Good Morning Gorgeous,
It’s a brand new day. A fresh start. A new day to rise and move in the earth like an anointed, chosen, destined for this hour, child of the King of all Kings.
I have been feeling led to grow in the spiritual discipline of memorizing scripture.
I have such easy access to the Word through the bible app, that I haven’t had such a fervent need to memorize the scriptures. I can look verses up quickly through the search features, and as quick and convenient as that is, it has kept me from having to memorize the full verses and the chapter and verses. It’s like I’ve been using the “bumper pads” for my bowling game. And I haven’t moved beyond them.
So, I have been talking with friends about my desire to know the Word deeper and to memorize the scriptures. And it has led me to grapple with three questions:
Why should we place priority on memorizing scripture? (Especially since it’s so easily accessible)
How do we memorize scripture? (It seems so intimidating.)
What verses should we memorize?
So, this is post 1: Why should we memorize scripture?
Scripture is the Word of God, but also the very breath of God. They are God breathed! God breathed into Adam, and he came alive!! And when we get into the Word of God, God is breathing into our soul bringing dry, parched places back to life.
The Scriptures have the ability to feed and nourish us, and to keep our spirits alive and filled with all we need to sustain us. Jesus calls them the bread of life.
When God began to give the commandments, He told the Israelites to store them up in their heart, to talk about them constantly with their children, to write them on their houses, and to have them in front of their eyes constantly. God was serious about getting His Word into the hearts of His people. And after God’s instruction, He ends with a blessing for those who choose to take His Word to heart.
“Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth.
Deuteronomy 11:18-21 NKJV
Then in Joshua, God again shares the importance of His Word.
This time God gives a reason. If you study them continually, you will do them. You will be able to move from talking about God to living for God. And this verse ends with a promise too!!
And then in the New Testament, the reasons to memorize scripture get Amplified by Jesus!
He shows us that it is scripture that defeats the enemy! He passes the testing in the wilderness by accurately quoting scripture to the enemy. He is able to csll satan out in his subtle twisting of the Word of God because He knows the correct and full Scriptures and speaks them in His hour of need. And satan fled from Him.
Friends, when you speak scripture to the darkness, it must flee.
When you encounter an attack of the enemy, and you refute it with the truth of God’s Holy Words, you are engaging in spiritual warfare just like Jesus and you are battling just like Jesus modeled for us.
But still why memorize it? Because the bible calls it the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And when you need to pull out your sword, it’s a weapon.
The best time to practice using a weapon is not in the hour of need, but hundreds of times in practice drawing it out until its seamless. Police officers, people in the military, and anyone else trained to use a weapon will draw it hundreds if not thousands of time in preparation for the day they need to draw it to use it. They become able to draw it out within fractions of seconds.
And if the Word of God is so embedded into us, interwoven within the fabric of our being, deep in our hearts, and part of us, then whenever we are attacked by a thought, a situation, or a friend is in need, the truth of God’s Word will flow right out of us in the moment of need.
As we study the Word of God and commit to memorizing scripture, we will become stronger and stronger against the lies that the enemy tries to tell us. We will have such a truth filter that when information comes at us that is out of alignment with the Word of God, we will recognize it and be able to speak truth.
When we get bad news from a doctor, bad news at work, or face a struggle at home, Gods Word will just flow in response. We will speak back with scriptures and our mindset will be elevated from fear to assurance.
We will move from weakness to strength.
We will move from second guessing to security and assurance.
We will move from defeat to victory.
And what are we fighting against anyway? We are not battling people, but against demons in the spiritual realm. I know it’s not popular to talk about, but the bible is clear about that reality. However, the bible also called us MORE than conquerors! Promises that God will never leave us! Promises that we can use the very Word of God, scripture to engage in battle in a way that assures VICTORY! You will come out victorious when you use the truth of scripture as your weapon against the darkness. That’s how Jesus prevailed, and it’s how we will prevail too!
Friends, I invite you on this journey with me! I am excited to commit to the memorization of scripture. It is a new commitment for me to move from reading the Word to intnetionally memorizing it, but I just know God has blessings and strength and grace prepared for us as we soak up His Word into our spirit.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank You for giving us such an amazing and powerful tool. Your precious Word is alive and sharper than a two edged sword. Thank You for teaching us how to speak scripture back to the dark. Equip us and enable us by the power of Holy Spirit to memorize scriptures and store them up in our hearts so we have them in the hour of need and so that are lives are continually built on Your Word.
In Jesus’s name, Amen.
Blessings!
Vanessa Lynn
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