This ultimately takes practice. We live in such a fast-paced and loud world that we often don’t have the time or need to hear from God until life is REALLY bad or we NEED something. Hearing from God is not about using Him as a genie in a bottle that we rub when we need to hear from Him. In fact, many people turn from God because they don’t hear from Him in the hard moments and take that as Him not caring or don’t doing what they expect. Hearing God takes the following steps:
Create space to listen. This means being intentional to carve out the time.
Patience. When hearing from God it’s not on our timetable but His.
Perspective. You’re not God. You don’t get to demand He speaks. Instead come with a humble perspective, ready, but knowing it’s God who is God not you.
Familiarity. You have the very words of God available to you. Read His word regularly (preferably daily.) Become familiar with His voice. Like a sheep listening for his/her shepherd’s voice, recognize that voice in the green pastures so that you can hear it when you are lost in the woods.
We highly recommend reading the book Hearing God by Dallas Willard on this topic.