Knowing God through His Word — Part 9

Hiding God’s Word in our Hearts

A Personal Testimony, an Exhortation, and a Few Ways Mnemonics Devices or Association Help Memory

Do unwanted thoughts pester you, like unwelcome visitors inside your head?

At times they bother me. The other night I was channel flipping and stopped at what looked like a fascinating human-interest movie. Before the plot unexpectedly turned macabre, I was hooked into the fine acting and complex characters. As it became darker and more violent, I changed the channel, but not soon enough. Falling asleep that night, my thoughts became nightmarish. Half asleep, I began drifting into ugly lies. As soon as I whispered, “Lord?” familiar scriptures filtered light into my mind—

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.”
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:4

 I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore, with loving-kindness I have drawn you. Jeremiah 31:3

 The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom then shall I fear.
The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom then shall I be afraid. Psalm 21:7

 In Him was life, and His light was the life of men. John 1:4

In Him I live and move and have my being. Acts 17:28

In recalling these short, tweet-like verses, I fell asleep peacefully thinking of Jesus. Affirming the truth of Scriptures like these was an active act of repentance; it’s beyond saying, “I’m sorry. I made a mistake.” It was turning away from darkness and deception and welcoming the light of God.

With God’s Word in our hearts, we can speak truth to ourselves and resist the negative, unbelieving voices that sometimes rise up to accuse our souls, buzz in our ears or distract our minds from faith and trust in God.

I’m very grateful for the library of truthful words stored up in my heart. When I need help the Holy Spirit often seems to effortlessly reach into my brain and bring the right Scriptures to mind. Jesus speaks to me through His word, just as He promised.

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. John 14:26

Many Bible verses I know by heart were picked up effortlessly, by osmosis, but most of them were learned intentionality. They took work. Not wanting to atrophy physically or spiritually, I continue to try to memorize scripture from time to time. It’s encourages a septuagenarian to know that the capacity for memorization can still be strengthened and developed at my age.

A rich network of associations makes remembering easier. Memory aids that use association are called mnemonic devices. Here are a few mnemonic devices for you to try out as you hide God’s Word in your heart.

But first, a note of caution: these aids help with rote memorization. Rote means learning without understanding. I learned a lot that way as a child.

Now, as an adult I know that memory is strengthened by understanding, not by meaningless repetition. Memory is easiest when Jesus speaks in His own voice; He writes His words on our hearts. This is the goal—to hear Him.

Nevertheless, we live with human brains in a fallen world and if you’re at all like me, you may want and need help. Thus, because associations are a proven help, I often use them and recommend them. Here are some ways to build associations.

Acronyms

Take the first letter from a group of words to form a new word: remembering the new word will help you recall the entire group. For example, to remember the beginning of the verse,

 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, Ephesians 1:22   

you might try AH PAT for And he put all things
A — And
H — he
P — put
A — all
T — things

Sentence Acrostics

Use can the first letter of each word to make a sentence. This method helps with lists. For example, learning Many men like jogging and rowing helps recall the order of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans,.

It may waste time to learn “Uncle Henry fed Aunt Glo ham and honey…” to remember the initial letters of the words for under His feet, and gave Him as head. (from Ephesians 1:22 above), but maybe not. It’s a judgment call. Acrostics can take time to create and require learning and associating an entire sentence, but they do work. Any link or association will work.

Rhythm, Rhyme and Song

These are proven aids to memory if they are easy and fun like the Alphabet Song most of us learned as children. Try to create your own. For example, try saying   un- der his feet/ and/ gave him as head  with this rhythm.

da da da DA – da – da da da DA

Since it’s a catchy rhythm to set to music, you might make up a tune. If you’re not musically creative, you might try putting the words to a familiar tune.

If the Holy Spirit happens to come alongside and breathe upon your efforts, these mnemonic devices can be a lot of fun. Using them might lead you into musical worship and the Lord might sing along with you as He once sang with David.