Approaching the subject of a higher power raises questions about meaning, culture, and belief. This article does not tell you what to believe. Instead, it shows four common ways people approach the subject so you can see how your own thinking takes shape.
Our beliefs about God do not form in a vacuum. They grow out of family, culture, media, and personal experience, often long before we ever stop to question them.
Regardless of your beliefs in a supreme being, this concept influences your thoughts. Dominant religious systems shape cultural narratives, social norms, and personal worldviews.
Inner Work Gate:
This article examines belief systems and cultural conditioning. It may increase discomfort or uncertainty as assumptions are questioned. Emotional stability and grounding should be established before engaging deeply.
Approaching the subject of a higher power
The topic of God often triggers strong emotional reactions for reasons that are complex and deeply personal. Some people feel comfort and hope. Others feel anger, fear, or grief. For many, the subject is tied to painful memories, family conflict, or past spiritual abuse.
Noticing your reactions is not about judging them. It is about understanding how deeply this idea is wired into your inner world. When you see your own patterns, you gain more choice in how you respond instead of being pushed around by old triggers.
One simple way to explore this is journaling. Writing down your thoughts and feelings about God can help you see what you were taught, what you still believe, and what no longer fits. This kind of reflection can bring emotional balance back to a topic that may feel charged or confusing.
The two choices for belief in god
The dividing line is between those who believe in a God and those who do not. This article is for those who believe in a higher power or God, but it can also assist those who do not.
Many early ideas about divine forces trace back to Animism, the belief that all things possess a spiritual essence. This principle originated from early human attempts to explain various phenomena, from dreams to natural disasters. Organized religions are built around this idea.
Self-Check before you read further
Before you look at the four approaches, pause and check in with yourself. You are not trying to get the “right” answer. You are simply noticing where you are starting from today.
You can return to these same questions after you finish the article and see whether anything shifted for you.
- How do I feel about the subject of God or a higher power?
- Which of the four paths do I think I use most right now?
- Do any of these paths stir up strong or negative emotions for me?
- What memories or past experiences come up when I think about this topic?
- If my beliefs changed, what would I gain or lose? If they cannot change, why do I feel that way?
Faith and belief
To believe in God or any other imaginary entity like the devil, you need faith and belief. Faith is the belief in something with complete confidence. It is a firmly held conviction without tangible proof.
You cannot sustain the belief in an imaginary entity if you don’t have complete faith that they exist. Unfortunately, faith and belief in God come with a lot of additional baggage.
Within each religious denomination, there specifc creeds and conditional beliefs that must also be accepted. It includes afterlife promises and consequences, penalties for violating sacred laws either intentionally or unintentionally.
In the modern world, this requires rejecting or denying any idea that conflicts with these tenets.
Higher power versus god
Your definition of a supreme being or God depends on your specific spiritual beliefs. You can belong to any given religion or denomination and have slightly differing beliefs from others in the same group.
Saying you are a Christian leaves a lot of room for interpretation. Jim Jones and Donald Trump both claim to be Christians, but you would be hard-pressed to identify their actions with any that resemble those of Jesus or any of the disciplines in the Christian Bible.
The word “God” refers to a specific deity connected to particular religious traditions such as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Many religions promote God as a caring figure who has a personal bond with believers.
The term “higher power” is broader. It can refer to any force greater than oneself, including nature, the universe, or the collective human spirit.
In this article, the two terms are used loosely and sometimes interchangeably. The focus is not on which label you choose, but on how you relate to the idea itself and how it shapes your choices and values.
How organized religion shapes culture
A large share of the world’s population believes in one or more gods. That sheer number gives organized religions enormous influence over culture. The three major Abrahamic traditions—Christianity, Islam, and Judaism—together include billions of followers and hold deep historical power.
These systems did not appear out of nowhere. Their core themes echo “the ancient mystery religions” of the Mediterranean region. Over centuries, these ideas were refined, codified, and enforced through institutions, laws, and social pressure.
Religious beliefs often spill over into politics, education, and law. When a single tradition dominates a culture, its values can become the default standard for morality and identity. This can lead to favoritism toward insiders and suspicion or hostility toward those who do not share the same beliefs.
