If you're serious about having a truly interactive relationship with the Lord in which you speak to one another and hear from one another, you'll need to spend quality, uninterrupted time opening your heart to him. When Samuel finally prayed, 'Speak, for your servant hears,' the Bible says, 'Then the Lord said to Samuel' (1 Samuel 3:10-11 NKJV). All too often, our prayer is 'Listen, God, for your servant is speaking.'

Listening to God can involve a variety of practices: reading his word, spending time in solitude and silence, and hearing from God just like a seasoned friend you trust. Here's an example: 'As they were going toward the city limits, Samuel told Saul, "Have the servant go ahead of you." (He went ahead.) "But you stay here, and I will tell you God's word"' (1 Samuel 9:27 GWT). One of the most effective ways of hearing from God is through meditating on his word. You might say, 'But I don't know how to meditate.' If you know how to worry, you know how to meditate. In both worry and meditation, your thoughts and focus are given to a certain thing.

When you meditate on God's word, you're focusing your thoughts on the right thing! God told Joshua: 'This Book...shall not depart from your mouth [speak it regularly], but you shall mediate [focus] in it day and night, that you may observe to do [act on it] according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success' (Joshua 1:8 NKJV).

— SCRIPTURE —
'Speak, for your servant hears.' 1 Samuel 3:10-11 NKJV
— SOULFOOD —
2 Ki 13-15, Luke 14:25-35, Ps 106:24-48, Pro 7:3-5