My Plan for Memorizing Isaiah 55

This week I’ve been gearing up to memorize Isaiah 55 with the amazing community of believers at Do Not Depart.  I’m so excited! if you’d like to join the fun, I encourage you to sign up. This will be at a pace of 1verse a week, which is very doable. (and such a blessing!)

I hope you’ll join us!

Having memorized 1 John 1:1-14 and 1 Peter 1 with the great ladies at Do Not Depart, I know first-hand what a blessing it is to memorize a passage with a group of sisters in Christ who are committed to Hiding God’s Word in their hearts. I encourage you to join us! The accountability and fellowship along the way are priceless! You will be inspired, encouraged, and strengthened both by the verses we’ll memorize as well as by the other godly women who are dedicated to hide Isaiah 55 in their hearts these next several weeks.

You can memorize Isaiah 55!

If you don’t have a good memory, don’t let that hold you back. If you truly have a desire to memorize Isaiah 55, God will surely honor that desire, and fully equip you with the ability to not only memorize all of Isaiah 55, but to lock it in your brain for the rest of your life. Trust Him. You can do this! If you ever doubt your ability to memorize Scripture, or finish this memory challenge let these two verses encourage you and help you take those thoughts captive and bring them into obedience to Christ:

1. I can do ALL THINGS through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)
2. With man this is impossible, but not with God. With God ALL THINGS are possible! (Matthew 19:26)

Both these verses prove that you can memorize Scripture, even all of Isaiah 55, regardless of your memory. For more great reasons to join us in memorizing Scripture, check out 10 reasons why I memorize Scripture,   John Piper’s 6 Great Reason’s to Memorize Scripture, as well as the benefits of memorizing passages over individual verses. So if you desire to join me in memorizing Isaiah 55, I encourage you to head over to Do Not Depart and register for the Isaiah 55 memory challenge. After that grab your favorite Bible translation to memorize from and join in the fun!

What Works For Me

Before the challenge begins, I’m gearing up to memorize Isaiah 55 by reading it aloud, all the way through, each morning and night. I plan on continuing this when the challenge starts because it 

• helps me grasp the psalm as a whole
• familiarizes me with the verses I have left to memorize
• and enables me to recognize repeated words and phrases within the passage.

Additionally, since I memorize from the NKJV I am daily using my Word of Promise app to listen to Isaiah 55 as I read along (for both auditory and visual learning). That is great when I can sit still for a minute. But if I’m cleaning my house,  cooking, cleaning, ironing, doing yardwork outside, or running errands in the car I can listen along. I’ve created an Isaiah 55 playlist that plays the chapter for me five times so I can listen while I work. I also have a previously memorized playlist for easy review of previous chapters I’ve memorized because I don’t want to forget.

When the challenge begins, each morning I read out loud and recite my verses for the week a total of 10 times each. So I don’t lose count, and to make things easy for me, to keep track how many times I’ve read a verse out loud or how many times I have recited it, I will write on any slip of paper something like this, and use tick marks to keep track of what I’ve done so far, so I know when I reach 10 times:

Isaiah 55:1

Read out loud: ||||  ||||

Recite: ||||  ||||

Isaiah 55:2

Read out loud: |||| ||||

Recite: |||| ||||

After I finish this I’ll write my verses on a 3 x 5 note card and bring my verses wherever I am to review throughout my day in those down times when my hands are busy but my mind is free. (i.e. Brushing teeth, styling hair, putting on makeup, cooking, folding laundry, going on a walk waiting in line at the store or in traffic at a stop light, etc.) I actually memorized the majority of 1 John 1:1-14 simply in the 15 minutes it takes me to take a shower each day.  By posting my verses in the shower, memorizing John 1:1-14 while I was already in there anyway meant the 15 minutes I worked on my memory verses did not take any extra time out my busy day. Rather I just redeemed the time when my hands were busy but my mind was free, just as Janet Pope recommends in her fantastic book His Word in My Heart: Memorizing Scripture for a Closer Walk with God.

Because posting my verses in the shower has proven so effective in helping me learn my verses, I’ve since also posted my memory verses on my refrigerator for easy review while I cook, and next to my mirror in the bathroom to review while I brush my teeth, put on my makeup, and style my hair. I also reference these verses by the mirror when I get out of the shower to run through my verses again one last time while I’m finishing up in the bathroom.

