The 40-Day Social Media Fast: Exchange Your Online Distractions for Real-Life Devotion

by Wendy Speake, Lisa Whittle (Foreword)

Are you addicted to your phone? Do you find yourself engaging online but unengaged at home with the people right in front of you? Do you spend hours scrolling through Facebook, Instagram, newsfeeds, and YouTube videos? Have your devices become divisive--dividing you from family and friends and, most importantly, God? What would happen if you took some time to fast from social media in order to get social with God and others once more?

In the pattern of her popular 40-Day Sugar Fast, Wendy Speake offers you The 40-Day Social Media Fast . This "screen sabbatical" is designed to help you become fully conscious of your dependence on social media so you can purposefully unplug from screens and plug into real life with the help of a very real God. Take a break from everyone and everything you follow online. Disconnect in order to reconnect with the only One who said "follow me."

Genres: Nonfiction, Christian, Faith, Christian Living, Self Help, Christianity, Audiobook

224 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2020

About the author

Wendy Speake is an actress who appeared on shows such as JAG, Star Trek Voyager, and Roswell, where she discovered a longing to tell stories that edify women. Today she ministers to women through storytelling and biblical life applications. Her first book, Triggers, was released in 2015.

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW! Here is the thing, I didn't want to do this. I didn't have high expectations from this book. But, man, I was SO wrong. I can't recommend this enough. Every morning I'd read the devotional with my coffee at the time I'd usually be scrolling. Every. Day. It spoke directly to me. I do a lot of Bible studies and devotionals, but this may have been one of the best for me. Maybe because it was so practical. Maybe because it called me on my stuff. Maybe because it changed me in the best way.

[Andrea Toews · Rating 5 out of 5]

BIG BLESSING
This Book was/is a good guide to “Exchange my Online Distraction for Real-Life Devotion”.
Just a few days in to the fast, I realized what was really going on in front of me. I enjoyed my kids in a new way. And the best of all was, I was more sensitive to the voice of God (no more online voices to distract me).
Don’t you miss out on the BIG BLESSING by “Exchanging your Online Distraction for Real-Life Devotion”.

[Jennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have been feeling weary, overwhelmed with the loud world we seem to live in, needing to learn how to put technology in its right place, and ready to make a change – but need help with truth to do it, along with something to help turn your focus to the One! Then turn to the pages in The 40-Day Social Media Fast ~ Exchange Your Online Distractions for Real-Life Devotion by Wendy Speake and take the 40-day fast! What, did you say 40-days!? Yes, and it can be done, I have done it in the past. It takes time to let go of bad habits and learn a new habit. We do this, not alone, but with God.

We all know that smartphones and social media can keep us from what matters most and living in the moment. Maybe, like me, you need a reset, time away, or for whatever reasons. Sometimes deleting/removing what is a distraction for a short-time will make a lasting change for good.

The book is 40-days of devotions with Biblical truth and Scripture to help turn us to the One and keeping God in His rightful place in our lives and not some device. Statics show the average person in 2019 spent 153 minutes a day on social media, and that doesn’t include all the other screens in your life.

You will be directed to turn to God in prayer and to ask yourself where changes need to be made. In the book are some helpful questions to do this. Then you will choose a time you want to start your fast and what exactly it is you are fasting from and why. The author says we want to exchange our online distractions for real-life devotion and the goal of fasting is more of Jesus. This book is definitely a helpful tool to help with that!

Each of the daily devotions can be read in a short few minutes each day. However, you will want to spend time pondering on the questions brought up in the daily readings and spend time praying to God. At the end of this, hopefully you will have set up better habits and have a deeper relationship with the Lord.

I need this and I know many that do. This is year the screens seem especially loud with it being an election year and I know it is time to turn it off. So will you join me on a 40-day fast?

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed feelings because of the heavy religious content.

I read this book simultaneously with the same author's 40 Day Sugar Fast. The principle is the same: sugar and social media are merely symbols of what is turning us away from God, so we need to be more mindful about our consumption habits.

