Those of you who participated in the National Bible Bee Competition this year have spent the last three months studying a lot of Scripture, as well as memorizing several Bible passages. And now you have received the memory passages for the national level of the NBBC. It might feel a bit overwhelming right now, but don’t worry. This blogpost is going to share with you all kinds of tips for tackling the many hundreds of verses and very long passages that you need to memorize for the NBBC, including some great tips from 2019 NBBC winner, Josephine Haab, and 2023 NBBC finalist, Spencer Lovett.
First of all, find a good method for memorizing the passages. Spencer Lovett shared his method for memorizing any memory passage, but especially the longer ones. First, he reads a phrase, sentence or verse out loud and repeats it over and over, doing that with all the verses and connecting them together, until he has the whole passage memorized. “However, because it will take a pretty long time to recite a lengthier passage multiple times, I try to memorize up to a certain point in the passage (maybe to the first card, or part of the second card).” He then repeats his original process for memorizing with the next section of the passage (reading and repeating each phrase/verse until it is memorized). “After I can recite the last block of the passage correctly, I try and recite the entire passage, correcting any phrases I may have forgotten in the process of memorizing, until I can recite it confidently, making either very few or no mistakes.” The benefit of memorizing a passage this way is that it tends to stay in your memory better because you have repeated each part of the passage many times. He also shared something that helps him memorize longer passages, which is to, “make a mental picture for different interesting parts or points in the passage, which can help serve as mental markers of how far I am in the passage. I’ve found that doing this can help a lengthy passage seem a lot shorter and more manageable to recite, as well as more fun!”
Another tip for studying and memorizing for NBB is to think outside the box. Sometimes something as simple as walking around outside while you memorize can give you that much more energy to get through your study time. Josephine Haab said she found it helpful to work in set blocks of time. While you can work in whatever amount of time you choose, Josephine studied in 45 minute blocks which “forced me to use my time well and not get distracted. If I had more time after the timer went off I could always do another 45 minute block of something else, like studying… or I could take a break and come back later for more memorizing.” She also recommended trying to recite your passages fairly quickly without a lot of pauses: “When you force yourself to say it straight through without pauses you can see where any weak spots are.” Practicing that will also help you at the actual competition to know how to pace yourself.
One of the hardest things about having to memorize so many passages is keeping them reviewed so that you can keep them fresh in your mind until the competition. There are a thousand and one different ways to review as well, but the biggest tip is to just review! It is just as important to be able to remember your passages later on as it is to memorize them in the first place. One of the best ways to review your passages is to get quizzed on them because, as Josephine shared, “It’s 100% a different thing than saying it to yourself and you’ll pinpoint weak spots very quickly!” Ask people in your family or maybe a friend on the phone if you can make it a regular habit to get quizzed by them. Don’t be afraid to get quizzed over and over again until you know that passage so well that you couldn’t forget it if you wanted to! Reading over the passage is also a great way to review memory passages. While it’s easy to make some of the same mistakes over again when you are not looking at the passage, reading over it can help you correct a lot of those mistakes. Another tip Josephine gave is to print out your passage and highlight or draw little symbols over key words or phrases. This tip can especially be helpful for visual learners, but it can be helpful for any type of learner because you are physically writing down ways to remember a passage. Josephine also shared that it helps to keep track of how many times you have recited a certain passage to others. “That way I always knew which passages needed to be prioritized when I was reciting to others.”
One of the most important tips to remember as you study and memorize for the National Bible Bee Competition, is to do what works for you. That might sound a little basic, but it’s true! You have received a lot of great memorization tips, which is super helpful and will hopefully make your studies more efficient. However, it is more important to stick to methods that work for you than to try to do every method of memorizing and reviewing out there. It is so easy to get overwhelmed and feel like you are never going to be as good as the next person at studying, but remember that everybody studies differently and at a different pace so make sure you find a way to study that works for you.
This is God’s Word that you are studying and hiding in your heart, which will never return void. Josephine offered encouragement to, “Pray over your passages, meditate over them. Try connecting your passages to each other- which ones cross- reference the others? How does one passage help you understand the study passage better?” That is what studying for NBBC is all about. It is about learning more about God and drawing closer to him. What you are doing now, no matter how you go about studying, is having an eternal impact on your heart and mind, and on those around you. And as long as you are getting God’s Word in your heart and learning more from it, you have already won!
Written by NBB Alumna: Victoria Hoverson
