Have you noticed how keeping a positive attitude helps you navigate a hard situation more easily and get through it faster? Yet negative thoughts can make a bad situation even worse. In difficult circumstances, we need God’s encouragement, but how to find it?
When I go through troubling times, I tend to start worrying, complaining, whining, or even feeling sorry for myself. Yet none of those negative thought patterns help a thing. All they do is make me feel even more discouraged. My own negativity can take me down faster than my actual problems can.
Can you relate?
God has given us a powerful weapon against discouragement, but we often overlook it.
The Bible contains faith-strengthening truths, reassuring promises, and hope-filled encouragement to help us win the battle against negativity in our own minds. Paul likened the Word of God to a sword, and even Jesus used the Word of God to defend himself when Satan came against him with lies.
We can overcome negative thoughts with truth from Scripture.
Reading Scripture redirects our minds to the peace-filled, abundant life God desires for us as we abide in Christ. Meditating on the truths we find in Scripture can renew our minds, but for many of us meditation sounds complicated, and we think we don’t know how.
To meditate on something means to think about it. An easy first step to meditate on a verse from Scripture is to memorize it.
Maybe just hearing the phrase “Bible Memorization” makes you roll your eyes and groan. You remember reciting verses in Sunday school to get the candy. Or if you’re like me, you can’t even remember your own phone number, so you gave up on Scripture memory a long time ago. Yet memorizing God’s Word is one of the most important things we can do to overcome negative thoughts.
Memorizing Scripture is a Life-Giving Discipline.
It gives us something better to think about than our own worries. Memorizing even one verse gives us a weapon to fight the lies, discouragement, and negative thoughts Satan throws our way. It gives us a way to take God’s Word with us into our busy days.
Memorization is a practical way to give the Holy Spirit control of our minds. When we store Scripture in our hearts, treasure it, and keep it close, God’s Word grows our faith and helps us redirect our thoughts to His truth.
Committing God’s Word to memory brings rich rewards:
- It helps transform our thoughts and renew our minds.
- We grow closer to God as we hide His Word in our hearts.
- God’s word empowers us and gives us wisdom.
- Scripture is our weapon against the lies of the enemy.
- It gives us encouragement to share with others.
How to Get Started:
Keep a running list of encouraging, helpful, or challenging verses as you find them in your daily Bible reading or hear them in church. You’ll have a list to choose from when you want to start memorizing. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Psalm 9:10
- Psalm 27:13-14
- Matthew 10:28-30
- Ephesians 2:10
- Philippians 4:6-7
You’ll need something to write on. Index cards are great because you can slip them into your pocket while you’re on the go. I like to keep my verses in a small notebook that fits in my purse, so I can take it out during the day. (You may prefer to use your phone, but I find that physically writing helps me remember better. When I pick up my phone, I also tend to get distracted and go down Instagram bunny trails.)
How to Memorize Bible Verses:
- Read your verse 5 times out loud.
- Write it down.
- Try to say it 5 times from memory.
- The next day, read it 5 times, and say it from memory 5 times.
- Work on the same verse for one week.
- When you start a new verse, review the last one several times a week.
- Once a week, review 3-5 old verses.
What better way to overcome negative thoughts than to memorize Scripture? How about starting this week with just one verse? Two verses a month add up to 24 verses a year, and that’s a powerful deposit of treasure into our hearts and minds.
Now it’s your turn: Has God’s Word helped you overcome negative thoughts? What has been your experience with memorizing Scripture?
Need ideas on how to get more out of your quiet time? I wrote More of God: A Distracted Woman’s Guide to More Meaningful Quiet Times to help overwhelmed and distracted women recover a fresh sense of God’s presence, learn to hear His voice, and grow their prayer lives. Click on the image below for more info:
Note: This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase, I earn a small commission towards the maintenance of this site at no extra cost to you.
Are you facing the challenges of life on an empty tank? Need help renewing your relationship with God?
You are an inspiration
Aww! Thanks so much, Aunt Beulah. I’d say you yourself are an inspiration! <3
Thank you Betsy for bringing God’s Word deeper into our hearts! I am struggling with the overwhelming reality that my marriage is over and I must break away from the destructive behavior of my alcoholic and abusive husband. Thank you for being a follower of Christ and for helping others through God’s Word. May He continue to bless you as you work to bless all of us with your beautiful and meaning posts!
Thanks for reaching out and sharing your struggle, Julie. I am praying for you now. May the Lord strengthen and encourage you! <3 Hugs.
Julie, My divorce was final a year ago. God has gently carried me through this time of healing and he will do the same for you. As you continue to seek God, you will look back and see how his promises in scripture blossomed in your life. I will keep you in my prayers.
Thank you for chiming in here, Nancy. I appreciate you.
I have learned scriptures is a way of life and I pray them back to God over all areas that I would normally worry about. Love it!
I love that, Diane! I agree that praying the Scripture back to God is so powerful! (Better than worrying!)
Oh Betsy, this hits home! We must be on the same page as God has been nudging me to choose positivity no matter the circumstance.
Kristi just mentioned to me that you’d written something similar! I’m looking forward to reading!
Thanks for the encouraging words! I’m motivated now to prioritize scripture memory!!
May the Lord bless you as you give it a new try, Rebecca!
Great post. I am not able to memorize anything anymore. I have no short term memory. The only verse I remember by heart is the one I learned as a kid…John 3:16
John 3:16 is a lovely verse to have memorized, Luanne. Blessings. Opening up our Bible is also powerful, even reading it blesses me so much!
Though your words are so helpful and encouraging I wondered if you ever thought how your pictures of beautiful plants and flowers can lift peoples spirit to praise God and thank Him for all the beautiful things He has put into our lives. Thank you for the love and joy you give.
Thanks so much for the encouragement, Joan. I really appreciate it. Yes, I love pictures of flowers. 🙂 They lift my spirit too! Blessings!
Betsy,
Thank you for your wonderful, inspiring posts. Your guidance and teaching helps me to find peace via God’s Word.
Purchased ‘More of God’ via my Kindle App today.
Peace, Love and Health to you, today and always.
– Angela, Upper Hunter, New South Wales, Australia.
Oh Angela, thanks so much for your encouraging words and for purchasing my book. I feel so honored. Thank you. May the Lord bless you greatly in New South Wales.