Scripture Memory: A Type of Lectio Divina?

Have you heard of Lectio Divina?  I didn’t know much about it until recently when I researched it in order to lead a lectio divina exercise at a women’s retreat.  I found out that it is an ancient method of looking at Scripture and meditating on a word or phrase that is given to you by the Holy Spirit.  It was kept alive by monks during and after the Protestant Reformation because the Protestant leaders soundly rejected it as a Roman Catholic practice.  Today it is experiencing a resurgence in the Protestant and Catholic communities alike, with groups like the American Bible Society promoting its use as a way for all of us to hear from God through the Bible.

There are four simple steps in the practice of Lectio Divina or “holy reading”:

#1.  LECTIO (READ)

       Read a short passage of Scripture out loud, after quieting yourself and asking the Holy Spirit to guide you.  Is there a word or phrase that especially moves you or causes you to stop and think or question?  What captures your attention in the passage you have read?

#2.  MEDITATIO (MEDITATE)

       Meditate on that word or group of words. How does the text relate to your life experience?  How does it touch you inwardly—your concerns, your memories, your ideas? 

#3.  ORATIO (PRAY)

        Ask God what He is saying to you through the Scripture.  What is it that He may be inviting you to do?  Is He inviting you to change in some way?  Pray about what you have received from His Word, giving thanks for this gift from Him.

#4.  CONTEMPLATIO (CONTEMPLATION)

       Rest in the Father’s arms.  Be still and let Him minister to you in the stillness.  Enjoy His company.  Just be present with Him.

As I gathered more and more information about the practice of Lectio Divina, I realized that as I memorize Scripture, I go through some of the steps listed above.  I don’t do it consciously, but it happens nevertheless.  This is the example that popped out for me.

I was memorizing Isaiah 45:2 in the New American Standard Bible ( I will go before you and make the rough places smooth; I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron bars.) when the phrase “shatter the doors of bronze” was highlighted for me. The word “shatter” kept coming back to my mind.

I looked up other translations to see if there were any other nuances I could glean from their wording.  Shatter was translated variously as break down, break in pieces, make to shiver, smash down, and destroy.  The dictionary definition of shatter was “to dash, burst, or break into fragments.”

Then I thought about bronze.  How hard would it be to shatter something made of bronze?  How heavy do you suppose bronze doors (or gates according to some translations) might be?  So heavy that I couldn’t move them by myself?  So heavy that I would need someone else to open them for me?  Hmmm.

And it became clear to me that God was saying, “I am able to open for you all the “doors of bronze” in your life, whatever they might be (ie. fears, concerns, difficult people or circumstances).  I am strong enough to shatter them so they don’t keep you bound or outside My perfect will for you any longer.  Not only am I able to do it, I am willing to do it for you.  You just have to let me.” Wow!!

The first three steps in the practice of Lectio Divina were there as I tried to memorize the verse from Isaiah; I had read it out loud a number of times, I had “meditated” on a particular phrase, and I had talked to God about it.  The only step I left out was that of contemplation or resting in the Father’s arms.  I have an idea that more contemplation on my part would equal more hearing His voice as well.  

It’s time for the first of our September verses.  I look forward to seeing what you are memorizing!  And if you have found yourself meditating on certain words or phrases,  I invite you to share what you have learned with all of us.

A Woman of Influence

Amy Carmichael was born in the Northern Ireland in 1867, but she spent most of her life in India as a missionary, even though she was chronically ill.  It was she who founded the Dohnavur orphanage and mission and saved over a thousand children, some of whom were destined to be Hindu temple prostitutes, from a sad future. 

Although early in life she had lamented the fact that her eyes were brown and not the color she admired in others (blue), yet as she attempted to blend into the culture of southern India with her dress and darkening her skin with coffee, her brown eyes were an asset to her. 

Amy was also a poet, a hymn writer, and the author of thirty-five published books.  She died in India at the age of eighty-three.

Here are two separate quotations from her writings, both of which relate to the importance of knowing Scripture and using it to defeat the devil.   

