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Have you ever wanted to have a conversation with God? Not just talk to him but actually dialogue with him and hear his response to your questions? Below are some hands-on, practical steps that will help you do that.

In John 10:4, Jesus said that his sheep know his voice. He didnt mean that in a figurative sense. If you are a follower of Jesus, you have already recognized his voice at least once, and every person needs to practice listening to him in order to identify his voice at deeper and more personal levels.

>Step One
Sit down with a notebook and a pen, ask God to speak to you, and then write down everything that comes to mind &' what you sense he might be telling you, even if it seems strange at the time. When you read over it later, youll be able to tell what was God and what wasnt (just as John 10:4 says), and youll be amazed at everything that was.

Step Two
Be willing to hear things you werent expecting. If you do Step One and dont hear or sense anything, it may be that youre expecting to hear something in particular, and God wants to talk about something else. He might speak to you about something you have never thought of before.

Be open to anything he might say. It may take some time for you to learn to tell the difference between his voice and your own thoughts, but again, Jesus said that his sheep know his voice. He also said that if you ask for something good, he wont give you something evil in return (Matthew 7:10-11). In other words, if you have a desire to speak with him, he will respond in kind.

Step Three
Realize that God can speak through anything: something that stands out to you as youre reading the newspaper or while writing your blog, talking with your daughter, sitting at your desk.

God is more interested in you than you are in him. (This is repeated several times throughout Scripture &' for example, John 3:16 and 1 John 4:19). Simply put, because thats true, you should expect to hear from him.

Jim Driscoll is the director and founder of StirtheWater.com, a spiritual training website. He and his wife, Mims, and their six children live in South Carolina.

Please visit www.stirthewater.com for more information.