Think about your day and what moments you can redeem for hiding His Word in your heart. Maybe it’s when your kids are napping or playing independently. Or when you are waiting at the doctor’s office, in the checkout line, in traffic. Perhaps it is when you are folding laundry or going on your morning walk. If you know you are going to be facing those times, why not bring your 3 x 5 card with your verses on it and have them handy to review during those down times that can be expected in our day-to-day life? 

Tip if you learn well with the flashcard method like me, you’d like the ScriptureTyper app that enables you to easily quiz yourself on your verses in flashcard fashion.

Moving From Being Familiar To Being Certain Of What The Bible Says

I want to leave you with one last thing. When I was in high school and I had a test coming up, I would study until I got it right. Now looking back, I can see I was doing the bare minimum in preparing for a test. Because God’s Word is life-changing I do not study my memory verses until I finally get it right. Instead, I practice until I can’t get it wrong. After much practice, I experience the joy of being familiar with a passage to actually knowing exactly what a passage says. So when the Isaiah 55 memory challenge begins, my goal is to practice my memory verses until I can’t get them wrong, so by April 20th, I‘ll be able to rejoice that I’ve moved from simply being familiar with Isaiah 55 to actually knowing what it says. I hope you’ll join me in this! God bless you richly as you seek to hide His Word in your heart!

My Memorization Plan for Isaiah 55

Week	Dates	Verses to Memorize	Daily Memorization Plan
1	January 20-26	Isaiah 55:1	1. Read Isaiah 55:1 out loud 10 times, then recite the verse 10 times.
2	January 27-February 2	Isaiah 55:2	1. Review last week’s verse first (Isaiah 55:1) by reciting them 10 times (look at your Bible if you need to.) 2. Read Isaiah 55:2 out loud 10 times, then recite the verse 10 times.
3	February 3-9	Isaiah 55:3	1. Review last week’s verse first (Isaiah 55:2) by reciting them 10 times (look at your Bible if you need to.) 2. Review old verses altogether (Isaiah 55:1-2) by reciting it once through. 3. Read Isaiah 55:3 out loud 10 times, then recite the verse 10 times.
4	February 10-16	Isaiah 55:4	1. Review last week’s verse first (Isaiah 55:3) by reciting them 10 times (look at your Bible if you need to.) 2. Review old verses altogether (Isaiah 55:1-3) by reciting it once through. 3. Read Isaiah 55:4 out loud 10 times, then recite the verse 10 times.
5	February 17-February 23	Isaiah 55:5	1. Review last week’s verse first (Isaiah 55:4) by reciting them 10 times (look at your Bible if you need to.) 2. Review old verses altogether (Isaiah 55:1-4) by reciting it once through. 3. Read Isaiah 55:5 out loud 10 times, then recite the verse 10 times.
6	February 24-March 2	Isaiah 55:6	1. Review last week’s verse first (Isaiah 55:5) by reciting them 10 times (look at your Bible if you need to.) 2. Review old verses altogether (Isaiah 55:1-5) by reciting it once through. 3. Read Isaiah 55:6 out loud 10 times, then recite the verse 10 times.
7	March 3-9	Isaiah 55:7	1. Review last week’s verse first (Isaiah 55:6) by reciting them 10 times (look at your Bible if you need to.) 2. Review old verses altogether (Isaiah 55:1-6) by reciting it once through. 3. Read Isaiah 55:7 out loud 10 times, then recite the verse 10 times.
8	March 10- March 16	Isaiah 55:8	1. Review last week’s verse first (Isaiah 55:7) by reciting them 10 times (look at your Bible if you need to.) 2. Review old verses altogether (Isaiah 55:1-7) by reciting it once through. 3. Read Isaiah 55:8 out loud 10 times, then recite the verse 10 times.
9	March 17- March 23	Isaiah 55:9	1. Review last week’s verse first (Isaiah 55:8) by reciting them 10 times (look at your Bible if you need to.) 2. Review old verses altogether (Isaiah 55:1-8) by reciting it once through. 3. Read Isaiah 55:9 out loud 10 times, then recite the verse 10 times.
10	March 24- March 30	Isaiah 55:10	1. Review last week’s verse first (Isaiah 55:9) by reciting them 10 times (look at your Bible if you need to.) 2. Review old verses altogether (Isaiah 55:1-9) by reciting it once through. 3. Read Isaiah 55:10 out loud 10 times, then recite the verse 10 times.
11	March 31-   April 6	Isaiah 55:11	1. Review last week’s verse first (Isaiah 55:10) by reciting them 10 times (look at your Bible if you need to.) 2. Review old verses altogether (Isaiah 55:1-10) by reciting it once through. 3. Read Isaiah 55:11 out loud 10 times, then recite the verse 10 times.
12	April 7- April 13	Isaiah 55:12	1. Review last week’s verse first (Isaiah 55:11) by reciting them 10 times (look at your Bible if you need to.) 2. Review old verses altogether (Isaiah 55:1-11) by reciting it once through. 3. Read Isaiah 55:12 out loud 10 times, then recite the verse 10 times.
13	April 14-April 20	Isaiah 55:13 Review	1. Review last week’s verse first (Isaiah 55:12) by reciting them 10 times (look at your Bible if you need to.) 2. Review old verses altogether (Isaiah 55:1-12) by reciting it once through. 3. Read Isaiah 55:13 out loud 10 times, then recite the verse 10 times.  4. At the end of the week begin review program. Recite Isaiah 55:1-24 once through every day for the next 100 days (during downtime—i.e. In the car, in the shower, while folding laundry, etc.)