Someone gave me a bit of brick and a little slab of marble from Rome. It was wonderful to touch one of them and think, Perhaps the Apostle Paul or one of the martyrs touched this as they passed. But how much more wonderful is it to think that we have, for our own use, the very same sword our Lord used when the Devil attacked Him. [Brooke Foss] Westcott says "The Word of God" in Ephesians 6:17 means "a definite utterance of God". We know these "definite utterances" - we have the same Book that He had, and we can do as He did. So let us learn the "definite utterances" that they may be ready in our minds; ready for use at the moment of need - our sword which never grows dull and rusty, but is always keen and bright. So once more I say, let us not expect defeat but victory. Let us take fast hold and keep fast hold of our sword, and we shall win in any assault of the enemy.

Thank God for the battle verses in the Bible. We go into the unknown every day of our lives, and especially every Monday morning, for the week is sure to be a battlefield, outwardly and inwardly in the unseen life of the spirit, which is often by far the sternest battlefield for souls. Either way, the Lord your God goes before you, He shall fight for you!

Indeed, as we memorize our verses, we are shining and sharpening our swords and keeping them ready for the inevitable attacks by the enemy, whose mission is to kill, steal, and destroy us.  Be ready!

An Interview with Romain

When it comes to memorizing Scripture and being able to remember and quote it, complete with its reference, my twenty-six-year-old son-in-law Romain Dupont is one of the best.  He has been a Christian since the age of eighteen, and his leather-bound French Bible is well-loved and well-used.  He has painstakingly hand-color-coded many Scripture passages by topic, and all the pages from Jean 3 (John) to Apocalypse (Revelation) are completely detached from the rest of the Bible—and have been for several years—because Romain has read and reread these portions of Scripture many, many times.

Romain’s approach to memorizing is much different from mine, and since he and my daughter Angela are visiting the States for a few weeks, I took the opportunity to interview him.

Why do you memorize Scripture, Romain?

The Bible is food for us as Christians.  It nourishes us and helps us to grow as Christians.

We also renew our souls by the words of God.  The word of God affects our intelligence and our thinking, and we need to renew that thinking and our behavior by meditating on the Word.  As it says in Romans 12:2, we are supposed to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Jesus used the word of the Lord as a weapon against the devil during His temptation in the desert when He said, “Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

 

I memorize Scripture to nourish my spirit (my heart), to renew my mind, to give me a formidable weapon against the devil, to know Jesus better, and to find out the will of God.

How do you decide what to memorize?

I memorize principally verses that concern Christian living, the things of God, my relationship with God, and what God wants to do in me.  If a verse fills a need for me or helps my relationship with God, I find several verses on the same topic and meditate on all of them.

You meditate?  What does that mean to you?

I think about the verses, and I pray about them because I want to understand the things of God.  I ask Him to make His words real to me in my spirit.  It’s like the parable of the sower:  First I need to hear and understand the word of God.  Then I receive the word very deeply with joy—the word or seed is not just on the surface or in my head, but in my heart.  I try to keep the words in my heart in spite of troubles that come or the circumstances around me.  After I have meditated on the verses, I know them by heart.

What kinds of topics do you use for meditation?

Some of my meditation topics have been the love of God, the blood of Christ, dependence on God, sanctification, faith, and prayer.

Do you have any words of wisdom for those of us who are trying to memorize Scripture?

There is no power in simply learning verses.  We must get the verses from our heads to our hearts.  My advice is to open your heart to God and ask for His revelation. 

Jesus said in Luke 10:21, “I praise you, Father,…because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to little children.” 

In I Corinthians 2: 10-14, Paul writes about the things that God has revealed to us by the Holy Spirit “who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.”

While memorizing, we can ask God to reveal to us His meaning of the verse for us personally, and the Holy Spirit will teach us.  Little by little the word will become part of our spirits.  When it’s firmly in our hearts or spirits, the next step is to confess it inwardly and declare it out loud.  Then live it out by practicing it.  Even though we may not feel it inside us, we need to remember that feelings are part of our souls (the soul is our mind, will, and emotions)—not our spiritual beings.  It’s important to act out what we believe and not what we feel.

Thank you, Romain, for your insights!

Memory Is a Melody Away!