Factors affecting your worldview
Modern media and religious institutions often use persuasive techniques that shape beliefs and reinforce cultural boundaries. Extremist religious and political propaganda is hard to avoid. These are the principal sources of today’s harmful bias and prejudice.
Observe your social environment. The idea of seeking God is everywhere. It is programmed into the cultural narrative through subtle and direct forms of self-hypnosis and group hypnosis. Both are the brainwashing tools of Western organized religion. It triggers our deepest fears.
You can see the effects of this negative propaganda on culture. When Western religion becomes the dominant force in a culture, certain traits follow. It promotes favoritism, segregation, and discrimination. These always lead to violence against those who do not follow the sect in control of the cultural narrative.
With this background its time to look at the four approaches for seeking god.
Four methods for approaching a higher power
Most people use more than one approach. It’s likely you have one primary perspective and at least one other secondary perspective as well. Don’t disregard the validity of any perspective. If you disagree with it, find out why you feel that way.
1. Reason
2. Philosophy
3. Faith
4. Experience
1. Reason as a path for seeking god
Reason is the least used path when people talk about God, but it is one of the clearest. This approach looks for evidence and consistency. It asks, “What do we actually know, and what follows from that?” The main tools here are logic, math, and science.
Logic helps you test whether your beliefs fit together. You can ask, “If I say God is all-loving and all-powerful, how do I explain suffering?” or “Do my ideas contradict each other?” Logic does not tell you what to believe, but it does show you when your beliefs clash.
Math and science reveal patterns and order in the universe. From the structure of snowflakes to the motion of planets, the world follows rules we can describe and predict. Some people see this order as evidence of a designer. Others see it as the natural result of physical laws. Either way, these fields show how much we can learn from observation and testing.
Reason does not provide proof of a divine being. It does, however, help you avoid sloppy thinking and wishful conclusions. It can keep you honest about what you know, what you guess, and what you simply hope is true.
Can you see how reason and logic help in approaching the subject of a higher power?
2. Philosophy as a path for seeking god
Philosophy examines existence and meaning. It asks questions like “Why is there something rather than nothing?” and “What makes a life good?” When you use philosophy to think about God, you are exploring how the idea fits into the bigger picture of reality.
Some philosophical arguments try to show that a higher power must exist. Cosmological arguments, for example, say that everything that begins has a cause, and if you follow the chain of causes back far enough, you reach a first cause. Some thinkers call that first cause God.
Other arguments focus on the nature of perfection or morality. Ontological arguments claim that if you can conceive of a perfect being, that being must exist in reality, not just in the mind. Moral arguments suggest that if there are real moral truths, they may point to a moral source beyond human opinion.
Philosophy also includes existential questions about purpose and freedom. Thinkers like Kierkegaard and Sartre wrestled with what it means to live authentically, with or without belief in God. Their work shows that belief can give life meaning for some, while others find meaning in human choice and responsibility alone.
Metaphysics is an integral part of philosophy. It explores the basic nature of reality and existence. It looks at what is beyond the physical world and what it means to be. For example, Aristotle’s ideas about “substance” and “essence” explore what it means for something to exist.
Theological arguments are another way to explore the idea of a higher power through philosophy. These arguments use reason and evidence to discuss the nature of God and religious beliefs. For example, the moral argument suggests that our sense of right and wrong comes from God. If there is no God, some philosophers argue, then there would be no objective moral values.
Approaching the subject of higher power with philosophy prompts us to ask questions and learn from the great philosophers. This can lead us to a greater understanding of who we are. In the process, it gives us more information to make an informed decision about our beliefs in things like an imaginary friend.
Philosophy does not settle the question of God once and for all. Instead, it gives you tools to think more clearly, see hidden assumptions, and understand why smart people can reach very different conclusions.
- Philosophy explores how a higher power might fit into the nature of reality.
- It offers arguments for and against the existence of God.
- It helps you see the deeper questions beneath your beliefs.
Are you really seeking moral absolutes when you are seeking God?
