you want to add more details like
date and time
location
notes (Like you can type the actual Scripture in here for practice!)
Traditional is Still Best
Even though we can get fancy and learn new methods and employ technology to help with memorization of Scripture and other things in our life, the standard memorization techniques that teachers and other cognitive professionals have been employing for many years are probably still the tried and true methods for most people.
Visualization - Create a visual mental image that is extremely vivid and tied to the meaning of each word of the verse.
Acronyms or Acrostics - for example, B A F N B I E B P A S W T L Y R B M K T G, can tie to Philippians 4:6, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." (That is if you can remember the acronym!)
Melody or Rhythm - Many children learn Bible verses by putting them to song, and even adults can learn much better and retain this way. Try using a worship song structure.
Write it out - Often different people learn in different manners and there are those that learn through writing the verse. If that is your learning style, then write the verse daily until it is ingrained in your memory.
Use it in conversation - There is nothing better than putting the Scripture into practice. If you learn a verse and then plan to tell it to a co-worker over lunch or a spouse over dinner, this will help solidify both the verse and the occasion in your memory.
Personal connection - Many years ago, I was planting a garden with my grandmother (Nanny) at the same time our church Women's Missionary Union was studying from Galatians and our verse was Galatians 6:9 "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." My Nanny thought that was so apt and cool. She said every day as we watched the garden sprout that we hadn't fainted yet and that God would let us reap. I will always have that indelibly printed on my soul. Creating a personal connection to a verse is a way like no other of searing it into your memory.
Irons in the Fire
My Nanny used to say she had "too many irons in the fire" when she was overwhelmed. I loved this phrase and still use it often. However, I now wonder, "how many irons do I need to have in that fire exactly?" This has become an important question for me. I've learned that my brain gets tired, overworked, stressed, and needs a rest sometimes. At those times, I'm not at my highest level of capacity to take in and create new memories. So, right now - at my age - at my current level of work ability - and at my present stage of health - my number of irons is 4. On any day I can juggle 4 irons. So, if I have to volunteer at church, tutor a student, make a trip to see my sons on the other side of town and take the cats to the vet, I'm spent. That's it. I have no more cerebral power to put toward anything that day. I won't get any writing done or working on any study. It will all have to wait until the next day when I have 2-3 irons in my fire, or when I can move something around. AND (and I'm using capital letters here because this is a very big important point) the only way I can compensate and overcome for those 4 irons and possibly make room for a 5th one is to go home, lie down, and take a refreshing power nap and have lots of electrolyte-powered fluids. Now, this is just me. Your number of irons could be different, but you need to calculate it and know your limitations. This is especially important for women because we tend to think we are Wonder Woman and that we can do anything and look fabulous doing it. All the while we are killing ourselves trying. Give your brain a break.
Conclusion
So, in reality, memory is complex and fantastic and totally a gift from God that truly only He understands and guides. However, we can make the most of it while we are on our trek for His glory here on earth. If you take nothing else away and think the rest of this is hokum, remember 3R's - rest, repetition, relatable. If you take a Scripture that is important enough to you that you want to memorize it, make sure you are attacking it on a rested brain, that you are applying repetition to the memorization process at regular intervals, and that you make the verse relate to your life in a usable, daily way that will create memories you can retrieve easily.
Psalm 1
1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord;
and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,
that bringeth forth his fruit in his season;
his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous:
but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Look for my book in the Fall. It is a Bible Study about how to memorize Scripture specifically for people with failing memories. It is called The Fading Verse. Visit my website at www.LeannWilliamsBooks.com for up-to-date information on releases, newsletters, and more blog posts. I will also be creating videos of the memory enhancement techniques to accompany the book release and anyone local to me who would like to volunteer for help in the videos as "test subjects" please fill out the contact form on my website and indicate it there.
Blessings,
Leann