Once again, it's difficult for me to rate this book. I appreciate what the author is doing here - that it's all about a religious awakening and less so about social media - but it was just too religious for me. I would have liked that to be the focus here; ways in which social media might harm us, more people's stories, solid examples of life with less social media...

and while Wendy Speake does provide these, I couldn't relate to them sufficiently. I couldn't help but feel she's way, way further on her religious journey than me, so this felt pretty heavy. And as a millennial myself, there was nothing in this author's pure life as a mom that resonated with me.

All in all, though, I appreciate the fact that I have grown more mindful about prayer and social media consumption, as well as the mere fact that I formed a daily habit of reading this consistently for 40 days, which is something I'm proud of.

[Mikayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rtc

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

"This book is dedicated to those of us who want to want God most but grab our phones more."

There are Before You Fast and Guidelines prior to the 41 chapters.

God has not called you to make a social media sacrifice but to be a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1)

The author suggests a few ideas for when to fast: January, Lent, Summer.

Each chapter contains a Bible verse, body, prayer.

Endnotes included.

[Susan Shipe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although I am not fasting social media, I am fasting from something else. Wendy writes in a friendly, easy style - not ethereal or mystical. I love this about her. She's the Mom of 3 busy boys and makes a world of sense from learned and lived wisdom. I highly recommend this book and study for those busy parents teetering on the seesaw of raising kids and grazing social media.

[Haley Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this devotion so much. As someone who struggles to form new habits that stick longer than 2 weeks, I found this daily engagement super beneficial. There are new challenges every day. Not each day is centered around a "social media" fast. She also encourages you to look at other areas of your life that are distracting you from feeling God's presence in your life daily. As I was doing this fast, I found that I was letting myself, in turn, become even more distracted by other areas I struggle in (ie. shopping, phones games, etc.). Don't worry, she called me out on that, too, and set me straight with the constant reminders that the idea of this fast was not simply detoxing from social media, but to replace all of that wasted time spent giving ourselves to other things, to instead give it to God. Whatever that looks like to you. For me, it involved reading my Bible more, enhancing my prayer life, working on the daily challenges given to me and praying for strength throughout the day to be more like Christ. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for help in a social media detox who it also looking to gain a stronger relationship with Christ in the process. And to also help you make long term changes / habits in your life that will stick.

[Christian Shelves · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll be honest in that I had no idea how much time I was spending on social media until I started getting wellness alerts on my phone. As a result, this book came at just the right time. More than simply focusing on the amount of time we spend online, I appreciate that this book also delved into topics regarding our attention, the impact of comparison on our mental and spiritual health, and our self-worth. This is a book and a fast that I would repeat again based on the powerful reminders of living life offline. It's shocking that though I left social media for almost a decade and only returned to it to share book reviews that it has started to shape my behaviour and thinking. I'm grateful that this devotional book acted as an antidote to that for the 40 days I was engaged in reading it.

Since this book seems to complement The 40-Day Sugar Fast: Where Physical Detox Meets Spiritual Transformation, readers will see parallels between the content of the books where the sugar fast book does recommend cutting out social media and the social media book recommends cutting out sugar or other possible idols in our lives. I can see how these books reinforce how anything can tempt us away from being fully devoted to God. My prayer is that I can heed the lessons learnt in this book and continually apply the messages of God's acceptance and love as a way to combat the messages I see online.

Review link: https://christianshelves.blogspot.com...

[Nicole F · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so surprised by this devotional. I picked it up because I wanted to do a social media fast, but I was expecting just a regular devotional with a one-liner verse a day and a few thoughts. But instead, each chapter was full of inspiring nuggets, great wisdom, and godly insight. I highly recommend this devotional and I will use it again and again. I finished reading this and felt very inspired and reminded of the things that are important in our walk with the Lord.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I took a lot of good things from this book and the practice of taking a break from social media. Most of what I got out of the break came from the break itself & not so much this book. While it had some good content, it bordered on legalism in a lot of ways. Especially for people who really want to do the “right” thing, which so many of us do as Christians.