3. Fath as a path for approaching god
Faith is the path most people think of first when they hear the word “God.” In many religious settings, faith is praised as the highest virtue. Approaching the subject of a higher power via faith is the preferred path of organized religion. In fact, religious indoctrination is based on the proposition of belief in things that cannot be proven.
In practice, faith relies on conviction rather than evidence. It often asks people to accept certain claims as true even when facts or experiences seem to challenge them. This can create tension, especially in a world full of information, science, and competing viewpoints.
For many believers, faith is reinforced through regular practices: worship services, prayer, reading sacred texts, and listening to religious leaders. These habits help maintain a shared story and identity. They also provide comfort, community, and a sense of purpose.
Faith can be a powerful force for resilience and hope. It can help people endure hardship, loss, and uncertainty. At the same time, when faith is used to shut out all questions or deny clear evidence, it can lead to inner conflict and what some call a “religious headache”—the strain of holding onto beliefs that no longer fit your experience.
- Faith centers on trust and conviction rather than proof.
- It can bring comfort, identity, and resilience.
- It may also create tension when beliefs clash with evidence or experience.
What is the line between someone having an imaginary friend and someone believing in God?
4. Approaching god by experience
The experiential path focuses on moments of unity or transcendence that people interpret as encounters with the divine. This might be a deep sense of peace, a feeling of oneness with everything, or a powerful insight that seems to come from beyond the self.
People across many traditions report similar kinds of experiences. Mystics in Christianity, Sufism in Islam, yogis in Hinduism, meditators in Buddhism, and shamans in indigenous cultures all describe states where ordinary awareness falls away. In these moments, they feel connected to something vast, loving, or utterly beyond words.
Different cultures use different methods to reach these states. Some use silence, meditation, or prayer. Others use chanting, dance, fasting, or ritual. In some traditions, psychoactive plants have been used to shift consciousness into non-ordinary states. While this article does not recommend that route, it is part of the historical record of how humans have sought contact with what they call the sacred.
Experiences like these do not prove anything to outsiders. They are personal and often hard to describe. But for the person who has them, they can be life-changing. They may reshape values, ease fear of death, or inspire a new sense of purpose.
- Experiential paths focus on direct, personal encounters with the sacred.
- Such experiences appear in many cultures and religions.
- They can deeply change how a person sees life, self, and meaning.
Can we be sure a profound emotional experience in a religious service is because of divine revelation? Could it be the result of our own expectations?
Putting the four paths side by side
Here is a simple way to see how the four paths compare. This is not a ranking. It is just a snapshot of how each one tends to work.
| Path | Main focus | Key strength | Common risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reason | Evidence, logic, consistency | Clarifies what you actually know | May feel cold or distant from emotion |
| Philosophy | Meaning, existence, big questions | Reveals hidden assumptions | Can become abstract or detached from daily life |
| Faith | Trust, conviction, sacred story | Offers comfort, identity, and hope | May resist questions or new information |
| Experience | Direct encounters, inner states | Feels vivid and personally real | Hard to test or share with others |
- Each path highlights a different way of relating to a higher power.
- Most people mix these paths rather than using just one.
- Seeing the differences can help you notice your own default approach.
Bringing it back to your own journey
You do not have to settle every question about God today. What you can do is become more aware of how you think, what shaped those thoughts, and which paths you tend to trust most. Seeking God is a lifelong process.
Your beliefs are not set in stone. They can grow, soften, or change as you encounter new experiences and information. That does not mean you must abandon everything you were taught. It simply means you have permission to keep learning and adjusting.
Experiment approaching the subject of a higher power from different perspectives. If you stay curious, you can use all four paths in a balanced way. Reason can keep you honest. Philosophy can deepen your questions. Faith can sustain you when life is hard. Experience can remind you that there is more to reality than words alone can capture.
- Your starting point is not a verdict, just a snapshot of where you are now.
- Beliefs can evolve as you gain insight, courage, and new experiences.
- Exploring these paths is less about finding the “right” answer and more about living with greater clarity and integrity.
References
This article is an updated excerpt from—How to Find the Truth (2001) by JJB
(1) Animism.
(2) Abrahamic Religions.
(3) World Religions by Population.
(4) World’s Richest Religions.
(5) Existentialism.