This is a wonderful question. And it shows that you were already on your way to getting closer to him. You see, it is the Holy Spirit within you giving you that desire in the first place. So, you can be assured in your heart that you are on the right path and the relationship you are desiring is the same relationship the Holy Spirit is desiring for you. You are already on the way.
I will share with you my experience and what has helped me draw closer to the Lord. There were two main factors that changed my path and helps me grow in him daily. It has been my quest for years to be so close to the Lord in a personal one on one relationship that nothing around me moves me. The first thing was to be baptized in the Holy Spirit with the praying in tongues as a major role in my prayer life. Praying in the spirit every morning impacts my day in a very positive way. Sometimes I hear his voice talk to me and tell me things, other days I just know that the fruit of my praying in the spirit will work itself out within the day.
When I look back upon the day before I close at night, I can always see the hand of the Lord was involved with my day whether I knew it in my mind or at the time things were happening. This gives me a greater confidence that the Lord is with me and I am OK.
The Holy Spirit will move within my heart at the moment when I need it, for example, taking a different route home from work. One of my favorite things is when The Holy Spirit prompts me to speak out, "car you're traveling to close to my tailgate, back off! " It is a small thing, but happens all the time. Or sometimes the Holy Spirit will prompt me not to go to a certain business meeting scheduled for the afternoon. And those also always bear fruit. I find out later it was good I did not go. But let me continue onto the next thing that has helped me greatly and growing closer to the Lord.
There is nothing better than hearing the voice of the Lord for myself. He can speak to me in many different ways, but I always hear him.
It started when I hit a hard time in my life. When I was messing things up. I couldn't figure things out and I didn't want to ruin my life making bad decisions. I knew that if I could hear the Lord's voice tell me which way to go, what decisions to make, and how to handle situations, then I would have a really good life.
My heart rose up on the inside of me and I began to cry out to the Lord with all of my heart that I needed to hear his voice speak to me, personally. I knew very little about doctrine and such. And at the time I had no clue that there were a lot of books out there in the Christian stores that would help me hear his voice. I just had Bible verses that showed that people communicated with God and I wanted to communicate. I also knew that Jesus walked in the Holy spirit and that the Holy Spirit was somehow connected to hearing God speak to me. The first thing I did was to ask the Holy Spirit to make himself real to me.
At the time, I will admit, The Holy Spirit scared the be-jeebers out of me. Every time I would sit in prayer, get still, and ask to know him better, his presence would fill the room and it scared me. It was so obvious that there was someone in the room with me that the hairs on the back of my neck would stand up. As soon as this happened, I would stand up and leave. It took time and a Bible verse to free me enough for my fears to sit down and begin that relationship with the Holy Spirit that I desired. The Bible verse that helped me most was where Jesus said that if we ask for the Holy Spirit our Father will not give us a scorpion. I took that verse back into my prayer closet, lifted it up in prayer to the Lord, and made a decision that I was going to sit still and trust God. Wow, what a night.
I came to him as a child knowing nothing but trusting him. I was still nervous, as a matter fact, I was sweating. I soaked in his presence that night. I asked him to do things to prove to me he was the Holy Spirit of the living God and not some demon. He was very gracious and kind to me. I asked him to do things that would prove to me he was real and that what I was doing with him was real. I would ask him to touch my right hand, and he would. A right-hand would get warm and throb just a little bit. I asked him to send a gentle breeze across my fore head and he did. Those are some of the things that I asked him for. His wonderful patience and kindness with me that night in that prayer closet changed my life. It helped make things very personal between the Lord and I. And I never get bored with life. I guess you might say I get bored for about an hour two times a year at most.
So in answer to your question, I recommend two things, getting to know the Holy Spirit personally and learning to hear the Lord's voice speak to you personally.
