Forty days to change the way you speak. One verse, one honest story, a few questions with room to write, and one thing to actually do before bed. For everyone who has ever replayed a conversation at 2am and wished they'd said less.
YOUR 40-DAY CHALLENGE
Nobody plans to say the thing. It just leaves your mouth — the sharp reply, the story that wasn't yours to tell, the comment you'd give anything to have back. This book doesn't lecture you about it. It hands you one page a day and asks you to try something small.
Every entry opens with a verse, then a short and genuinely honest story, a few reflection questions with lines to write your answers on, one challenge to carry out before the day is over, and a prayer prompt to finish. Ten minutes on the page. The rest happens in how you answer people.
LOOK INSIDE
A real page from the book, the shape every one of the forty entries follows, and the Scripture the whole challenge stands on.
Day one opens on Proverbs 18:21 and doesn't ease you in. Words have set events in motion for as long as people have had them — combative words have started wars, soothing words have quieted rooms, loving words have built whole families out of nothing. The first reading asks you to trace that back through your own life and find the sentence someone said to you that you are somehow still carrying.
| Scripture | The line | Where it lands |
|---|---|---|
| Proverbs 18:21 | Death and life are in the power of the tongue | The focus verse day one opens on |
| Ephesians 4:29 | Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths | The standard the whole challenge aims at |
| Proverbs 15:1 | A soft answer turns away wrath | The hardest one to do in real time |
| James 1:19 | Quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger | The order most of us have backwards |
Scripture on the subject this book is built around. Proverbs 18:21 is the printed focus verse of day one — the other thirty-nine days each carry their own, and they're inside the book, not listed here.
WHAT'S INSIDE
40 daily entries — a focus verse, a story or teaching point, questions, a challenge and a prayer prompt
Write-in space right on the page for your answers and contemplations
Today's Takeaways closing every day in one carry-able line
Lesson for the Lips — short, quotable lines built to be stuck on a mirror
One concrete challenge a day you can finish before bed
Written to stand alone — you don't need to have read Keep It Shut first
HOW IT WORKS
No app, no login, no streak to lose. Just the page in front of you and a pen.
One verse, one short story, about five minutes. The reading is deliberately small — it's the doing that takes the day.
A few questions with lines to write on. A written answer is a great deal harder to wriggle out of than a thought one.
One specific thing to do before the day ends, and a prayer prompt to close it. Tick the day. Tomorrow has a new page.
WHY IT WORKS
“It has really made me stop and think before I speak.”— Valerie, verified reader review
A single daily page removes the two things that quietly kill this kind of change — deciding what to work on, and trying to fix everything at once on a Monday.
WHO IT'S FOR
If you have ever left a room and immediately started editing what you said in it, start on page one tonight.
Anyone who replays conversations at 2am
Parents who don't want to be the voice quoted back at them
People whose group chats have gotten sharp
Small groups working through it together
Keep It Shut readers ready for the doing part
Renora is an independent bookshop. “Zip It: The Keep It Shut 40-Day Challenge” by Karen Ehman is a Christian devotional offered for general personal and devotional use. It is not counselling, therapy, or treatment for any medical or mental-health condition, and it is not a substitute for professional help. Forty days of daily practice can shift a speech habit; no particular outcome is promised, and results depend on the individual. The 4.8 star average reflects 4,101 ratings for this title across retail listings, not ratings collected by this shop; quoted reader reviews are real published reviews shortened for length, shown as individual experiences, and are not typical results. “New York Times bestselling author” is the credit printed on the book's own cover. The $19.99 “was” price is the regular list price. Free tracked shipping and easy 30-day returns per our stated policy.
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GET THE BOOK
The complete 40-day challenge — Scripture, honest stories, write-in reflection, a daily challenge and prayer prompts, in one paperback you can open the moment it lands.
Free tracked shipping · Easy 30-day returns
READER STORIES
“Too many times I have said the worst thing possible to the people I love most.”
Melissa
“A daily reminder to speak intentionally, have discernment, and not to have bitter words. Recommend it.”
L.
“A wonderful Bible study — many aha moments. We did it through Lent with an online community.”
Linda
The 4.8 average reflects 4,101 ratings for this title across retail listings, not ratings collected by this shop. The quotes above are real published reader reviews, shortened only for length and shown as individual experiences — they aren't typical results. Reviews are not unanimous: some readers find the daily format repetitive, and some expected general self-help rather than a Scripture-led devotional. It is the latter.
FORMAT & DETAILS
A devotional made to be written in — not a book to keep pristine on a shelf.
A QUICK, HONEST NOTE
This is a Christian devotional written from a biblical perspective. Every entry opens with a Scripture verse and closes with a prayer prompt, and the whole challenge is built on what the Bible says about speech — the page makes no attempt to hide that. It is not counselling, therapy, or treatment for anger, anxiety, or any medical or mental-health condition, and it is not a substitute for professional help; if your words or your temper are hurting you or the people around you, please speak to a qualified professional. Forty days of daily practice can shift a habit — how much shifts depends entirely on the work you do on the page and off it.
GOOD TO KNOW
RENORA · START TONIGHT
One page a day, ten minutes at a time. Open it tonight and day one is already behind you.
Start Day OneFree tracked shipping · Easy 30-day returns
Renora is an independent bookshop. “Zip It: The Keep It Shut 40-Day Challenge” by Karen Ehman is a Christian devotional offered for general personal and devotional use. It is not counselling, therapy, or treatment for any medical or mental-health condition, and it is not a substitute for professional help. Forty days of daily practice can shift a speech habit; no particular outcome is promised, and results depend on the individual. The 4.8 star average reflects 4,101 ratings for this title across retail listings, not ratings collected by this shop; quoted reader reviews are real published reviews shortened for length, shown as individual experiences, and are not typical results. “New York Times bestselling author” is the credit printed on the book's own cover. The $19.99 “was” price is the regular list price. Free tracked shipping and easy 30-day returns per our stated policy.
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