Memorize Colossians 4:2

Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving;

Colossians 4:2, New American Standard Bible 2020

13 words · about five minutes a day for five days · Share as an image

Free, no account, nothing to install. The path opens with this verse already in it.

The five steps

1. Meet the verse. Hear it read aloud, then echo it phrase by phrase, with a small hand motion for each phrase.
2. Fill the gaps. About a third of the words become blanks. Say it out loud, supplying them; peek if you need to, trying is the point.
3. Half hidden. Most of the words are gone now. Say it once more at bedtime; sleep locks it in overnight.
4. First letters. Every word reduced to its first letter. Recite it with only those to guide you.
5. All by yourself. Nothing but the reference. One confident recite, then it goes into your Verse Book to come back for review.

Each step makes a fine "tonight's step" spread over five days, and nothing is locked: the numbered dots jump anywhere. How to memorize Bible verses walks through the whole method.

Why it works

Three of the most replicated findings in learning science: retrieval practice (pulling a word from memory strengthens it more than rereading it), spacing (short tries on separate days beat one long one), and sleep (a verse said at bedtime is consolidated overnight). The blanks grow in stages so that every try is hard enough to count and never so hard that you give up.

Colossians 4:2 in context

Paul urges persistent, thankful prayer and wise, gracious conduct toward outsiders. He commends Tychicus and Onesimus, passes greetings among a wide network of coworkers and neighboring churches, gives instructions regarding letters, and closes from imprisonment.

Read Colossians 4:2 in its chapter · Colossians 4, in the New American Standard Bible 2020.

Verses that keep it company

• Psalm 5:3Bible verses about prayer
• Psalm 34:17Bible verses about prayer
• Psalm 145:18Bible verses about prayer
• Jeremiah 29:12-13Bible verses about prayer
• Jeremiah 33:3Bible verses about prayer
• Matthew 6:6Bible verses about prayer

Colossians 4:2 is on Bible verses about prayer.

In other translations

BSB · Berean Standard BibleKJV · King James VersionNET · New English TranslationWEB · World English BibleESV · English Standard VersionASV · American Standard (1901)YLT · Young's Literal Translation

The reference is the same in every one; the path lets you switch mid-way, and pasting any wording you like works too.