How To Get God To Speak To You

Years ago, I was visiting my parents, and on my way to the bathroom, I pulled a book from the shelf. 
It was one volume of a set of Classics of Western Literature and it turned out to be a book of essays.
 
This one was by Descartes, and while it was challenging, something he wrote grabbed me by the brain and held on. 

…reading good books is like engaging in conversation with the most cultivated minds of past centuries who had composed them, or rather, taking part in a well-conducted dialogue in which such minds reveal to us only the best of their thoughts…A DISCOURSE ON THE METHOD OF CORRECTLY CONDUCTING ONE’S REASON AND SEEKING TRUTH IN THE SCIENCES, Part 1 —- page 8

He made a case for reading. We can actually converse with the author about their best thinking. He was lamenting that few people do this. 
Then, at some point, I was reading a book about how to read a book (can you think of anything more nerdy?), and I read this: 
“If you ask a living teacher a question, he will probably answer you. If you are puzzled by what he says, you can save yourself the trouble of thinking by asking him what he means. If, however, you ask a book a question, you must answer it yourself. In this respect a book is like nature or the world. When you question, answers you only to the extent that you do the work of thinking and analysis yourself.” ― Mortimer J. Adler, How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading

And both of these books got me thinking of the Bible. 
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Heb 4:13 ESV)

If we can converse with any author through their books, how much more the Bible? 
And if we can ask questions of books, how much more can we ask questions of God when we read His book? Does Adler’s statement apply to the Bible? “When you ask it a question, it answers you only to the extent that you do the work of thinking and analysis yourself.” 
Sometimes it is definitely true.
Doing This Together
My church small group is studying 2 Corinthians and this week, we were in chapter 11. Go look it up; it’s not immediately evident what the meat is. 
But because we all love the Bible and are content to wrestle with it, profound things began to emerge. 
It turns out God is profound in every chapter of his book if you will “do the work of thinking and analysis….” 
Ask the Bible questions and listen until you can answer those questions yourself with God’s answers. His Holy Spirit will work when you work.