Have you ever thought that you heard God, but later realized that it may have just been you? I used to feel so confident about what I thought God was saying until I realized most of what I heard was just my own emotions talking. I pray, feel peace for a moment, and then doubt everything again. And if you've wondered, was that God's voice or just my own thoughts? You're not crazy. In this episode, I'm going to show you how to tell the

difference between your voice and God's thoughts so that you can make decisions with confidence

and hear him clearly. And with that being said, I'm your host, Darren Starks, and this channel

and this show exists to help you hear God's voice clearly so you can make decisions with confidence

and walk with

him every single day. And when it comes to learning how to discern what's God's voice and what's

your own thoughts, it starts with this simple fact that I've had to wrestle with, which is

every thought that you have or the ones that come through your mind aren't your own. And this past year, I've really had to start challenge myself in asking how much of my thoughts

and how I'm making decisions is based on tradition rather than truth, meaning how much of my thoughts

are based in what everyone has told me I needed to do, whether it be my parents, my peers, my mentors, versus what God actually says.

And I've been in this tension of understanding if this is truth in terms of what I know aligns where I'm called to or tradition of what I've always been familiar with or even trauma.

Is there pain, past experiences that

are affecting the way that I am trying to understand where God is wanting to take me. And that

tension right there is where this conversation starts and the answer that I want to give to you

today. And what's really helped me is understanding this principle, which is hearing God's voice means nothing if you don't understand his language.

In order to discern and make sense of all the things that are going through your mind, all the options, all of what may be available for you to do, you have to be able to know what God sounds like, his heart, his desires, what he already wants to

decipher what's him and what's not. What helps me understand this on a deeper level is I know

some of you may have either watched a TV show or a movie where it may be some crime or action going on and let's say

someone gets abducted or kidnapped to whatever degree and the person that uh kidnapped them takes their

phone and you know they may have loved ones reaching out asking where they're at or what's happening

if they're okay when they're going to be home and the person that

kidnapped them they text they text a person back to basically make sure that there's no suspicion

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