The Lord is my WHAT?

If you have ever been to a private Christian school, then you know that memorizing Scripture verses is usually a requirement. This is especially true for elementary students. I remember that we had to memorize at least one verse a week until about 6th grade! Oh how I dreaded that and didn’t really see the need for it at the time. I can still recite the ones that I committed to memory years ago. (“Quench not the Spirit. -1 Thes. 5:19…of which I can even remember the song!) What’s even funnier is that I can still remember some of the Spanish ones from high school as well, but, unfortunately, what’s sad is that I can barely remember what it is in English though! (“Y la lengua es un fuego, un mundo de maldad. –Santiago 3:6) Some help that is to me!

Somewhere between school and now, I have lost the motivation to memorize Scripture. It is not that I haven’t wanted to; I have just gotten lazy...or “too busy”. Since I am not “graded” on it anymore, it has not exactly moved up on my priority list. But it should be.

I cannot tell you how many times I have prayed with someone and gotten stuck on the “Oh, darn, what was that Scripture again?” Or how many times have you gotten into a debate with someone only to find out that they know your Bible better than you? Then there are the times when we are in a situation where we need to take God at His Word and we attempt to remind Him (or ourselves) of it, but somehow the Word eludes us. How can you take Him at His Word if you don’t know it?

Last night, I had a very vivid dream, more of a nightmare I guess. Crouched in a basement and hugging my kids tightly, a huge tornado was approaching. I could hear the rumbling; I could see the black funnel and I could sense great fear. Jeremy stood watch as I began to pray protection over the kids. I then started to quote Scripture as the tornado swirled in our midst. Psalm 23, “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want…Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Your rod and staff, they comfort me.” But I couldn’t remember the rest, so I moved on to Psalm 91, “A thousand shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee.” As I tried to find the words to the rest of the passage regarding His protection, I drew a blank and just went back to praying.

I woke up and gained a quick revelation. I need to learn Scripture! It’s easy for me to read something and remember it for a few days, maybe even a few weeks. Still, it always seems to get a little foggy or fade over time if I have not committed it to memory. I know from that dream that I do not ever want to be in a situation where that happens again. I want to be prepared and equipped to combat whatever comes my way. And whether it is threatening satan, reminding God of His promises or ministering to an individual, I realize that I need His Word branded in my heart and not as a passing thought or contemplation. You never know when you’re gonna need it! I guess I will chalk this up as an additional New Year’s resolution. Man, my list is getting long.