When my children were small, they delighted in listening to a set of children’s tapes called GT and the Halo Express.  These stories and songs lulled them to sleep at night and  kept them company on long car trips.  Because of those tapes, both of the children easily learned a number of Bible verses.  Why?  Those verses were put to catchy tunes that were easily sung. 

I was raised on the hymns of the faith, and I know by heart the words to songs like these:

 

Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee…

What can wash away my sin?  Nothing but the blood of Jesus…

Amazing love!  How can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?...

What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!...

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, the emblem of suffering and shame…

Nursery rhymes set to song bubble up from my subconscious every once in a while, and I can still sing/chant the words to a high school football cheer from my teen years!  And those commercial jingles from another era of television—well, just start with the first word or two, and I’m off and running with the words and tune (think “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is!”).  Is there any one of us who cannot sing the alphabet (a, b, c, d, e, f, g….)?

Why are these words so easily retrieved from my memory?  I believe it is because there was a melody to go with them—an underlying tune that helped imprint, so to speak, the words in my brain.  The tune helps me learn the words in the first place and it helps me to retrieve those same words from my long-term memory.

Is it possible to apply this principle to memorizing and retaining Bible verses? 

I found several sites on the internet that specialize in putting Scripture to music and then making it available for us to download or buy.  Here is a sampling of those sites:

http://www.biblememorymusic.com/ 

http://www.scripturesongs.net/

http://www.theblazingcenter.com/category/free-scripture-song

http://www.joyfulnoisescripture.org/

http://thewordinmusic.com/music/default.htm

Scripture put to music for children:

http://www.gthalo.com/

http://www.seedsmusicstore.com/

Have you ever thought about incorporating music into your Scripture memory work?  Make up a melody to go with your newest verses, or use an existing tune and give it new words from Scripture to help you remember, retain, and recall. 

Using Topics for Memorization and Review

It’s difficult for me to pass by books even when I’m grocery shopping, so when I stopped to look at a revolving display rack at Wegman’s and saw a slim and inexpensive volume simply titled Bible Memory Plan, I knew I wanted to buy it.

The premise of this book, by Pamela McQuade, is that anyone who wants to memorize Bible verses can do it, by starting slowly with short verses and building gradually to longer passages.  McQuade challenges readers to memorize one verse per week for an entire year, verses which she has pre-selected; each verse is labeled with a general category, and tips and encouragement for memorizing are included for each week. 

The author assigns a topic to each verse she suggests memorizing; Christian life, our God, salvation, God’s word, faith, and seeking God are the six categories she uses. This is my third year of systematically memorizing Scripture, and I have never thought to put my verses into categories like this for the purposes of reviewing or memorizing.  I think this is a great idea!

Here is an example from each category:

Christian Life—For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

Phil. 4:13 (NLT)

            God’s Word--Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Ps. 119:105 (KJV)

            Our God—It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure.

2 Sam. 22:33 (NIV)

Faith—So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Romans 10:17 (KJV)

Salvation—If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

            I John 1:9 (NIV)

Seeking God—Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

            Matt. 7:7-8 (NIV)

If these classifications don’t fit you, why not make up your own topic list and label your verses accordingly.  I can think of other possibilities, such as promises to claim, sins to avoid, commands to follow, prayers to pray, the Holy Spirit, and prophecy.  Use your personal topics to help you review your verses and relate them to each other, which should give you another “hook” to help you remember them.

           

In the past, I have reviewed my verses in the order I memorized them, or in the order of their appearance in the Bible; I even made an alphabetical list of first words and/or phrases to force myself to come up with the rest of the verses and their references.  I have used the last few cards of my spiral to make an index or table of contents for the year’s verses and used that to help prompt my memory.  I don’t intend to forsake my former tried-and-true methods of reviewing, but now I have a new tool to add to my repertoire—topics!

The Impact of Memorizing Scripture

On the Living Proof Ministries blog entry today, Scripture Memory Team members were asked to describe what memorizing God’s Word has meant to them this year.

The answers were so moving and encouraging that I would like to share a sampling of them with you.

Memorizing God’s Word this year has:

… amazed me with God’s intimate involvement in my life — giving me EXACTLY (“chill bump” exactly) the scripture I needed to stand firm and grow in faith. Praise His Name!