Social media is like anything - it is only good in moderation. Anything that takes the place of Christ in our hearts should be addressed. I think the author gives a little too much power to screens. Some phrases make it seem like the only thing you should ever do is pray and read your Bible. I’m sure that wasn’t her intention, but it could easily be read that way.

I didn’t find the author as relatable or realistic in her writing as I would’ve liked. Some examples were a bit too extreme. Using verses on freedom to relate to freedom from social media went a bit too far for me.

I actually stopped my fast after about 33 days. I had some events I wanted to document with social media and I felt I’d gotten a lot out of my month long break. It took me a while to come back and just finish the book, but I wanted to complete what I started.

[Fredreka Irvine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Doooo this fast!!! This is why you all haven't seen me in 40 days! It is LIFE-changing!!! I pray for the devotion to continue!!!

[Penny Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE 40 DAY SOCIAL MEDIA FAST was sent to me by Net Galley, free of charge, in exchange for my honest review.
Published by Baker Books, SOCIAL MEDIA FAST is a well-written Christian devotional, written by Wendy Speake.
In THE FORTY DAY SOCIAL MEDIA FAST, Wendy encourages you to give up all social media for forty days. She encourages you to spend that time with your family, growing meaningful relationships. She encourages trying IN PERSON friendships…Or, in this time of COVID (my addition) to pick up a phone and have a real conversation…or write a snail mail letter. She also encourages spending some of that time in God’s Word, or doing a new Bible Study.
Possible times that she suggests for doing the fast are:
January – God wants us to bring our first fruits to Him…How about giving the first hour, day, month of the year?
Lent – Give up social media to focus on God.
Summer – Vacations should be family time, not tech time!!
Each section in this book divides into three sections…Scripture, Devotion, and Prayer. Her first day is titled IS SOCIAL MEDIA BAD? It makes me think of the verse, EVERYTHING IS PERMISSIBLE, BUT NOT EVERYTHING IS BENEFICIAL. I have learned that that is SO TRUE! Sometimes, Facebook can be SO discouraging…even Twitter. People are so mean sometimes. I think it’s because they are behind the safety of the screen, and people can’t do anything about their behavior. You can even give yourself a screen name, so that no one else knows who is spouting out the garbage.
I love this prayer that Wendy wrote, HELP ME TO VALUE WHAT YOU VALUE, LORD: THE ETERNAL SOULS OF PEOPLE.
I don’t know if she always does it or not, but, with this E-book, she included emails to add with the encouragement. She also wrote, THE FORTY DAY SUGAR FAST, which includes a whole video study and encouragement.
I’d encourage you to pick up both of these books – THE FORTY DAY SOCIAL MEDIA FAST & THE 40 DAY SUGAR FAST. They are both fantastic.

[Krystelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Please note this is a 3.5.

I don't adhere in any way to the bulk of the beliefs in this book, which is part of why I put in for it, to attempt a little more of an outside reader approach. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book, and there's a lot of value in it even for those who aren't Christian. I think there's a level of devotion that people have to their phones these days that is, quite simply, unprecedented, and there's a lot of time that goes completely to waste. The author of this book covers this very well, and she relates those awful feelings of time being sucked into a black hole with deft ease.

I think one of the biggest things I appreciated was the idea of the 'social media presence' and how much people hype themselves up online, from the perfect religiosity to the perfect life, and I've read a few books by authors who do try that (see: any of my Rachel Hollis reviews). This author at least understands that her life isn't a perfect thing to be lauded, but rather, a matter of constant improvement, which is certainly refreshing.

Regardless of your religion, this book is an important refocus and refresh, and I can't say it's a bad thing to give up on social media for a time and just let it all go. If you're lucky, 'some time' can be forever. You never know.

