Tag: memorize

Scripture for Heart, Mind, & Soul

On By Mona SabahIn Uncategorized

So many people talk to me about NOT reading their Bibles.

I get many excuses… don’t get me wrong, many are valid reasons. However, there is a saying out there “You would if you wanted to.” That simple saying indicates priorities in our life.

Is the Word of God a priority for you?

Honestly, it has not been a priority for me in the past. I had a full time job, I taught school in the evenings and I had children. Being a wife, a mother, an employee and a professor did not leave much time in the day. I was lucky to read 1 verse and even that did not happen most days!

Then I was introduced to Bible Study and was told that I really needed to be “in the Word.” Bible Study allowed me to be more dedicated because it was built into my schedule. The problem here was that in the Summertime, there was no Bible Study — so again, I filled up my time with other things.

It was not until I found out how to do Scripture or Bible Journaling that I was able to read, think about (meditate), and draw Scripture. I have videos on my YouTube Channel how to Bible Journal – this one is through Psalm 1 — just a beautiful Psalm. This really helped me to set aside my own time to meditate on what the pictures in my head looked like about the different verses and then to draw them. As an unexpected bonus, I found that I had memorized several of those Scriptures!

My time in the Word of God was further helped by my friend who introduced me to reading the Bible in 30 days. This was another way for me to recharge what I did and how I developed a habit (most habits take at least 30 days to form) of reading the Bible for myself. If you are interested in this, here’s my post on how to get started.

Today, I am working with my mentor to memorize 1 Corinthians 15 (see pic above). I am using my fountain pens to write out the verses, to doodle and to make a concerted effort to read the chapter over and over again until the whole this is committed to my heart, mind and soul. These are the things that are eternal work — they ought to be given priority in our day. Again, I am not perfect – I was barely able to read 10 verses yesterday, as I was running from the morning until the evening.

Give God the tithe of your time and give Him your all. He gave us His Son who died for us. Isn’t a few minutes of our time worth it?

Think about it… what’s keeping you?

Ephesians Memory Cards

On By Mona SabahIn Memorization

Week one was tough! I hope you had a chance to see my struggles in the video I uploaded. My daughter who’s been helping me has already memorized several verses and she didn’t even sign on to do this!

I thought I’d share my Memory Cards today and show how my mind works. Last week I posted a few cards. Here they are again.

Ephesians 1:1

On day 4, I realized that I was not saying the verse number or address. Now, it’s a part of the verse.

Ephesians 1:2

The numbers rhyme on verses 2 & 3:

“One-two, Grace to you…” that’s a Hershey kiss for chocolate, which equals grace to me (part of my testimony).

“One-three, Blessed be…” I also circle/box words that are duplicates. I’ve been circling the word “in” because it keeps tripping me up!

Ephesians 1:4

Verse four was more confusing- no rhymes, so I used the first word “even” that has 4 letters & is even. There are also 2 “BEFORE “ in it (reminded me of “four”).

Ephesians 1:5

I had to be more creative with verse 5. The last line for me in pictures is “accordion “ to the “porpoise” (that’s supposed to be a dolphin & not a banana with a tail, per my daughter) of His “will.”

Ephesians 1:6

More of the same… nothing to rhyme with “one-six.”

Ephesians 1:7

Got to use color for this one! Another accordion and not much to rhyme with “one-seven.” Boo hoo!

Ephesians 1:8

Only thing I could come up with today was that the word “lavished” has 8 words…

Hope this helps a bit! I’m finding that reading the verse aloud 10 times and then closing my eyes to repeat it 10 times is working. The pictures help me to get a visual reminder. Also, I’m repeating all verses up to date in the morning before I get out of bed, and at night.

Even when you don’t feel like it, push through and focus on the discipline of doing this! That’s what I’m saying to myself!

Week 1-Memorizing Ephesians

On By Mona SabahIn Bible, Memorization
I have all my stuff in front of me this morning!

So excited to start today on our walk together through memorizing Ephesians. Here’s how it went this morning:

  1. Pray that God will help me to remember and inscribe His words on my heart.
  2. Read aloud the entire book of Ephesians – took me 16 min & 51 seconds.
  3. I took Dr. Andrew Davis’s schedule on p. 23 of his booklet and wrote out the whole schedule in my notebook.
  4. On the next page, I wrote today’s verses (see picture below).
Week One’s Scriptures on one page

Then, I took verse 1:1 and wrote it out on a 3 x 5 card that I hole-punched and put onto a binder ring.

3 x 5 card for Ephesians 1:1

Dr. Davis’s recommendation is to read the verse of the day 10 times and take a mental picture of each word. For me, that’s hard to do without actually drawing something out. So here’s my card with my little notes on it for me to take a mental picture of it. I couldn’t find anything for Paul, so I put a P above it. Christ Jesus is repeated twice, so I put a Cross on top. Saints has a halo above it and Ephesus has 3 Roman Columns.

In today’s verse, Paul is saying who he is (an apostle of Christ Jesus) and who he is writing to (saints who are in Ephesus). So, say that out loud 10 x and then close your eyes and try to remember the picture of the words 10 x.

