I was wondering if anyone had any good ideas for memorizing verses?? The only thing I can think of is putting index cards EVERYWHERE.

For me, the best method has been scripture songs - sometimes I even make up my own little music to go with the verses.

Another lady I knew once said she writes the verses out and then draws little pictures over the key words, and that remember the little visuals helped her remember what the words were.

Some people find writing them out several times to be helpful, some read them several times.

I think it depends on your learning style somewhat - what do you do to remember key information when studying for a test?

fHere is a idea I would like to try. Let us say the verse is:In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was GOD.

Ok, so you write on a paper to lay around Itbwtw,atwwwG,atwwG. (Using the first letter of each word.) It seems a good idea!

If you have a local awanas group they let high school teens listen to the younger people and halp them learn verses. I learned a lot and got to spend some time talking about God to younger kids (who I usually hate to be around) everything they learned I remember now when I go back and brush up.

I was in AWANA! Although there are some things about the system that I don't think are helpful (like, memorizing random verses without really understanding the context, purpose, or meaning), I do remember a lot of verses. Although, my biggest problem is that I can't always remember where they come from!

I've found that the best way to memorize scripture is to study and meditate on it. Let me use a couple of examples (and I will do this by memory!):

1. There's a verse in the first chapter of 2 Timothy that I love. It says, "Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you." The reason that verse sticks is because the rest of the book is about guarding the treasure - guarding the Word of God! It's the theme of the book, so not only do I remember the beautiful, poetic line, I also know the theme of 2 Timothy. Now, I can't recite the whole book of 2 Timothy, but I do remember snippets because of how it relates to the theme - like"...these entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also."

2. I love Psalm 1. It's so beautiful. "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked nor stand in the path of sinners nor sit in the seat of scoffers" - that's just the first part, but I remeber this because one day as I was studying it, I noticed a progression from walking to standing to sitting. God doesn't just want us to avoid actively sinning - He wants us to avoid even the passive, little, "standing" and "sitting" sins. And now the verse just became so much more meaningful to me AND I remember it better.

3. Psalm 92:1 (I think?!) is my favorite verse ever: "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty." The reason I remember this one is because it's the title of a book by Elisabeth Elliot and I discovered the verse randomly and made this really neat connection and took the time to really meditate on its full meaning. So, I didn't really actively memorize it. It just sticks because of HOW I learned its meaning.

For me, if I put something into context, it helps me remember it. If there was a point or if I can remember a progression or a logical train of thought, it helps me remeber it. But to discover those, it takes some study and meditation.

Meditation, literally, is the analogy of "chewing the cud" - like a cow. Just sitting there and chomping on a piece of scripture. It's more than just saying it over and over again to memorize it. It's truly understanding at an amazingly deep level. I guess what I'm saying is that if you truly meditate on the Scriptures, you will naturally remember and memorize them - almost unconsciously.

As for other tricks for memorization - try the three times, three times a day strategy. Pick your verse and read/recite it three times, three times a day - like three times at breakfast, three times at lunch, and three times and dinner. By the end of the week (or possibly even the day!) That verse should be stuck!

I hope some of that makes sense and gives you some ideas!

I'm in Bible quizzing, so I've kind of developed the ability to memorize thirty verses in a day. (That's NOT typical, but in the quizzing that we do, you have to memorize a few chapters a month, so you get used to memorizing fast.)
For me, I read the verse out loud a few times and try to say right away without looking. I don't usually get it right, but I look back and see what words I got wrong and then say it again. I just go over and over it until I can say it perfectly without looking. When I'm doing several verses in a day, I memorize one, then the next one, and to make sure I really have it memorized, I quote the first one again. The more verses I memorize, the more I go back and quote to make sure I still have the other down. If I can learn a new verse, quote two or three other verses, and still remember the new one, then I'm sure I really have it memorized.

what I always do, Is read the verse several times. Then take a few minutes to repeat it in my head AND outlound, I have a photographic memory so then I picture the verse in my head to get the words in there, Then I close my bible then I go find the verse again and repeat.

Thanks for all of the advice. I tried Waltzing Rupunzel's idea about using the first letter of each word . . . and it worked! I memorized Philippians 4:8, which isn't exactly the hardest verse to memorize, as long as you can remember the order of the words after "whatever is." I think I'll just use a combination: the first letters, repeating, writing, sticking everywhere...that sort of thing.

The best technique I've found for memorizing anything was to read the verse and then read something else, read the verse again, read something else, etc. I memorized a song on the piano once in about 20 minutes by alternating it with other pieces.

Another idea I remembered this morning....

Write down the verse/passage that you want to memorize (dry-erase board works best), read through it several times and then erase a few words. Read through again supplying those words from memory, then erase a few more, and so on until you've erased the entire verse and can say it from memory.

We used to do that all the time to memorize verses, catechism, and even multiplication tables!