Memorizing Scripture Can Be the Most Important Discipline in Your Christian Walk
Abide with Christ through Scripture
I would say that memorizing extended portions of Scripture has been the single most important practical discipline of my entire Christian life. Jesus said, “I’m the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you” (John 15:5, 7).
That’s your prayer life. “This is to my Father’s glory. You bear much fruit showing yourselves to be my disciples” (John 15:8). What a beautiful statement that is. So I find an immediacy and an intimacy with Christ day-by-day in the verses that I have memorized. I see him—his beauty, his truth, his power—in the words. The Holy Spirit inflames them in my mind and my heart, and I learn new things and I’m able to turn it back to God in prayer. And so there’s an immediacy and an intimacy.
How to Memorize Scripture for Life
Andrew M. Davis
Through his years of experience in extended Scripture memorization, Andrew M. Davis helps readers commit to studying God’s word so they may grow in holiness, resist temptation, and share the gospel with lost people.
Apart from that, my life as a pastor means nothing. The counsel I give means nothing. Evangelism is nothing. The preaching is empty. “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Isa. 29:13). I don’t want to be like that.
Scripture memorization keeps me close to Christ. As I go over the words of Scripture, I find my heart drawn into active fellowship with Christ, and then I learn things. I’m a preacher and a pastor, and so then people hear things from me in the text they’d never seen before—insights that the Lord has given. So it’s just such a rich blessing to memorize extended portions of Scripture.
Andrew M. Davis is the author of How to Memorize Scripture for Life: From One Verse to Entire Books.
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