Sometimes the heart of this question is "How do I make God talk?" which isn't possible.
God speaks when He wants and to His own purpose. Sometimes when we want Him to and sometimes when we don't. But I think He wants to have a conversation with us, so personally it's helped to just pray more often than usual. I'd turn it around and ask "How do I talk to God?" in terms of attitude and intention. The hearing part follows naturally when He responds in a specific way. If it feels like He's silent, it's usually because of serious distractions on my part.
Well, I'll have to say, God never stops talking to us
Hence the bible. Hence the preachers. Hence the songs
He did promise that
if we seek Him, we will find Him. I don't think God wants to hide himself from us, He delights in revealing Himself to us
So, it's really up to us. He speaks to our hearts, and if we're distracted, we'll fail to hear from Him.
Feeling the Holy Spirit and taking its lead took me a long time to get used to. I do ocasionally get so caught up in the mundane things of everyday life that I lose focus on God...
This is true. It is very very easy to get distracted.
Well, before I returned to God, I was in a messy situation and I kept asking God, I kept praying for God to answer me and show me the way out. Well, it didn't happen, I didn't find the way out. Not because God didn't answer me, but because I didn't try to find His answer. And because of that, I went through horrible pain (cause pain really does minimise everything else around us lol) and only then did I remember that my solution was Jesus Christ (after I took my mind off of everything because I couldn't stand the pain anymore that I was desperate to find the solution). God didn't speak to me clearly then. Only reminded me that I needed Him.
So, I started with prayer the next day. Asked Him to speak to me in all ways. Opened my bible (random pages), read the same old things. But I kept them this time and didn't ignore whatever it was I was reading (most of the time it was God's judgment upon Israel and I would /facepalm). Listened to audio sermons (daily, since Aug 25 this year, the day I got set free
) that was applicable to my situation then (like breaking free, going through tribulation and trials). I went through a lot of preachers (diversity!) with an open heart (my goal was to hear God speak to me and let Him speak to me through these ways, and not to bash preachers). Read daily devotionals from InTouch app. I made this a daily habit and after listening to at least 1 sermon and reading my devo, I'd pause and recall then write on my journal about what I 'thought' was God's message for me, everyday. Slowly (it was a progress for me, blessed are those who receive instant answers!) I started hearing from God, in a way that I, no longer choose the sermon I listen to, but I pick on whatever and realisations after realisations dawn upon me. Now, it could be God or my own thinking or the devil's whispers but we'll know it's from God if 1) It points us back to God 2) doesn't contradict His Word. I use these two in testing what I hear. Not every preacher is perfect, but that doesn't mean God stops using them to talk to us.
I still have my journal about God's messages for me (and I intend to keep it for as long as I'm breathing) and today is my pay day, and amazingly when I read my daily devo (InTouch) it was about financial security (a few days ago, I was doubting if I should tithe this month or not). In my case, today, God made it clear that my finances are taken care of so I wrote in my notes today that God told me to tithe this month! lol. Simple things like that. Amazing how these little things can change our entire perspective in life.
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I'll have to add, so what I did basically was open
all doors that I knew to let God in and then I started hearing from Him
I may have gone overboard. Maybe not, I don't care anymore how, desperation can make you do things illogical. Lol.