"Hippo in the Garden" by James Ryle

The complete title of this book is "Hippo in the Garden: A non religious approach to having a conversation with God."

Scripture reveals 3 significant facts
1) God Does Speak
2) God Speaks In Many Ways
3) God Speaks, Though Man May Not Perceive it.

The real test is learning to listen!! God is looking for those who will be attentive AND obedient. How much grief do we experience simply because we do not listen to what He says. In your next conversation, notice how much of it consists of your actually listening to what the other person has to say. Watch people as they are absorbed in their own conversation. It should not surprise you to find that most people would rather hear themselves than consider what another has to say. To entertain some people all you have to do is LISTEN!

God gave us 2 ears and one mouth so He must have intended us to do 2 times as much listening. HMMM As an experiment, just stop for a moment and just listen. Try to identify the sounds around you. Go for a walk and count how many times you hear a bird chirping. Practice listening. Listen to the sound of the wind. Go to a shopping center, listen to the noise caused by all the voices, try to distinguish the songs played in each of the stores. Can you hear the hum of the heat or the air conditioner. Now do all this while have a meaningful conversation with a friend.

Sensitive listening increases what we are hearing all about us. Selective listening draws our attention to what we consider to be most important. A mother after putting her child to sleep goes to sleep herself, most noises throughout the night don't wake her. As soon as the baby makes a peep she springs to action. Hearing the voice of God should be the same way. The value we put on hearing Him causes us to focus on His speaking, which cultivates our sensitivity for hearing Him when He does speak.

The book says there are 3 other prerequisites
1) A pure heart - we must has the Lord to cleanse our hearts. A wounded heart can distort God's words just like a defective radio receiver distorts a good signal. The signal from the station is perfectly clear, but the message being heard in the living room is garbled and irritating.

2) A hearing ear - a hearing ear is given to each of us when we are born again. The capacity to hear the Lord is present but the ability to do so must be developed. Have you ever seen a classroom full of students waiting for a teacher to speak, pens and paper in hand and eager. This what it means to "listen like one being taught." If we will show this same attentiveness to the Lord, He will awaken us every morning to more revelation of Himself! Wisdom speaks to those who will listen. To develop "a hearing ear" we MUST regard the word of the Lord as a vital feature of our daily lives. Frankly, it must be a matter of life and death!

3) A responsive life - Obedience is a critical factor in hearing the voice of God. Look at the word obedience. Right in the middle of it is "die" and in the middle of that is "i". We have to die to ourselves that we may live in the Lord.