“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”
– Psalm 119:11
A generational mentality and a reverence for Scripture were hallmarks of the Jewish culture. A man named Shimon Ben Shetach had developed a method called Yeshiva, which is the process of helping children memorize, learn and understand Torah. Each child would begin attending school when he was five years old with the goal of being able to recite the first five books of the Bible by heart. This practice was common in Jesus’ day, and there was an expectation that every Jewish boy or girl who didn’t have a disability could recite any portion of the law if they were asked. The really exceptional students went on to memorize the rest of the Old Testament at the age of 10 or 11. The thinking behind every young person knowing the Word of God by memory was that, as long as it lived in their hearts and minds, it would never die. Even if all the synagogues were destroyed and every scroll was burned, the Torah would live on through the Hebrew people. If our Jewish friends can memorize multiple books of Scripture, then you and I can memorize a few verses. While this is not intended to be legalistic, I firmly believe that committing the Bible to memory is one of the best ways to be transformed by it. When you have God’s Word hidden in your heart, you possess the authority that comes from saying it out loud, the honor of praying it back to Him, and the opportunity of standing firmly on His promises, even when you don’t have a Bible in front of you. His Word is life and when you choose to commit it to memory, it will change you from the inside out! |
Prayer
Teach me to hide your Word in my heart, Jesus, so I can stand on your promises in any circumstances.
Reflection
What verse or passage of Scripture will you commit to memory this week?
If you’re unable to attend your local church or need some additional weekly inspiration, be sure to tune into Hour of Power every Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. PT on TBN or watch online at hourofpower.org/episode.
9 Responses
Good morning! Your devotional today was on memorizing Bible verses. A family friend of ours has started a small company that sends out monthly temporary tattoos that have the first letter of each word of a Bible verse that you can learn each month. It is a great idea and has helped many of us to learn verses throughout the year.
Their website is dwelldifferently.com.
Thank you for this reminder to actually memorize scripture instead of simply carrying the Bible around and jumping to it in a crisis.
It’s like going to a doctor who hasn’t memorized the way to do a surgery, and the doc waits until in the operating room to refer to the book for life saving instruction.
ALWAYS MIRACULOUSLY TIMELY TO READ ARE THESE DAILY DEVOTIONAL SUBJECTS IT SEEMS! … I LOOK FORWARD DAILY TO READING ON-LINE THESE SPIRIT-FILLED POINTS TO CONSIDER. Thank you so very much!
Dear Pastor Bobby and Hannah,
Thank you for the messages you give/send all week. It seems as though each one is meant for me. Thank you for the healing prayers that you send out. I am reading, once again, your Grandfather’s book on possibility thinking. I need that reminder every so often.
Since I am not a person who knows all the new “tech stuff” for computers, cell phones, I don’t respond to your “text …” but I hope you know that I appreciate all the prayers for healing that you send out.
Thank you.
Your Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you.
Your Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you.
Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and light unto my path.
My husband died 4 years ago. In his 70’s long after a bypass operation he became very disciplined with reading a memorizing portions of scripture.
Not me! I figured one can easily go to the Bible, if you are familiar with it and read a passage. Besides, I found out that my childhood memorization was much better than in my 70’s and 80’s.
On a medical missionary mission to India, our Dentist led us n scripture. By memory. As we read n our Bibles he recited the entire book of Mark by memory. Word for word. It was remarkable! Do we think we could memorize a verse after witnessing that?
As a Missionary, I would love to share these experiences. When he had finished , several villages of peasants arrived by an oxen pulled cart for our Medical care. An Oxen driven cart pulling 30-40 people stacked upon each other! I could share these pictures that pull upon your heart and will change your life.
Just in the last couple years I have started using book, chapter, and verse/s as my passwords. I post the written verse on my computer and read it each time I key in my password (which is many times a day). By the time I have to change my password I have learned another verse.