I was so sad when I realized that by deleting my gmail account - trying to simplify my life a bit - I had also deleted a couple of blogs that I had kept while my two oldest boys were in the Army. There's nothing like going through deep waters to keep you on your knees and constantly crying out to God for your loved ones when they are in difficult circumstances - like carrying 90 lbs of equipment in 115 degree weather, hiking up dry hills in the same hot weather, being shot at and trying to find and avoid IED's, etc.
Through those days especially God's promises became very comforting to me and I learned a lot about trusting Him completely and also a very good truth about prayer.
It's easy to throw up those prayers to God like "Keep them safe", "Be with them", etc. What I realized over time was that instead of praying for them in that way, it would be more God-honoring to thank Him for the promises He had already given me.
I remember in my blog I likened it to a small child who at the beginning of the day would beg his mother to make him lunch or dinner. Mothers just do that automatically...it's part of the job. We don't have to be asked to do it or be begged to make food for our kids. We will do everything necessary to provide food for our families. In the same way, we don't have to beg God or ask God to do things He's already promised He's going to do and will do just because of who He is, His character. I went from asking God for things to thanking Him for His promises - and making lists of His promises and thanking Him specifically that He would be to my sons (and other children as well) everything that He is.
A lot of those promises are great verses to memorize so that when we face those difficult days we know His character and who He is and we can face them with the promises of God.
I love that old hymn "Standing on the Promises". But to stand on them, I need to know them. Dwelling in the shelter means knowing God's promises by heart then thanking God for them and standing on them! He loves to be reminded of His word!!
- Standing on the promises of Christ my King,
Through eternal ages let His praises ring,
Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing,
Standing on the promises of God.
- Refrain:
Standing, standing,
Standing on the promises of God my Savior;
Standing, standing,
I’m standing on the promises of God.
- Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
By the living Word of God I shall prevail,
Standing on the promises of God.
- Standing on the promises I now can see
Perfect, present cleansing in the blood for me;
Standing in the liberty where Christ makes free,
Standing on the promises of God.
- Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord,
Bound to Him eternally by love’s strong cord,
Overcoming daily with the Spirit’s sword,
Standing on the promises of God.
- Standing on the promises I cannot fall,
List’ning every moment to the Spirit’s call,
Resting in my Savior as my all in all,
Standing on the promises of God.
My older sister, a missionary in the Philippines, impressed me several years ago by all the Scripture she had memorized. I will have to get the list of passages and books she has worked through because that is the standard to which I would like to work toward. (Today's her birthday...Happy birthday Catherine!)
Growing up in boarding school in the Congo, our dorm parents had us memorizing chapters of the Bible. Our school, Rethy Academy, was divided into two teams...one year, I remember, there were the P's and Q's (as in mind your p's and q's). Each team could get points by saying the chapter perfectly with a prize at the end of the semester for the whole team. So, we were under a lot of pressure to memorize and quote our chapters perfectly by all the members of our teams.
Some of the chapters I remember memorizing are: Psalm 103, Isaiah 55, Isaiah 53, John 14, and I Peter 2.
Several years ago when we were going to study Colossians in my Precept group, I found on Ann Voskamp's blog a group of ladies who were going to memorize Colossians. Ann had also prepared a beautiful print out for the whole book and had laid it out in 2 verses a week format. This seemed very doable so I started working on Colossians. About the same time I found the website www.scripturetyper.com (see sidebar link) which has become the best method for me to memorize. I was able to work through Colossians and added some Psalms and other familiar chapters from my childhood memorizing.
That summer my friend Kelley also wanted to memorize and in the fall we started on the book of Philippians. Over the year we would meet a couple of times a month and say the verses from the beginning of the book through the verses we had just learned. When we got to Chapters 3 and 4 more friends joined us. Kelley went on to encourage a group of young moms that she was mentoring to learn Philippians 4.
This past year a group of us have worked through the book of James. We were studying through Isaiah in Precept so several of us also worked on Isaiah 55 and Isaiah 53. We are still working on James, hoping to get finished by the end of the summer so we can start on I John in the fall as that is our next Precept study.
What has memorizing Scripture done for me? Why go to all the work and time to memorize these verses?
One of the first things I think about is that I can use these verses to pray back to the Lord. I love the verses in the first chapter of Colossians - verses 9-14. I have often prayed these verses for my family and friends...they are powerful words and the Lord is honored when we pray His will.
Verses have also convicted me of attitudes or taught me what attitudes I should pray for. I remember a particular set of circumstances for which I needed to change my thoughts and attitudes and the verses in Philippians 2:3-4 were just what I needed.
Studying through James this year has been so great...counting it all joy when I go through trials, every good gift is from above, be doers of the word and not hearers only, bridling the tongue, not showing partiality...and on and on. The verse in James about the wisdom from above has been my prayer...that I would have God's wisdom: pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere...and a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
A picture in my mind about memorizing God's word is this: I'm a tomato plant and as I grow I don't have the strength to stand firm on my own. I slump over and lay on the ground. But with God's Word as a wire support around me I can stand firm and have the strength to grow upward and bear fruit.
I will never stop memorizing...it is food for my soul in so many ways.
-I love the fellowship I have with my sisters in Christ as we meet regularly and talk through the Scriptures we are learning and how we are applying what we are memorizing.
-I love listening to the chapters I've learned and saying them along with the reader.
-I love praying the scriptures and knowing there is power in praying back to God His promises, His truths and His desire for our lives.
-I've loved getting to know Paul's heart as he wrote to his dearly loved Philippians and the grace and challenges as Pastor James speaks to and teaches his fellow Jewish people. After studying the Gospel of John a couple of years ago, I am looking forward to memorizing I John and learning more about him and how his personal relationship with Jesus affected him and his teaching.
Dwelling in the shelter means getting to know God's heart and one of the best ways to do this is through learning the love letter He wrote to us...the Bible. Join me!!
