Friday, January 24, 2025

Welcome to The Smart Edit newsletter! … “The people who know their God will be strong and take action” (Daniel 11.32 NASB). We need your strength—your unique impact on the world. 🫵 

This week … more on moving things with ‘prayer wireframes’, don’t lose the cognitive benefits of handwriting, and more.

✅ SIgn up for the Smart Edit here.

Turn tickets into cash: your new side hustle with Lysted. (See opportunity at end of this newsletter.)

P.S. — Baby Corgi voice

KINGDOM DYNAMIC

Part 2 of 2 — Move things for the good with ‘prayer wireframes’

Review part 1

The Smart Edit wants you strong for prayer—so many good things are downstream from effective, high-leverage prayer.

Wireframes are simple, stripped-down guides that offer clarity, focus, and direction, ensuring creators stay aligned from concept to completion.

A wireframe approach can offer clarity and focus in prayer, much like blueprints guide design.

The Lord’s Prayer is a timeless example, providing a structured foundation: praise, submission, petition, confession, dependence, and declaration.

Use it word-for-word or expand each element for deeper prayer. It’s good to pray the Lord’s prayer word-for-word. I do. But the real power is using it as a wireframe … expanding each element and praying it hot!

The royal authority of prayer wireframes

Scripture-based frameworks, like Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1:17–19, provide Spirit-inspired authority.

➡️ Ask for a continual spirit of wisdom and revelation in the (advanced) relational knowledge of Christ (Ephesians 1.17).

➡️ Pray that the “eyes of your heart” will be enlightened (v 18).

➡️ So that you will know the hope of his calling (v 18)

➡️ That you will know the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints (v 18)

➡️ That you will know the boundless greatness of his power toward those who believe (v 19)

➡️ And you can go on and pray and affirm the balance of Paul’s language through verse 23.

This is a prayer that Paul prayed for the Ephesian believers. Millions of believers have prayed these words through history. And you can pray them today!

Building prayer wireframes from Scripture carries real spiritual authority.

These frameworks aren’t limiting—they allow “white space” for Spirit-led prayer, much like jazz improv.

You can craft wireframes from the Holy Spirit promptings, too, ensuring they align with Scripture’s truth.

We need your strength in prayer and action—your unique impact on the world. 🫵

WORD WEALTH 🪙 
Work the works

Jesus: “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work” (John 9.4 NKJV). Ergon (er-gon) means occupation, enterprise, task, assignment, course of action. What works has the Father given you to do? What is your assignment in this season? His works for you comes with his energy.

Related: see the new, growing collection of Smart Edit ‘Word Wealth’ segments.

TRIVIA QUESTION: What country is credited with hosting the world’s first recorded wedding ceremony in history? Greece, Egypt, India, or Mesopotamia? Scroll for answer.

Are we losing the cognitive benefits of handwriting?

In our fast-paced digital age, handwriting is slowly slipping away as typing and swiping dominate. But what are we losing with this shift?

Studies show that writing by hand enhances memory, learning, and information retention—skills that may diminish with its decline.

You synthesize ideas and information more effectively when you take notes by hand.

Perhaps it’s time to reconsider the value of pen and paper, even in a tech-driven world.

I came up with an idea for us while adding this content to this week’s newsletter … get your favorite physical Bible translation, open it up to a key passage that is meaningful for you at this time, and copy it by hand on paper.

Experiment with this for 10 minutes each day. You’ll get the added benefit of scripture intake—the inspired breath of God—as you put Scripture to paper.

How often do you still write by hand?

Adapted from the Guardian ➡️ Go further with this.

Why handwriting still matters in the digital age (National Geographic). Improving focus and strengthening cognitive pathways—handwriting offers neurological benefits that modern technology can’t replicate.

🎧️ On the pod

Faith and resilience: navigating global governance efforts with Travis Weber. In this episode, we discuss why living and working with God’s power is essential today. Plus, we look at global initiatives from the World Health Organization and the United Nations aiming for unified global governance—and what actions believers can take in response.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) admits they ‘lost’ with the 2nd Trump presidency. “We need to also factor in not only who’s won, which is Trump, but who’s lost, which is to say us,” Yale University Professor Walter Mead acknowledged. “The epitome of the ‘us’ who is losing here is Europe. That the European Union and, by and large, its member states, have misread the direction where events were going.”

Syncretism—already affecting 92% of Americans—is on the rise as fewer people hold a biblical worldview. It’s a mix-and-match approach to life, where individuals combine bits of different philosophies to create a worldview that feels right to them. Cultural Research Center's George Barna on faith and cultural trends likely to emerge in 2025.

Word of the week: Sedulous (ˈsejələs) — (Of a person or action) Showing dedication and diligence. "I think your sedulous nature will be a good fit for medical research."

Trivia answer: Mesopotamia — The first recorded wedding ceremonies date back to around 2350 B.C. in Mesopotamia.

Related newsletter: Move things for the good with ‘prayer wireframes’, part 1

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