 * My plan for memorizing  Isaiah 55 was adapted from “An Approach to Extended Memorization” by Dr. Andrew M. Davis, Pastor at First Baptist Church in Durham, N.C.

Planning Your Strategy of Attack 

Whenever I seek to better my life by making positive changes, whether it’s to lose weight, get organized, or memorize Scripture, I like to list my reasons for why I want to make these changes. This way, when my motivation starts to fade, I can be reminded, and encouraged, of the blessings that await me if I just press on and don’t give up.

But if I think all I need to do is make a list of reasons for pursuing a goal, without also considering the foreseeable roadblocks that are sure to come up along the way, it will only be a matter of time before I’m discouraged by an obstacle, and tempted to fall back on my old, comfortable ways. So, it’s essential to not only know why I’m pursing a goal, but  also to identify what potential roadblocks I am sure to face, and what to do when those likely obstacles appear.  

So here is my Scripture Memory goal for Isaiah 55 as well as my potential roadblocks and strategies for overcoming those obstacles. Hopefully this will give you some good ideas for creating your own Scripture Memory goal and help you identify your own roadblocks and strategies for overcoming them. 

Goal: Hide Isaiah 55 in my heart by April 20, 2014

Reasons why this goal is important: See my reasons why I memorize Scripture.

Anticipated obstacles and strategies for overcoming them:

Obstacle #1: Other activities of the day distract me from practicing my verses well.

Strategy: Schedule time on my calendar each day to practice and review my verses. Know when will I practice my verses: While cooking? While folding laundry? While in the shower? With ScriptureTyper? (Additionally schedule reminders to pop on my phone throughout each day to stop what I’m doing and read or recite my verses.)

Obstacle #2: Focusing only on the current verses I’m memorizing while neglecting to review previously memorized verses.

Strategy: Schedule time each day to review previously memorized verses so they stay fresh in my mind, and are not easily forgotten. Again, knowing when during the day I will review. Schedule a nighttime reminder to prompt me to review specific passages.

Obstacle #3: Practicing only in the shower, and not disciplining myself to practice during other times throughout my day.

Strategy: If my day is flying by, and I haven't revisited my verses other than time in the shower, I can get in some extra practice time saying my current memory verses before each meal. By the day’s end I could have potentially read or recited my verses three times. This would also be great to do with my little girl before meals to practice her weekly memory verse, too.

Obstacle #4: Not being held accountable to someone to finish memorizing the passage.

 
Strategy:  Recite my memory verses for at least one person during the week. Additionally find a friend who'd like to memorize with me. This is one reason why I love memorizing with the great community of believers, at Do Not Depart, who are dedicated to hiding God's Word in their hearts. If you're on Facebook, they have an awesome Facebook group, Hide His Word, that I just love.

So why bother strategizing? As Michael Hyatt suggested in his fantastic post, 5 Steps to Developing More Discipline, “Intentionally plan your strategy ahead rather than deciding it in the moment because it is too easy to give over to your default response, to give in to the impulse of the moment.” 

I hope this has equipped you with a plan to memorize Isaiah 55 as well a plan of attack for overcoming any potential roadblocks to memorizing Scripture. God bless you richly as you seek to hide Isaiah 55 in your heart.

Question for you: Will you join me in memorizing Isaiah 55? 

If you haven’t yet, visit my archives, follow me on Twitter or drop by my Facebook page and click “Like.”

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links on this site are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Subscribe to Rivers of Water by entering your e-mail address in the box below:


Delivered by FeedBurner

I'm linked up at these great blogs this week. Check 'em out!

Copyright © 2014 Brooke Espinoza.