Hidden in the Heart
"Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace and peace to you from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
She took and deep breath and continued. "Praise be to the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ."
For several minutes, she kept going, listing the ways that God has blessed us richly in Him. She prayed Paul's prayer to know God more and more. She spoke of God's saving grace that intervened when we were still dead in our sins, and she said that God resurrected us with Christ and gave us a seat with Him in heaven. As we kept driving down the road, I listened as she explained how the Gentiles are no longer separated from Christ, but included as heirs with Israel because of what God has done.
Chapter 1. Then chapter 2. Moving on to chapter 3.
"I am kind of rough on this part, so you may have to help me," my mom said in between chapters.
"For this reason I kneel before the father..." She paused.
So I filled in, "from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name."
"Oh yeah," she nodded and continued, "I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you..."
"...with power by His holy Spirit..." I interjected.
"...in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith," she finished.
Tag-team-style, we together finished speaking aloud the third chapter of Ephesians.
And now we are half-way done with our summer project: memorizing the entire book of Ephesians. My mom has made little flip folders for both of us that serve as pocket-sized books of Ephesians. We carry them in the car, in the kitchen, on our walks, and we practice together.
Inspired by my mom's commitment to memorizing Scripture, I have begun to think more seriously about the spiritual discipline of Scripture memorization, which seems to have been lost in an age of fancy leather-bound Bibles, biblegateway.com, and iphones with Bible apps. The truth is, there is nothing quite like having God's Word hidden in the heart. (Psalm 119:11)
As I have memorized Ephesians, I have found myself studying God's Word in a new way. In order to memorize, I need to learn the words and phrases in a way that sticks in my mind. I end up meditating on what I am learning, and I begin to understand every word in a new way as I make connections with the other words and phrases around it in the book as a whole.
It just has to make sense, or you can't memorize it. So basically, I am learning to make sense out of every word in Ephesians.
And then, I find myself quoting Scripture all throughout the day. Whenever I am not thinking about something, I just start saying Ephesians. In this way, my entire day is saturated with God's words.
Not to mention that I am finding encouraging and challenging Scriptures to say to myself when I need them most. When I am discouraged, I can remind myself of "every spiritual blessing in Christ" that is listed in the first part of chapter 1. When a friend needs encouragement, I can share with her the prayer from the end of Ephesians 3 about the length and width and depth and breadth of God's amazing love.
My mom and I are not memorizing Scripture for show. We don't want to stand up and quote it at everyone. It's not a challenge to conquer or an accomplishment to boast about. We don't want people to be impressed, just inspired - inspired to practice the long-lost art of Scripture memorization. If we can do it, so can you. But really you can do it because the Lord within you is able to do it.
At the start of a new school year, grab a friend and some pocket-sized index cards and make it a goal to memorize an important passage of Scripture. In doing so, your eyes will be opened to understanding God's Word in a new way, your thoughts will be filled with truth, and your treasure chest will become stuffed with meaningful verses for you and the people around you.
She took and deep breath and continued. "Praise be to the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ."
For several minutes, she kept going, listing the ways that God has blessed us richly in Him. She prayed Paul's prayer to know God more and more. She spoke of God's saving grace that intervened when we were still dead in our sins, and she said that God resurrected us with Christ and gave us a seat with Him in heaven. As we kept driving down the road, I listened as she explained how the Gentiles are no longer separated from Christ, but included as heirs with Israel because of what God has done.
Chapter 1. Then chapter 2. Moving on to chapter 3.
"I am kind of rough on this part, so you may have to help me," my mom said in between chapters.
"For this reason I kneel before the father..." She paused.
So I filled in, "from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name."
"Oh yeah," she nodded and continued, "I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you..."
"...with power by His holy Spirit..." I interjected.
"...in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith," she finished.
Tag-team-style, we together finished speaking aloud the third chapter of Ephesians.
And now we are half-way done with our summer project: memorizing the entire book of Ephesians. My mom has made little flip folders for both of us that serve as pocket-sized books of Ephesians. We carry them in the car, in the kitchen, on our walks, and we practice together.
Inspired by my mom's commitment to memorizing Scripture, I have begun to think more seriously about the spiritual discipline of Scripture memorization, which seems to have been lost in an age of fancy leather-bound Bibles, biblegateway.com, and iphones with Bible apps. The truth is, there is nothing quite like having God's Word hidden in the heart. (Psalm 119:11)
As I have memorized Ephesians, I have found myself studying God's Word in a new way. In order to memorize, I need to learn the words and phrases in a way that sticks in my mind. I end up meditating on what I am learning, and I begin to understand every word in a new way as I make connections with the other words and phrases around it in the book as a whole.
It just has to make sense, or you can't memorize it. So basically, I am learning to make sense out of every word in Ephesians.
And then, I find myself quoting Scripture all throughout the day. Whenever I am not thinking about something, I just start saying Ephesians. In this way, my entire day is saturated with God's words.
Not to mention that I am finding encouraging and challenging Scriptures to say to myself when I need them most. When I am discouraged, I can remind myself of "every spiritual blessing in Christ" that is listed in the first part of chapter 1. When a friend needs encouragement, I can share with her the prayer from the end of Ephesians 3 about the length and width and depth and breadth of God's amazing love.
My mom and I are not memorizing Scripture for show. We don't want to stand up and quote it at everyone. It's not a challenge to conquer or an accomplishment to boast about. We don't want people to be impressed, just inspired - inspired to practice the long-lost art of Scripture memorization. If we can do it, so can you. But really you can do it because the Lord within you is able to do it.
At the start of a new school year, grab a friend and some pocket-sized index cards and make it a goal to memorize an important passage of Scripture. In doing so, your eyes will be opened to understanding God's Word in a new way, your thoughts will be filled with truth, and your treasure chest will become stuffed with meaningful verses for you and the people around you.
Awesome, Ashli! Thanks for sharing. I hope this next school year gets off to a great start for you in the weeks to come, and that every day is filled with every spiritual blessing in Christ...
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