… helped to keep me focused on Him and has challenged me.

… helped me see how God can use me in encouraging others with His Word more readily and with confidence.
… become a much needed spiritual discipline and comfort for me.
… helped me take every thought captive!
… given me strength and peace to face the most difficult challenge of my life.
… taken me to a much better place mentally most days.
… kept me steady. Thank you, Father, for your Word!
… caused me to quit believing the lie that I can’t memorize God’s word.
… forced me to focus on God’s character, His plan, His faithfulness rather than the things I see and am walking through.
… been a constant reminder of the pure goodness of God’s Word, the truth that fills my heart with joy regardless of my circumstances.
… made me realize how much I was STARVING my mind and heart for a word straight from Him. He gives me strength!
... is helping me to overcome an eating disorder which has plagued me for years.
… given me Scripture to speak to bring comfort and peace in unsettling times.
… refreshed my faith and has given me a new spirit of determination and perseverance in my ministry.
… given me peace without fear in my heart that I could not have gotten from any other source
... brought me to a place of dependency on God; I NEED Him for my daily Bread (to be my personal Manna).
… helped to redirect my mind during a most difficult season.
… reminded me anew that God speaks to me personally in every nook and cranny of my life!
… helped me be more silent and listen to God.
… let me know I am never alone.
… shown me how to find victory in the weak moments of temptation!
… been refreshing, a comfort, and it’s caused me to love Him more and more.
… given me warmth and security as I felt as a child in my mother’s arms.
… been the rain this thirsty soul has needed.
… drawn me closer to His heart.

… been like a life preserver among a sea of thoughts that could have drowned me otherwise.

 How has Scripture memorization impacted your life this year?

A Prisoner of War

Since yesterday was Memorial Day, it seems fitting today to remember the story of Howard Rutledge, POW in North Vietnam.  Rutledge died several years ago, but his book, In the Presence of Mine Enemies, 1965-1973---A Prisoner of War, remains as a testimony to the resilience and resourcefulness of the human spirit when sustained by the word of God.

I encountered his story in Robert Morgan’s book, 100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart.  Morgan writes that Howard was not particularly interested in spiritual things……..until he became a prisoner of war.  Then he became absolutely desperate to recall anything from his childhood relating to the Bible or church.  With the help of other American POW’s at the Hanoi Hilton, he reconstructed every Bible verse that he possibly could from the eighteen years he had spent attending Sunday School.  It was amazing that, as time went on, he could access more and more of the verses that had been deeply buried in the furthest recesses of his mind. 

Rutledge declared that he remained sane solely because of these Bible verses.  According to Morgan, “The memorized snippets of Scripture in his brain were potent. They faced down death, rallied his spirits, steeled his nerves, and tapped in the deepest strength known in the universe. They beat back the torture, stifled the despair, subdued the terrors he felt, and maintained his sanity even when he was immobilized for days in a stifling hut, chained to a metal frame, lying in his own waste, and covered with ants, flies, and biting insects.”(p. 20)

Hebrews 4:12 declares that “…the word of God is living and effective and sharper that any two-edged sword…”  Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”  “Is not my word like fire…and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?” attests the Lord in Jeremiah 23:29.  In Isaiah 55:10-11, God’s word is compared to the rain and snow that water the earth, making it bud and yield seed. More precious than gold and sweeter than honey are the Lord’s ordinances, according to Psalm 9:9-10.  Jesus called the word more important than bread for mankind’s sustenance in Matthew 4:4.

 

In short, the word of God is living, effective, incredibly sharp, more precious than gold, sweeter than honey, and better than life-sustaining bread.  It’s a sword, a lamp, a light, a hammer, and life-giving precipitation as well as fire.

What God did in Howard Rutledge’s life through His word, He is willing to do for us too when we ourselves are prisoners of defeat, heartbreak, addiction, despair, destruction, and frustration, and confusion.  God uses His word to bring emotional, spiritual, and physical healing to us, if we are willing to bathe our hearts, minds, souls, and spirits in it.  

What life-giving verse are you memorizing today, my friends?