Update on Memorising Proverbs

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I have been memorising Proverbs for almost two months now. If I had to summarise it in two words I would say ‘hard work’! Last week I got to the end of chapter 5 which means I’m slightly ahead of schedule, as I need to learn two and a half chapters a month to be able to get the whole thing done in a year.

Sometimes I feel like Hope who says a lot, “But it’s hard work!”

It’s a lot more difficult than Philippians was because there is a lot of repetition, so I get confused between verses that sound similar. It is also challenging because I am learning 3 verses daily, so I am going through it quickly which means there’s a lot of review.

I have now put Philippians in the Monday slot of my scripture memory box to review once a week.

What I’ve changed

  • I now make sure that after reviewing yesterday’s verses I go straight to learning today’s verses rather than reviewing all the old chapters first. Otherwise I end up learning the new verses at the end of the day when my brain is foggy, and it doesn’t go too well!
  • I sometimes learn four verses instead of three when the verses are grouped together that way. So if it talks about wicked men for two verses and then wise men for two verses, I have found it is better to memorise four verses and keep it altogether, than three and get confused!

What I’ve learnt

  • It’s better for me to miss Sundays and take a break as with such a busy day it is hard to fit it in. So now I make up for the missing day by sometimes memorising four verses. On Sundays I now just concentrate on the parts that I am having the most difficulty retaining.
  • It doesn’t matter if I can’t recite it without fault straight away, what matters more is that I do it every day and go through it quickly. If I try and review it without looking when I’m unsure then it takes me a long time!
  • Intentional thinking is hard work but very useful! I am so much in the habit of using my spare brain time to memorise that I now find that if I have finished my memory work and have to drive somewhere, it feels like a waste of time just to think randomly. So I plan what I should think or pray about! After all we plan what to do when we have free time, so why not plan what to think about when we have free thinking time?!

My favourite verse

The verse that I have loved more than any other so far as been this one:

‘But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day’. Prov 4:18

Isn’t that a beautiful verse? In other words – it only gets better!

I think memorising is like digging for treasure – it is hard work, but at the end you get precious jewels. It has been a blessing to fill my mind with scripture, to understand more of God’s ways, to know where verses are, and to have God’s word hidden in my heart.

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4 Responses

  1. Caroline says:
    2 July, 2011 at 8:04 pm

    Great tips here within your lessons learned. Thank you for sharing! And cheering you on with your memorization!

  2. Rhoda says:
    2 July, 2011 at 11:03 pm

    Thanks for the encouragement 🙂

  3. Meagan says:
    10 July, 2011 at 8:39 pm

    What a great challenge to be just as intentional about free thinking time as we are about regular free time. I had never though about it that way before. Thank you for sharing your progress!

  4. Rhoda says:
    11 July, 2011 at 3:27 pm

    I had never thought about it that way before either – it’s been good for me!