The way to talk to and hear God is through a practice called prayer. The bible gives very explicit details about what prayer is and how to do it. Let's first take a look at Matthew 6:6-13 which says, "When you pray, go into your private room, and, closing the door, pray to your Father, who is in secret; and your Father Who sees in secret will reward you in the open. And when you pray, do not heap up phrases (multiply words, repeating the same ones over and over) as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their much speaking. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. Pray therefore, like this:

Our Father Who is in heaven, hallowed�(kept holy) be your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive�(left, remitted, and let go of the debts, and have given up resentment against) our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

That seems like a whole lump of information, but when you break it down, it's really quite simple. He begins by telling us to pray in private because of one key thing--devotion to God without distraction. He also tells us not to keep on saying the same things over and over.

For one thing, God knows what's on our minds better than we do, and for two once we've said something once, God heard it before we spoke it. Notice though, Jesus talks as if we should be speaking out loud. If Jesus thinks we ought, I think we ought, and that's something that I've been struggling with myself. It's like, "If God knows my thoughts before I do, why should I have to verbally speak with Him?" Because Jesus said to, that's why.

We should begin to pray by humbling ourselves to God, giving Him the glory. We should present any requests we have and ask for forgiveness for our sins. Our sins should be confessed individually, and then we should ask for forgiveness of sin that we can't remember and/or did not realize that we committed. This is a good time to try to clear your mind and let God talk to you. He may tell you something that you didn't remember. Here's a big keynote that's missed by a lot of people, including yours-truly. If anyone has done you wrong, FORGIVE THEM NOW! Would I be getting too personal if I told you I just had to heed my own advice? Not my advice, but God's.

Forgiveness is probably one of the biggest keys to having a close relationship with God. First of all, there is no forgiveness of sins without believing Christ died for you and was then raised from the dead and ascended into heaven. That's another chapter, though. We're talking now about US forgiving OTHERS in relation to prayer. In Mark 11:25, Jesus said, "And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."

Forgiveness, is therefore an essential part of prayer, but there is another--you must be a believer. Proverbs 28:9 says that if anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable. In other words, the desire of the heart must be to serve God. Once you are to this point, some wonderful things happen.

Ephesians 2:6 says, "And God raised us up with Christ and seated us in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus." The Amplified Bible puts it like this: "And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together[giving us joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus."

So according to this, you(Christians) are actually seated next to God in heaven!!! So when you are praying, you're seated next to God in His house. So you can talk about anything. If you're upset, if you're sad, if you're happy, WHATEVER, just tell Him. He'll listen, he'll understand, and most importantly, He loves you no matter what. There is no greater love than the love of God.