How and Why to Sing the Scriptures

Kids are the BEST memorizers! They are like little sponges soaking up the world around them, so now is the time to teach them God’s word.

Why Memorize?

It's so important to start with the why. Talk about it with your kids. Rather than simply saying "we need to memorize this for church, school, or AWANA," let them know why memorizing Scripture truly matters and how it will impact their WHOLE lives!

The Bible is God's way of talking with His kids. The Creator of the Universe wants to talk with His children! The more we read it, the more we know Him and know His heart. When we memorize it, we get it in our heart's even when we don't have our Bible with us.

The Bible is alive and active. When we hide it in our hearts, we are storing it in our brains to use now and to use later on. I still have verses stored in my brain that pop up out of nowhere. In fact, whenever this happens, it’s usually a verse I learned as a child because I was a much better memorizer back then...I am currently working on memorizing Scripture more often as an adult, but it is difficult for me.

When my first daughter was hospitalized at two weeks old, I was terrified. She wasn't breathing on her own, she had pneumonia and bronchiolitis, and she was diagnosed with a heart disease. I stayed with her in a tiny hospital room and wasn't allowed to feed her or touch her because her fever was dangerously high.

The only thing I could do for her and for myself was to sing "I lift my eyes up, up to the mountains, where does my help come from? My help comes from you, maker of Heaven, Creator of the Earth." (from Psalms121:1).

I had learned this verse in the form of a song when I was a little girl. It just came back even though I hadn't sung it since childhood. Reciting this verse by singing it over and over again was what got me through when I was too scared to even think or pray.

When we help our kids memorize Scripture, who knows how God will use that particular verse to impact their decisions, their feelings, their choices, their future!

So, how do you start? And what if you have a kid who loathes Bible memorization time (I have one of these) or a kid who just struggles with the ability to memorize (I have one of these too!)

Here are some tips and tricks that I have learned over the years as a Sunday School teacher that also work for my own kiddos and for me.

SING SING SING!

I am sure we all agree that we when we sing something, it's much easier to memorize. We can sing along to thousands and thousands of songs. Our brains are wired to latch on to rhythm and rhyme, plus singing makes it more fun!

There are so many great songs out there that are simply verses, but we also love to just make up our own.

Here are a few of my favorite verse songs:

1- "The Peace of God" from Scripture Lullabies by SEEDS FAMILY WORSHIP. Actually, this whole album is amazing and all the albums by Seeds Family Worship. This particular song has been such a huge blessing in our family. One of my kids struggles a lot with worry, especially at nighttime. I play this often in her room and she has the whole thing memorized now, not because she's worked hard to learn it. This sweet lullaby is just ingrained in her brain now because she's sung it so many times. She says the words out loud now when she is anxious. I do too!

"Don't you worry about anything instead pray about everything tell God what you need and thank Him for all He has done

And the peace of God

far beyond what we can understand

will guard your hearts

and your minds

in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:6-7

2- Romans 10:9 by Jumpstart3. All of the Jumpstart3 songs are fantastic! They are high energy, pop-type songs that are super cool and the lyrics are just verses. I do these all the time with my Sunday School kids, but this song is my absolute favorite to teach. When kids ask me how to be saved or what it means to be a Christ follower, this is a great place to start. My kids have this one memorized and have been able to share this news with their friends. All of the Jumpstart3 songs have motions to go along with it too!

"If you declare with your mouth

Jesus is the Lord

and believe in your heart

that God raised Him from the dead

You will be saved..."

Romans 10:9

Check out this super fun lego song by Jumpstart3, this is my 7 year old son's absolute favorite and the dance moves are awesome!

Another way to memorize Scripture in a fun way is to play games! We will be sharing these here next week.

Check out how to make memorizing verses personal for kids here.