Learning to Discern the Voice Within
A Thought That Changes Everything

I recently had a realization while reading Jordan Peterson that stopped me in my tracks: if God were to speak to me… how would I even know?

The answer is both simple and deeply unsettling: it would have to be a thought. Unless God sends an angel in visible form (which He rarely does), His voice would arrive the same way every other voice in my head does—internally, silently, as a thought.

This means something important:
We can’t tell the difference between a thought from God, a thought from ourselves, or even a deceptive thought from the enemy… unless we learn how to discern.

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The Still, Small Voice… and the Subtle Lie

This insight isn’t new to the spiritual tradition. Christians throughout the centuries have said that the mind is a battleground. It’s the place where grace and temptation both try to stake their claim.

As Peterson highlights, the challenge is not hearing God, but testing what we hear. And this is echoed by C.S. Lewis in The Screwtape Letters, where he shows how the devil doesn’t usually show up with fire and pitchforks. No, he whispers subtle half-truths that sound:

• logical,
• moral,
• even noble—
  but in the end, they isolate us from truth, from others, and from God.

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Clarity or Confusion? How to Test a Thought

Since God speaks through our inner world, we need to ask not just what the thought is, but what it leads to.

🔹 God’s voice brings clarity, conviction, peace, and hope.
🔹 The enemy’s voice brings confusion, shame, accusation, and isolation.

This is the core of Christian discernment. In a world full of noise—and a heart full of emotions—only time in Scripture, prayer, spiritual direction, and community can help us learn the difference.

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Why This Is Especially Dangerous When We’re Alone

If someone is alone, exhausted, burdened, or isolated, the inner voices can grow louder and more convincing. In those moments, even a lie whispered in the dark can feel like the truth.

This is why the Church emphasizes community, sacrament, and prayer. We’re not meant to walk the spiritual life alone. Even saints had spiritual directors and companions to help them test the voices they heard.

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Wrestling with Sacred Things

If you’re wrestling with this—wondering where a thought came from, asking whether it was God or something else—you’re not spiritually weak. You’re on sacred ground.
Discerning the difference isn’t easy. It’s the work of a lifetime. But it begins with this kind of honesty and reflection.

So next time a “holy-sounding” thought enters your mind, ask:

• Does this draw me toward God and others—or away?
• Does it bring peace or despair?
• Does it reflect what I know of Jesus?

God’s voice restores. The enemy’s voice accuses.
Our job is to learn to recognize the difference—and help others do the same.

Written in collaboration with ChatGPT