You examine all the evidence and then you can use the balance of probability test. As you can only prove a positive and not a negative it is not possible to prove that God doesn’t exist, the best we can say is that there is no evidence that he does.
As a reality check I like the scientific method but I also have the sense to do a gut check as well. Believe half of what you see with your own eyes and none of what you hear.
"Search your feelings. You know it to be true." - Darth Vader
Love that line but logically it's fallible.
@EmpathyRonnie Of course you are right, but there does seem to be some truth to this - like the expression "does it ring true"?
I have used always a balance of cognition and intuition, enhanced by ongoing learning, research. I also trust that if and when i have to know, i will. I've never been disappointed.
I also have a large helping of acceptance that i can not know all things, or even everything i don't know, so some things i just accept on trust and faith.
I try to keep in mind that beliefs can (and often should) change. Logically speaking odds are very good that at least some of what I believe is true at any given time actually isn't true.
And that's necessarily a fault of mine.
I may simply have learned it wrong or learned from someone misinformed or even it simply is no longer true. I find it more important to look at how a belief changes the world around it. Looking at its implications help me far more than examining it alone...and often help me determine its truth besides.