That’s it for today.

Tomorrow and the next few days, you will do the same – start with verse 1:1, then read (10x) verse 2, close eyes & say verse 1 & 2 together).

What did you do? Anything different for your study today or this week? PLEASE share!

Overview- Memorize Ephesians

On By Mona SabahIn Bible, Memorization, Uncategorized

I’m so thrilled to have several of you who have decided to join together to commit to our hearts and minds the entire book of Ephesians! Over the next few days, I will cover the who, what, when, where, why and how of all this. Before tackling anything, I like to know what I’m getting into, so I wanted to give a basic overview of the book’s layout. There are lots of outlines and guidelines out there, so please take a few moments to take a look at your Bible’s Study notes and familiarize yourself with the book’s contents. There is also a great article written by gotquestions.org.

WHO, WHEN & WHERE

It is understood that Paul was the author and the epistle (or letter) was written around 60-63 AD to the church at Ephesus (modern day Turkey about 6 miles from the Aegean sea) and was primarily written to encourage believers. Paul was most likely in prison at the time he wrote this letter (Eph 4:1-3). From the Thompson Chain Reference Bible, I found that Ephesus at the time was a huge center of worship for the goddess Diana, also known as Artemis – one of the 7 Wonders of the World. In the book of Acts 19:23-41, we find that Demetrius, a silversmith starts a riot that ends up in the amphitheater. The reference Bible mentioned that the 24,000 person amphitheater was uncovered by archaeologists at the turn of the century! It is interesting also to note that this might be the same place Paul refers to in 1 Cor 15:32 where he “fought the wild beasts in Ephesus…”

Road between the amphitheater and Temple of Artemis was paved in marble

The church at Ephesus was also one of the 7 churches mentioned in Revelation. They were noted for their hard work and endurance for the Lord, but had “forsaken (or abandoned) their first love” Revelation 2:4.

The entire book is six chapters with 155 verses – I have the outline I used to break it down by chapter (see photo). If we divide 155/6, we get 25.83, which means 6 verses a week for about 26 weeks. This will bring us to half the year for the whole book! There are plans out there for 26 weeks, but I think I may use one that is about 28 weeks (2 weeks in there to catch up).

Go ahead and grab a journal notebook (might even be one you got as a gift last Christmas?), a pen, and your Bible… jot down some thoughts on the book of Ephesians to get you thinking about the place.

WHY Memorize Ephesians?

On By Mona SabahIn Bible9 Comments

When I was around 7-8 years old, I was taught how to pray by my grandmother. In Islam, children are taught at an early age to memorize verses from the Quran for when we go to sleep, awake, eat, wash hands, etc but usually around the age of 7, most families begin to teach children the full prayers for the day. One has to understand that this is not like Christian prayers which can be in any language. Daily prayers in Islam MUST BE done in Arabic. The problem is that about 84% of the Muslim world does not speak Arabic.

Not only is the child learning to memorize prayers, but they must memorize them (usually) in a language that is not their own mother tongue. That was my case. Being a very stubborn girl (still am, for those of you who don’t know me!), I refused to learn how to pray until my mother (who spoke Arabic because my parents worked in Saudi Arabia) translated them for me and put them in writing.

Given this background, I did not necessarily relish memorizing Scripture when I became a Christian. Lo and behold, no one was making me memorize either. When I began to study the Bible, I found the words to be like poetry and they filled my soul. I had a DEEP DESIRE to learn these words so that I may share them with others who were having a bad day or were struggling so I began memorizing snippets of Scripture like many in my Bible studies had done.

Last year, for Valentine’s Day, I wanted to give my husband a different gift. I memorized what is sometimes known as the “Love Chapter” from 1 Corinthians 13 (you know, “love is patient, love is kind…”). I memorized it and recited it to him on Valentines Day, except that I said “Stephen is patient, Stephen is kind…” I stumbled just a tad bit, but overall was able to remember it. I tried recalling the chapter over the summer and SURPRISE! It was still there! 🙂 I still pray the chapter out loud so I can continue to remember.

The reason to memorize is not to play a game to see who wins or to have a race. It is to commit the verses to your memory, to pray them over your family and friends or others God places into your life. It is to be a discipline to bring you closer to our Father, it is to help increase our prayer life and to study God’s living Word.

Will you prayerfully consider joining me? I will post the “plan” that I am going to use (borrow from Dr. Andrew Davis) and also how I modify that plan to fit how I learn.

These are my own reasons… now, what are yours?

Memorizing Ephesians 2019

On By Mona SabahIn Bible, Jesus Christ, Teaching

I will post a plan to get us started TOGETHER! Don’t be worried or discouraged… the Lord says in Deuteronomy 11:20:

Remember God’s Words
…19Teach them to your children, speaking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 20Writethem onthe doorpostsof your housesand gates,21so that as long as the heavens are above the earth, your days and those of your children may be multiplied in the land the LORD swore to give your fathers.…