Here at Children Desiring God, we have been excited to see so many churches start memorizing Fighter Verses together as a church this month. It is easy to generate excitement for Bible memory when you are just starting the program or at the beginning of a new year. However, you will want to think of ways to keep Bible memory as an important priority throughout the year.
There are many tangible ways that the pastors and elders can lead the congregation in the desire and practice of Bible memory and ways the church can motivate members throughout the year:
Sunday Morning
- During the Sunday morning announcements, ask for a volunteer to recite the weekly memory verse. If no one volunteers, ask another pastor or elder to try to recite the verse.
- Pray the Fighter Verse during the worship service. This could either be prayed as a general request for the congregation, or incorporated into a specific prayer request for an individual or event.
- Sing it during the worship service. The Fighter Verses have been set to music to make memorizing them easier. Incorporate these songs into your morning worship, both as a way to memorize and as a way to review. Learn more about Fighter Verses Songs.
- If you have time in your service, have a pastor or elder introduce the verse for the coming week and spend a few minutes leading a short devotions time, explaining the verse or suggesting ways the verse can be applied.
- Recite Bible passages from memory to the congregation during worship, prayer or the sermon to provide an example to the congregation of Bible memory.
- Preach a sermon specifically on Bible memory at the start of the year or as a mid-year refresh to encourage people to keep memorizing.
Communicate It
- Blog about it. Share testimonies about the how Bible memorization has helped people within the church, provide encouragement to persevere in memorizing, provide study or application tips for the verses or share tips on how to better memorize or review verses. Check the Memory Aids section on FighterVerses.com for ideas to get you started.
- Share it. Post Fighter Verses on your church social media pages as a midweek encouragement. Follow Children Desiring God on Facebook or Instagram for the weekly Fighter Verses picture (feel free to share with your followers).
- Post it. Include the current Fighter Verse on your church website each week.
- Print it. Include the Fighter Verse for the week in the church bulletin or newsletter to remind people to memorize and keep everyone on the same schedule.
- Listen. Set up a way for church members to share encouraging stories and testimonies about how God has been at work in the lives of his people through Bible memory.
Partner Together
- Small groups are a perfect place to church members to study the verse together, apply it to their lives and provide accountability in memorizing. Small groups may want to consider going through The Fighter Verses Study together.
- Ask Sunday school teachers to encourage students to memorize Scripture. Consider having the church set up incentives to reward children for memorizing verses.
- Hold a kick-off event at the beginning of your Bible memory program or a mid-year refresh to get people excited about and equip them for Bible memorization. Ask for volunteers to share testimonies of how God has used Bible memory in their lives.
- When applicable, use Fighter Verses as the text for the Sunday morning sermon, or the Wednesday evening teaching. This will not only help people understand the verse better, but also why it is important to memorize.
Being able to memorize and apply Scripture to our lives is no small accomplishment. Only God can give us the grace to long for His Word, hide it is our hearts, and use it in our lives. May God bless your church as you work together to memorize Scripture and fight the fight of faith.
