Many of us carry devices that can access the Bible with the touch of a button or the slide of a finger. Having God’s word so readily available in so many translations is a great gift. Yet, as readily available as the Bible is, God still calls us to hide His Word in our hearts. We get spiritual power from memorization, and it strengthens our faith by repeatedly reinforcing the truth.

This year, I tried to take up God’s call in a way I had never done before – with a period of concentrated memorization. From the first week of January to Easter, four of us from church spent time memorizing the book of Philippians. It was based on Tim Brister’s “partnering to remember” blueprint. We learned a new passage from Philippians each week, about six to eight verses. We tried to meet once a week to say the verses out loud to one another. The spiritual discipline of saying the new verses aloud each week and rehearsing the previous weeks’ verses was a time of focused study of God’s Word for all of us. It was a very spiritually rewarding time for me.

My time studying Philippians was also a very meaningful time of private worship. I used a notebook with the Scripture passage on the left and a place for notes on the right. I took notes on the weekly passage as I meditated and pondered what God was saying, looking for the major themes in Paul’s letter. I used some additional resources to help me better understand what Paul was saying.

I am planning to memorize the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5-7. It seems feasible to accomplish in 18 weeks, starting at the end of August and wrapping up on Christmas Eve.

I would like to invite others to partner with me in memorizing this passage. I’m hopeful that this focused memorization project will be of interest to others in the church. It’s open to anyone of any age interested in teaming up to remember. Focusing on Jesus’ words over several months will sharpen our vision of the kingdom life we are to be living.