I find myself frequently praying for Abba to constantly show His presence to me recently. Slowly, I am beginning to recognize how He has been for a long time that only increases as time goes by.

There have been numerous people, including me at one point, who have looked up to religious leaders and teachers as if they were somehow uniquely connected with God on His personal line and that the only way to reach Him was through the people who had the number to it.

In the same token, people accredit certain actions and beliefs to Abba and even Yeshua and question how people can know the difference between when something is of Him or not.

Here’s the thing:

The reason teachers are usually a wealth of information on wise counsel of Abba is because they have built a life that revolves around intimacy with Him.

They dedicate time to Him by seeking counsel alone in prayer, presently meditate on the awareness of His constant presence, talk about Him and reference Him often, seek understanding by challenging ideas with others in a loving way, and the most important part of all of the relationship building that can be done is to actively interact with Scripture.

While not all teachers are great by any means or even so perfect that they are 24/7 absorbed in Him, they have chosen to be dedicated to a relationship just like we (hopefully) do in our marriages.

When we are married to someone and establish a household and a family, that is the center of our focus. We are constantly nourishing what we build, working for their ultimate good, running ourselves ragged to provide every need and be a good example, and take care to set aside time for them in a way that allows true connection.

The best part about connecting with those you love is being able to really see them for everything they are. Even if you can’t describe in words who they are, you understand them because being in their presence becomes something familiar. Recognizing that and honoring that is the purest form of relating with others because it’s unmarred by our own images and ideas.

While we can’t understand Abba for everything He is, we absolutely can learn to understand and build a connection with Him through Scripture by learning His character. Starting with the Torah is such an important foundation for doing that because it lists in detail the exact kind of “person” – being – He is.

He gives us a detailed map of exactly the kind of life He wants us to lead based on what is good. When our parents raised us, they did exactly this over the period of our life and even still teach us wisdom when we are outside of their covering.

Everything about what our parents teach us compiled into one, uniformed image is a look at their identity and character. When they call and you answer, even without looking to see who’s calling, you know their voice. When someone tells you something they’ve said or done, we sometimes say, “That sounds like them!” Because we intimately know their character after years of walking in their presence and teaching.

The more we establish that kind of intimate relationship with Abba, the more readily we can identify what is or isn’t of His character and guidance to us simply because we learned to recognize His voice.

The greatest part about Scripture being an instruction for our daily lives is how we can relate with it on a regular basis. If you’ve ever had to learn a hard lesson from someone by making a mistake and got punished for it, I bet you recall that person or event frequently when you are approached with the same scenario. The same principle applies but on a much grander scale. When I choose to eat something clean over unclean, I think of Him. When I wear my tassels and consider my actions, I have a physical reminder that brings up a passage of instruction saying, “This is His wisdom versus your wisdom.” In our house, music was really important. The more I listen to praise music and fellowship with others, especially when Hebrew is in it, I recall those songs in my daily life without any prompting, while I’m waking up from dreams and falling asleep at night, because it’s a natural reaction for me to sing. How beautiful to know that my mind is meditating on Him without any intention of doing so – because my life has become an intentional one for Him.

If you want to hear His voice, take initiative to welcome Him into your life and seek to be part of His Word. Sit with Him at the family table without any outside influence to interrupt and build that relationship. Ask Him to show His presence and speak to you throughout the day the way you may meet up with friends at lunch or send a text message to someone throughout the day, prompt Him for feedback as a welcoming into your life the way you ask your significant other for feedback on things.

Make the effort.