How can we know what God asks of us?

but how can you be sure that the Bible contains the word of God?

the answer is simply only if you assume the reliability of the Bible.

Actually, I was a christian and regular church goer for over a decade, and I've never seen ANYONE who's been able to simply explain what God wants for us in all situations....so for Philis, sorry but your explanation is oversimplified...after that explanation it takes many, many, many branches into complexity...and for EP, the reliability of the bible doesn't help (it also has many contradictions)

If I may though, I'm of the opinion that 'God' is within all of us, and learning about him/her is a lifelong experience. Knowing what 'God' wants is as much about awareness/knowing & learning to love yourself, as it is about being true to yourself, and awareness/knowing & learning to love others.

I've no doubt that can be expressed in many other ways too...and also that to each, it's individual.

if you reject the simple things in life how can you expand on the premise and accept the details and the complexity of God?

If God is "within us all", why do so many struggle to know and understand God?

Who said anything about rejecting the simple things in life? They are wonderfully embraced

There's another meaning to what I said.

In your position, I'd also be curious as to how you arrived at the conclusion that you did (that I was rejecting the simple things in life)

How many people do you know that truly understand themselves? I don't know a one.

As just a few examples - we have a subconscious, and a conscious mind (and I think, a semi-conscious), we have parts of the brain responsible for emotions (Limbic system), which differ from parts responsible for logic (can't remember the name), which differ from memory (left hemisphere), which differ from creativity (right hemisphere). We have associations that we form, muscle memory, learned language, intuition, instinct, speech patterns...and any number of automated responses to given situations (which are habit, as they are automated, and usually we are completely unaware of them). We are afraid of many things we aren't even aware of (eg of some fears people have : telling stories, talking to beautiful women, singing, dancing, being hurt, being rejected, looking silly, etc). We have competing values and beliefs and instincts. We have parts of us that want to do one thing while another part can't face doing it. We have scars from childhood that don't serve us as adults. We often make assumptions about peoples motivations based on past experience...etc, etc, etc....and they all compete within us.