Memorizing Scriptures
With Little Ones

I love to read and during my last pregnancy I devoured many books! My favorite was called Ten P’s in a Pod by Arnold Pent 111. Arnold tells how he, along with his seven siblings and parents, traveled the country, ministering in churches through music, preaching, and reciting God's Word. The twelve-passenger van had not yet been invented, so they caravanned in three cars!

What struck me the most was how the whole family knew so much Scripture by heart. Arnold’s father, Mr. Pent, led the family in reading the Bible after every meal. They didn’t only read a few verses, but chapters! They memorized it by simply hearing it over and over and over. What a thought! Could we actually memorize Bible verses that easily? How cool is that?

I began to read a section of Scripture verses during lunch three times in a row (including reference, because I am always frustrated when I can’t find what I’ve memorized). After about one to three weeks we have it memorized (we, being me and my six and four-year-olds). My two-year-old can recite a lot, but not quite perfectly yet!

Taking time to memorize the Bible at this stage in my life seems a difficult task! But this is a way I can do it and with my children too. I am retaining it also. We have learned big sections such as Psalms 23, Psalms 8, Matthew 7:7-12, and Isaiah 40:28-31.

When our oldest was almost two years my husband started teaching her a verse before bed, and after several weeks she knew it. He would then add a new one complete with hand motions! Children love hand motions.

My husband leads us in the Proverbs after dinner. He is a wonderful spiritual leader in our family. Because of this I thought it wasn’t necessary for me, the mother, to lead our children in the Bible, but now I realize I would pass up a huge opportunity. I am the one with them all day. Why not me?

I had to take my daughter, Ruth, to the doctor one morning because she woke up with her tonsils bleeding. On the way to the doctor, in the waiting room, and while the nurses checked her she continued to bleed. After the nurses left, we were alone waiting for the doctor, so I suggested we recite some of the verses we have memorized.

I hoped it wasn’t hurting her throat to talk that much, but as we continued saying the Scriptures she began to spit out saliva instead of the blood she was spitting all morning. We continued to recite, and still there was no bleeding! Wow! When the doctor came in, she was able to see the tonsils clearly and diagnose accordingly. Praise the Lord! I had just wanted to recite the Word, but I did not expect God to heal the bleeding! Thank You, God. There was no more bleeding at all after that.

The benefits of knowing God's Word are so wonderful! Scripture songs are great too. Colossians 3:16 says: “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

JULIANNA GESSLER
Hendersonville, North Carolina, USA
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Printed in Above Rubies #92.