I enjoy memorizing Scripture, and since I’ve been asked this a few times, I thought it would be useful to share on here.

My memorization system is built around doing certain activities at certain periods of time. The most basic thing is that I memorize two chapters per week. Now, if a chapter is very long (like Mark 14), I’ll spend the full week on it. On the other hand, if it’s short, I may do three in one week (like 1 Peter 3-5).  I determine “long” and “short” chapters by how many verses it’ll be per day.

 

Six Month Plan

I maintain a six month plan of what I’ll be memorizing, at a granularity of what chapters I’ll memorize each week.

Monthly

Each month, I read through the New Testament. This takes about 30 minutes per day, and is a daily tasks (see below).

Weekly

Each week, I recite everything that I have memorized. I also read through everything I have memorized to keep it “fresh”; this is spaced so that I read a passage about midway between recitations of that passage. Both of these are daily tasks (see below).

I also have a weekly goal of memorizing two chapters. Again, it may rarely be one or three chapters depending on length, but I stick to 2. I decide to increase/decrease based on what the number of verses will be per day; I try to keep it between 6 and 18. It usually falls around 10.

Daily Tasks

First, I memorize a certain number of verses depending on what my chapters are.  I memorize that passage one verse at a time, with and then building on that. So I say verse 1 over and over, then 2, the vv1-2 twice, then 3, then vv1-3 twice, etc. Once I have the entire passage, I recite it every 30 minutes for two hours. After that, I recite it every hour on the hour. So, with memorizing it by 6am (my goal), I’ll recite at 6, 6:30, 7, 7:30, 8, 9, 10, 11, noon, etc.; until I go to bed.

I also use www.memverse.com to help with memorization. Their website can tell you more, but basically it quizzes me periodically on what I have memorized, and I grade how well I remembered. Based on the grade, it increases or decreases the frequency of quizzing. It’s great at catching little mistake that creep in without you realizing it. I do a review each evening.

Additionally, each day, I recite whatever book or section I’m memorizing out of. I recite up to that day’s memorization, and then read the rest.

I also read a New Testament passage as part of my Reading the Bible in a Year plan. When I’m in the Old Testament, I supplement with a Read the New Testament in One Month (RNTOM) reading.

I also recite one section of what I have memorized. When I first started, that was one book at a time. As I’ve memorized more, I’ve shifted to doing one section based on the RNTOM sections, so about 1/30th per day. I then grade myself based on how I did, and note any sections I need to pay attention to in the memorized book reading.

I also read either one section that I have memorized, or the “Next book” I’ll do. This is when I review sections I had trouble with.

I also do the RNTOM unless I’m already doing so with my Reading in a Year plan.

Example

Here’s the breakdown of my daily tasks for this week. My weekly goal is to memorize 1 John 4-5.

Week of November 30 - December 6

Day	Daily Memorization	Memverse Practice	Memorization Book Reading	Daily Bible Reading	Recitation Practice	Memorized Book Reading	New Testament Reading *
Sunday Nov. 30	1 John 4:1-6		1 John	1 Corinthians 9-11	Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7)	1 Peter (future memorization)	Revelation 12-22
Monday Dec. 1	1 John 4:7-12		1 John	1 Corinthians 12-14	1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus	Mark 1-9	Luke 1-5
Tuesday Dec. 2	1 John 4:13-18		1 John	1 Corinthians 15-16	Ephesians, Philippians	Mark 10-16	Luke 6-11
Wednesday Dec. 3	1 John 4:19 - 5:3		1 John	2 Corinthians 1-4	Hebrews	1 & 2 Timothy, Titus	Luke 12-18
Thursday Dec. 4	1 John 5:4-9		1 John	2 Corinthians 5-6	Mark 1-9	Ephesians, Philippians	Luke 19-24
Friday Dec. 5	1 John 5:10-15		1 John	2 Corinthians 9-13	Mark 10-16	Hebrews	Acts 1-7
Saturday Dec. 6	1 John 5:16-21		1 John	Galatians 1-4	Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7)	2 Peter (future memorization)	Acts 8-14

Daily tasks to memorize 1 John 4-5, practice what I have already memorized, and prepare for future memorization.

* To read the New Testament in one month, and if Daily Bible Reading is not from New Testament

 

How Long Does it Take?

I keep track of this and have 30 weeks worth to look back on.

The Daily Memorization & Memverse practice takes around an hour (but spread out in about 30-40 second chunks, plus a larger one at first when I memorize, and another large one when I review on Memverse.

The Memorization Book Reading takes between 30 minutes (mainly reading) to an hour (mainly reciting).

The Daily Bible Reading takes about 15 minutes (plus another 15 for notes I take).

The Recitation Practice takes right at 30 minutes.

The Reading/Review takes about 30 minutes.

This adds up to about 3-3.5 hours per day, and averages to about 24 hours per week.

It’s time well spent.