What Memorization Actually Looks Like in a Bible Class
Flashcards. Do you remember flipping through flashcards? Was it for math? Vocabulary? Science facts? Were the flashcards helpful?
The answer to that last question is almost completely dependent on how the flashcards were used.
If you used the flashcards to cram all the information in your brain the night before the big test, you probably don’t remember the information unless you’ve had to use the information countless times since you made those flashcards. If the flashcards were used periodically over the span of several weeks, you probably recall the information better, even if you haven’t used the information in years.
While flashcards can be helpful, they are not the retro tool that will save our Bible classes. However, they represent something important, the practice of memorization.
In our Bible classes, memorization doesn’t look like drills and repeating after the leader multiple times. It can look like that and there are times when it is highly successful but for most of us, it’s just not going to work in our small groups, middle school meetings, or Sunday school classes.
Psalm 119: 11, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”
Memorization still needs to happen. It’s when we memorize that we hide things away in our heart. We can't make intuitive, Spirit-led connections across Scripture unless the Word has taken up residence in us and that's what memorization makes possible. Memorization demonstrates that we know something. And we can’t apply what we don’t know.
Does this mean that we have to give a new memory verse each week? Does it mean that we have to have our students stand in front of the class and recite the memorized verse? Do we have to track and give gold stars?
It can mean that. In fact, that’s a practice that I think would benefit the Church significantly. But it isn’t what memorization has to look like in our Bible classes. So what does it actually look like?
Anchor Phrase Big Idea
This is where memorization begins for us as Bible teachers. Some people use the term “Anchor Phrase” but I really like Big Idea because it indicates that something should take up the most space.
We need to have an Extra Large Big Idea that directs our entire lesson. If I’m teaching the story of Daniel in the Lion’s Den, my Big Idea might be “God is faithful.” As I teach the lesson, I’m going to remind my students of this time and again.
At the beginning of class, when I am Connecting, I might ask, “Tell me about a time when God was faithful in your life?” or “What does it mean to be faithful?”
As we read and teach, I will gently point out that Daniel wasn’t afraid because he knew God was faithful. It can be said in different ways and at different times but the concept needs to be obvious. It’s there at the beginning of class, present in every sub-point, and repeated again at the end of class.
Smaller Big Ideas can be present in the lesson. Students need to know that God isn’t always going to intervene before the lion’s den and He might not shut the mouths of our lions. This Smaller Big Idea will only be repeated several times in the sub-point that addresses it.
Having the Extra Large Big Idea helps the story and the concepts move from today’s lesson into long-term memory. They might not remember which king threw Daniel in the Den but the story is there and the concept is becoming a point in their brains that they return to time and again to tie new information to.
Repetition with Variation
There are four Gospel books in the Bible. They use different language, different pacing, and they often tell different stories but they all point to Jesus.
This is repetition with variation on a large scale. It repeats a concept in different ways. The concept in the Gospels is Jesus is the Messiah, but different stories and different voices are used to communicate it.
In our Bible classes, we can repeat our concepts with different language but the concept needs to be clear.
This variation allows students to hear it differently and comprehend the information in a fresh manner. They might not connect with the language you use the first or second time but something about the third time really resonated with them.
The repetition gives them multiple encounters with the same truth, and the variation gives each encounter a fresh point of contact.
Purposeful Strategy
Memorization doesn't happen by accident. It happens by design.
You could give a Bible verse and have your students quote it each week. That would work as a memorization tool but its largest power rests with you. You give it meaning and you enforce accountability. But even if formal verse recitation isn't realistic in your context, you still have to be strategic. Hoping that the right questions will formulate themselves mid-lesson is not a strategy. Stating the Big Idea once and trusting your students to simply absorb it is not a strategy. Those are wishes.
A strategy looks like this:
Plan where your Big Idea lands. Before you teach, identify every moment in the lesson where the Big Idea can be restated, illustrated, or reinforced. It should appear at least three times: at the opening, woven through the middle, and anchored at the close. Each time it appears it should feel slightly different. Same truth, different language, different angle.
Design your questions before class, not during it. Questions are your most powerful memorization tool and they deserve more than a spontaneous thought mid-lesson. A question asked at the beginning of class plants a seed. The same question asked again at the end of class, after the lesson has been taught, becomes a retrieval moment. That retrieval is where encoding deepens into memory. Write your questions out. Know where they go. Use them intentionally.
Build in a retrieval moment before you close. Before your students leave, ask them to do something with what they learned. Not a quiz but a connection. "In one sentence, what is God saying to you through this today?" or "Where does this Big Idea show up in your life this week?" These questions don't just assess understanding, they force the brain to process the information one final time, which dramatically increases the likelihood that it moves from short-term to long-term memory.
Return to last week before you start this week. The most underused memorization strategy in the Bible classroom costs nothing and takes three minutes. At the start of every class, ask your students to recall something from the previous lesson. Not to shame those who can't remember but to give those who encoded it a chance to retrieve it, and to give those who didn't a second point of contact. That single habit, practiced consistently over months, is spaced repetition in its simplest and most powerful form.
The difference between a teacher who hopes their students will remember and a teacher who plans for them to remember is not talent or training. It is intentionality. You have everything you need to be the second kind of teacher. You just have to decide to use it.
Memorization is the First Step
Your students are on a great adventure. They are moving from church attenders to true disciples or students of Jesus. But they need your help building a strong foundation. Many of our students were never given effective tools and training. They were forced to memorize information in school and may have even had excellent teachers. They may be great at learning new information now but do they know how to translate that into Bible learning? Do they know how to not just read the Bible but to actually learn it so they can become lifelong learners of Jesus?
This is a weighty responsibility that we carry and the first step for our students is memorization. We get to help them take their first steps. Are you ready? The Lesson Planning Guide to help you create a journey that encourages memorization and sets the stage for serious growth.
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