It’s one thing to believe something because someone told you it was true. It’s something else to believe it because you saw it with your own eyes. Much of what we believe comes the first way. We’re told that there was a battle at Hastings in 1066, but we weren’t there. The first way of knowing is good as far as it goes, but when it comes to spirituality it’s very inadequate. God goes much further than simply giving us information about Himself. That’s there for sure. Even the natural world proclaims His existence and His glory. But no amount of knowledge about someone is the same thing as knowing them
personally. However much I may know about God, it will never substitute for knowing God Himself. The Bible encourages us to “taste and see that the Lord is good.” This is the second way of knowing – the knowing from experience. If we will put our faith in Jesus and then practice His presence with us, imagining His voice, we will enjoy friendship, not mere facts. We will learn through practice to discern His voice, and as we receive it, His word will build faith in our hearts.