1. ACCOUNTABILITY
Find a friend or a group of friends who want to read or memorize verses with you.
This is called accountability, and it goes a LONG way towards sticking with the project.
In my personal experience, it is crucial. Plus, it helps the other person as much as you!
2. TIME FRAME
Decide on a specific time frame during which you will start and finish each reading/memorizing project.
This keeps you moving along at a good pace.
3. CHECKPOINTS
Set checkpoints (I suggest weekly) to communicate with each other about how it’s going,
to share favorites verses from the set readings, or to test each other on the verses you’re supposed to have memorized. This can be
- in person
- on the phone
- by email
- on a Facebook group you create for the purpose
- By other online accountability group
- by text message
- you name it!
The point of this is to keep each other going, and not to give up or let the motivation fade away. Use whatever medium is most reliable and convenient for you to keep up.
By the way, these first three tips can also be adapted for accountability to daily prayer, too. It works! God bless you in your quest to know Jesus better.
4. PRAY over the passages/verses as you read/memorize them. Turn God’s Words to you into prayers to respond to Him:
Ask Him for help to understand what He’s saying to you and apply it in your life.
Praise Him for what He’s like. Thank Him for what He’s done and promised.
Confess how you’ve rebelled against His good ways and been independent of Him.
Ask Him for help to obey commands and heed warnings.
Specifically for memorization:
5. WRITE OUT each verse on an index card (or old business cards with a blank back work very well for me). Note only the text on one side, and only the reference on the other side. Then cover the chapter and verse numbers with a sticky note you can bend back to check yourself. This way, you can test yourself on the reference as well as the text.
6. Hold the verse cards together with a rubber band, and KEEP THEM WITH YOU (in your purse or briefcase) to review daily whenever you are waiting for something.
7. As you learn new verses, KEEP REVIEWING the old ones at least once a week to keep them reinforced in your mind.
8. A higher-tech alternative to paper flashcards: Flashcards Deluxe, a handy study program for iPhone/iPad/Android, if you have one. Buy it on the app store for $3.99, then you can use these correctly formatted spreadsheets for all the verse sets listed on TreasureInTheBible.com.
Click here for further practical details on how to do your own Bible memory work between checkpoints with friends.