“And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart…” (Deuteronomy 6:6 KJV)
How do they get there? How do words get IN your heart? We know the answer. It’s not just by a casual glance at the Bible once a week. It’s not by simply hanging framed bits of it on our walls or posting a verse of Scripture on Instagram.
It begins with a deep love for the written Word of God. What a wonderful treasure! We have it because God Himself inspired human authors to record His words. It was oral recitation and memorization that were first used to transmit the Word of God person to person, generation to generation. Later, scribes carefully rendered written copies, counting each word and letter for absolute accuracy. Through time and despite myriad attempts to corrupt or destroy the Scriptures, God’s Word has endured—and it remains inerrant and infallible.
The leather-bound Bible we have in our hands today didn’t just cost what was on the price tag. No, countless Christian martyrs gave their lifeblood so that we could have and hold, read and know that same Word of God, written in our own language. It’s the eternal plumb line of TRUTH—our rule of Christian conduct. It’s the record, IN WRITING, that either bears witness against us or for us. It exists—it stands alone and is forever settled.
However, the Word of God must be more than just words written on a scroll, printed on a page, or bound in a book with a pristine binding that’s never been cracked. What we know as books of the Bible were originally penned on parchment to be READ—and in fact, read ALOUD. Most of the epistles, for example, were written to be read out loud publicly. Many of the Psalms were composed to make them easier to memorize—to quote and re-quote. The Scriptures were written to be SPOKEN. If we leave them buried in silence, we’ve denied them their voice.
It’s interesting to note that, around the 2nd Century AD (CE), the Hebrew language became a dead language. This occurred not because it ceased to be written, for in the ancient world, Hebrew writings were still used in religious texts, rituals, and Jewish literature. No, Hebrew became a dead language when it ceased to be SPOKEN.
“The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63 KJV)
The WORD is alive, but the life of it remains latent while it is hidden in a closed book. The power of God’s WORD is activated when it is set free from the page and is SPOKEN—and it MUST come off the page in order to get INTO our hearts.
HOW is that to be? Our GOAL, as children of God, must first be to emulate Him—to desire to be, and look, and SOUND more like our Father. To sound like Him, we must repeat what He has said—so that the Word comes out of us like it came out of Him. Living words.
In the beginning, the WORD, spoken by the Voice of God, brought all things into existence. When we use our voice to repeat God’s inspired Word, (using the closest version that we have to that which was first spoken,) we sense that God Himself is breathing through it, and that the living WORD has come full circle. For the life that’s embedded in the WORD to be released and to manifest as energy—as God meant it to be—it must be SPOKEN.
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17 KJV)
Faith comes by hearing! That was Ezra’s point, when the Temple was being rebuilt (Nehemiah 8:2-3 KJV). He stood up and read aloud the scroll of the law to the people. They HAD to HEAR it! While the scrolls were hidden, the people had no access to the life and power of the WORD—it was only made manifest when Ezra read it OUT LOUD.
Faith comes by hearing the spoken WORD. It’s by hearing your own voice speak the Word—memorizing and repeating it aloud by heart—and by hearing your kids quote it.
So, how can we get God’s Word IN OUR HEART? Into the core of our being—the center of our thoughts, motivations, and actions? This we know: committing the Word of God to one’s heart cannot effectively be done in total silence.
It’s done by converting the written WORD into SOUND. By reading it + saying it + repeating it + memorizing it + quoting it ALOUD … again and again. By engaging our eyes, ears, mouth, and voice in the learning process—phrase by phrase, verse by verse, passage by passage. In so doing, we assist our brain in carving new neural pathways that help retain the words and thoughts and truths longterm … “IN our heart” … the very purpose for which it was intended.
Recent scientific studies of neuroplasticity have found that consistent meditation and memorization of Biblical truths can literally retrain the brain. “Hiding God’s Word in our hearts through Scripture memory not only produces incredible spiritual growth but simultaneously rewires our brains for mental focus and acuity.” —“Retrain Your Brain For a Fit Soul,” justbetweenus.org.
It causes our thoughts to reconfigure and align with God’s thoughts. If doubts and fears continually flood our thinking, we probably need to turn over the soil of our minds—to allow God’s Word to carve new pathways for faith to flow and overtake fear. (Philippians 4:8) The tools are there—the power is there—for all of us. But it’s our individual choice to use them.
SPEAK the Word.
MEMORIZE the Word.
QUOTE the Word.
LIVE the WORD.
“Thy word have I HID in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee … I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.” (Psalm 119:11,16 KJV)
(Written in collaboration with lifetime Bible quizzers, Bethany Hilderbrand and Brooke Comer.)
