Is God personally concerned about you? Does He want to provide solutions to your problems, bless your endeavors, help you get the most out of life, and make you the best person you can possibly be? If so, is He able to tell you how? Yes, yes, and yes!
He knows that you have questions and problems, and He wants to give you answers. To that end, He created a means of two-way communication, a channel between Him and you, so that you can talk to Him in prayer and receive messages that He speaks directly to you. God will speak to anyone who has even a little childlike faith—and He wants to speak to you, lead you into a closer relationship with Him, and improve your life in the process.
Start by finding a quiet place and taking a few minutes to talk to God, just like you would talk to a close friend. If you have a specific question, go ahead and ask Him. Or perhaps you don’t have anything in particular on your mind, but want to hear whatever He might have to say to you. Either way, once you’ve told Him that you want to hear from Him, do your best to still yourself and listen for His answer.
Sometimes God may speak to you by bringing to mind a familiar verse or passage from the Bible, which when applied to the particular situation you’re asking Him about, can be the clear and simple answer that you need.
Other times, God may speak a new message—words that He’s never spoken exactly that way to anyone else. It’s easy to dismiss this little inner voice as being your own thoughts, especially when you are first starting to hear from God, but when you’ve sincerely asked God to speak, He will. “Ask and it will be given to you.” 1 He fills the spiritually hungry with good things. 2
Try to take a few minutes each day to pray and thank God for His goodness. Follow this with your “question of the day” and a few moments of listening for His insight and whatever else He may want to say to you. As you get in the habit of hearing from God, it will become easier. He has promised to speak to you, and He will!