[Ann]

While I certainly appreciate the concept, a 40 day social media fast is a little bit harder than it sounds. On day one, I gladly deleted two of my social apps. I found, however, that I kept wanting to reopen them, but thankfully withheld. I decided to dive into Ms. Speake’s 40 days of devotion headfirst, and was encouraged by her words and accompanying scripture. I do plan to stick with this endeavor and am thankful to have this book as a guide. This will be a popular idea for many, as I think we can all agree that many times our devices are addictive. However, each success story will be up to perseverance and willpower on the user’s part.

[Bernadette Scullion · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was almost 5 stars… but I lost interest around the middle of the book because she got off the topic of social media for a bit, and I was really disappointed because the book started out so well. The ending made up for the middle and I think just about anyone could get something useful from this book. I’ll probably make this an annual read because it’s that good!

[Madeleine Crow · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best things I’ve ever done. The book is so helpful in keeping you on track. A lil instagram captiony (if you know what I mean) also leans a lil towards moms but I ate it up. The principles of the chapters are really helpful in learning and growing in self control practically. Everybody’s gotta do it.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book that you could read in different ways. You could take 40 days to read each small chapter a day. I read a little at a time just like a regular book. This book had so many useful tools and just talked out how much social media can bombard you in life.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highlyyyy recommend this one!! Every single day spoke to my heart and I don't think you'd regret reading this ❤️

[Debbie Chatley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life changing. Love this authors down to earth practical call to remove anything that distracts us from our relationship with God, our Savior, starting with social media and our phones and moving outward to other screens. God used the gentle manner of this author to draw me into a closer relationship with Him as I realized the distractions I was allowed to consume my time and temporary fill my empty spots in my mind, heart and life. Highly recommend this book to every Christian. This is the third book I’ve read from this author and have loved each one. The Sotho is so relatable and vulnerable that I feel like we are sitting at a table talking. Love it.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 40 days of fasting from social media turned into 2 months!! Social media itself isn’t “evil”, but what it can distract us from is real. It can distract us from the faces of those we love because we stare at the faces of others on FACEBOOK. It can cause us to view the perfect post of others on any given day as “real life” when we know life is messy and not perfect!! But most importantly it causes me to not look up to the One who gives joy in all situations and blessed my life with such an amazing family and fabulous friends. This book and the fast may have ended but my new priorities have begun. As Wendy Speake stated “The Word before The World”. If you have lost your focus on our loving God and need to not just fast but feast, this book is for you.

[Kourtney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Love the idea & practice of taking a break from social media and making it a fast and replacing at least some of that time usually spent scrolling with meditation/prayer/journaling/reading the Bible/devotions, etc. but I found these devotions to be pretty weak. So, try the fast, absolutely, but use a different devotional or read your Bible instead of this book.

[Dawn aka wolfinbooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. “Galatians 5:1
💻💻💻💻💻
Disconnecting from anything that takes your focus off of God. The first one ever to say FOLLOW ME! I love Wendy Speake’s books and read them over and over!

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book found me at the perfect time. What a blessing the last 40 days have been by removing social media. I have been SO much more productive, completed multiple projects and tasks, been present for my children, made time for hobby’s and of course, spent more time each day reading my Bible & being in prayer. I recommend this book & a 40 day social media detox to all.

[Brooke Corbitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about so much more than social media! I recommend this book for anyone wanting to deepen their relationship with the Lord. It gives the reader a renewed sense of purpose and calling as Christians.

[Alissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book straight through instead of daily as intended. I also wasn't fasting social media while reading. But I liked it and would read it again as a devotional during a social media fast.

[Tara McCasland · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is excellent. If you have never taken a break form social media, I highly recommend it. If you are wasting time of social media, I encourage you to take this challenge. I am 50 days in and might keep extending this “break”. It’s incredibly liberating.

[Jaclyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably like a 3.5 star. This was written in a way like a devotional- with some parts better than others. It did get me to fast from social media which was great

[Annie H · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great read!!
Highly recommend!!

[Hannah Jekel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so helpful during my break from ig and fb. It helped me grow closer to the Lord and stay accountable. I used the journal with it as well.