Kempis here is talking about interior conversations with Christ (3,1).  How important it is that we are attuned to the Lord’s communication with us!  It is the perfect remedy for the “whispers of the world” that want us to focus on anything but the divine.  How to best be open to this?  Kempis, later in the chapter, speaks of “shut[ting] the doors to sensuality, so that you may hear what the Lord your God says inside of you.”  Yes, a love for silence is necessary for intimate communion with the Trinity.

In today’s Gospel we get the beginning of the famous Last Supper discourse extending over several chapters (Jn 14:1-6).  Jesus gives the apostles wonderful news in their trepidation: “Do not let your hearts be troubled”!  Keep the faith and He will lead you home in the end.  What is the way to the Father in heaven?  Jesus is “the way” because in Him is found “the truth” and through Him we have the possibility of eternal “life.”

Unlike Jesus’ apostles, the vast majority of the faithful have had to rely on interior conversations with the Lord Jesus.  He certainly wishes to communicate with us in this way, and Kempis helps us to be disposed to His voice.  But, remember that Christ speaks to us in many ways.  His words in Scripture (the Word’s words) are timeless.

Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart. (Heb 4:12)

Have recourse to regular quiet time with the Lord.  Speak as you would to a friend (see Jn 15:15).  And find inspiration in the Bible, as well.

[T]he “Word” of God [is] a word which is “not a written and mute word, but the Word is incarnate and living” (CCC 108)

Being the “living” Word because Jesus lives, Scripture speaks to us in all our needs, and delivers the message we need in every circumstance.  In it we find the truth of the way to life, a “sweet murmur of divine inspirations” countering the forked-tongue hiss of the “whispers of the world.”

Christ Exhortation to the Twelve Apostles (between 1886 and 1894) by James Tissot