I hear and read frequently from people who say that despite being open to suggestion, numbers just do not "come" to them. They try and try and may capture a glimmer of intuitiveness only to lose hope when a full blown message does not come. I believe, without question, that every human being has inherent intuitiveness if not full tilt psychic ability. Is intuition paying attention to our surroundings or is paying attention to our surroundings part of how intuition happens? I think both are correct.
There are people who feel the only way to access our intuitive self is through the use of hallucinogenics and other mind/mood altering substances. I am certainly familiar with Native American ceremonial practices - most using hallucinogenics to induce hallucinations or visions, and this practice continues today. The problem is that these methods are hard on the body (and often including fasting, dehydration, not to mention the drugs themselves) and are episodic. Our need here at LP is steady, consistent intuition to help us win.
For someone trying to develop the gift, I would suggest that being sober is actually the way to go. Have you ever eaten close to sleep time and then spent a restless night with bad dreams? Do you take prescription meds or drink heavy caffeine amounts or even smoke? Caffeine and nicotine are drugs with definite impact on the central nervous system. Many prescription drugs can alter our sleep/dream state. Sober is harder to achieve than it looks, in my opinion. I suffer headaches and I do have to take medication or face a trip to the ER. I know the meds will impact my sleep state and my conscious state and I hate it. I constantly struggle with this because I cannot utilize my full gifts without a clear head. I have refused meds for this very reason. One popular way right now to treat extreme migrainers is by utilizing anti-seizure medications (and psych drugs). The problem is that while the HA might improve, the mental state becomes slush. When I was very young I'd try anything they would throw at me to stop the pain giving me a strong foundation for now knowing what I will not take. I am not, of course, advocating that anyone change/stop their prescribed medication without medical counsel. I would recommend you do what I do - when my doc says he wants to try another med, I tell him to pull out the PDR and his drug reference and tell me what the potential psychogenic/psychotropic side effects are, along with all the other basic side effects. You do have a right to this discussion with your physician.
The gift may come to you in a dream or in a conscious state. Life is kind of a drug - keeps us running, pushing, pulling, trying to survive. We have little time to think about the little things let alone smell the roses. Can you sit quietly with your eyes closed and see what materializes in your mind's eye? It's harder to do than it sounds. Try this while meditating on the thought of asking to "see" winning numbers. Each time you make the effort should be more rewarding but do not expect it to be easy to do. You have to close your eyes and distract your mind from the eye. Your mind will keep running through current events and stressors. You have to learn to turn it off. Once you do, you will see, so to speak.
The point of my post is to get you to think about your state of mind and what you want to achieve. I advocate keeping a journal of experiences, noting circumstance, state of mind, and altered state if any. I believe you will notice a pattern and once you do, you can capitalize and expand on it. You really can do this.