Drawing-near, conversational-prayer is vigilantly-watching for God Himself not just His stuff

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See Conversational-Prayer – BT4 for seeking God Himself and not just His stuff or help.

Proseuche conversational-prayer requires watchfulness for “Blessed is the one who eisakouo ‘hears/listens-to-understand/know toward-and-reaching-the-goal-of’ Me, shaqad wakefully-watching or phulasso ‘personally watch with uninterrupted vigilance to keep secure’ daily [for Me] at My gates, shamar keeping-watch beside My doors [for Me]” (a). Passover was to be “a night of watching kept to Yahweh” (b). The psalmists says: “I remember You upon my bed, and meditate on You in the watches of the night” (c), and “My soul waits for Yahweh more than watchmen [on Jerusalem’s walls] for the morning” (d). <Notes> a) Proverbs 8:34, b) Exodus 12:42, c) Psalms 63:6, d) Psalms 130:5-6.

Concerning end times, Jesus also said to “presently/ongoingly agrupneo sleeplessly-watch, routinely proseuchomai conversationally-praying at all times that you may have strength to escape these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of man” (a). Similarly, Peter warns: “The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and/coupled nepho ‘sober-minded, temperate, calm, collected’ eis ‘towards and reaching the goal of’ proseuche conversational-prayer” (b). Also, Jude says to “definitively/wholly tereo ‘carefully watch/observe to safely-guard, care-for/attend-to, firmly-hold/stand-in/maintain-a-present-state’ yourself in The Unconditional-Love of God, routinely prosdechomai ‘expectantly waiting to interactively welcome’ the [coming] mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings zoe genuine-life everlasting” (c). <Notes> a) Luke 21:36, b) 1 Peter 4:7, c) Jude 1:21.

I don’t think it’s coincidence that the Lord chose the Greek word tereo, from teros ‘a guard or watch,’ thus meaning to “carefully-watch, guard, attend-to to maintain/keep” in His ‘Great Commission’ for His apostles to make disciples in Matthew 28:20, “teaching them to tereo ‘carefully-watch, guard, attend-to in order in order to maintain/keep’ all that I have entellomai ‘officially-decreed commanded as universally-binding’,” especially knowing that Jesus gave only 2 commandments of trusting-relying-faith in Him and unconditionally-loving others combined into 1 given by God (a) – see Logos Word of God – BT14. This isn’t trying to “guard to maintain” 5000-plus commandments as I’ve seen some crazy websites say Christians have to be burdened with!  That’s religion for you! <Notes> a) 1 John 3:23.

It’s also very sad that so many bibles narrowly translate tereo as only “to observe, keep, or obey,” as if that’s what Jesus is focusing on in Matthew 28:20, though it certainly can have this force elsewhere as with:  “If you [really] unconditionally-love Me, you will tereo ‘observe, keep, or obey’ My commandments” (a) and “If you tereo ‘observe, keep, or obey’ My commandments, you will meno ‘remain connected to or dwell in’ My unconditional-love, just as I have tereo ‘observe, keep, or obey’ My Father’s commandments and meno ‘remain connected to or dwell in’ His unconditional-love” (b) and the proof of “coming to actually experientially, relationally ginosko know is tereo ‘observe, keep, or obey’ His commandments” (c). <Notes> a) John 14:15, b) John 15:10, c) 1 John 2:3.

However, the general meaning of every use of tereo is always “carefully watch/observe to safely-guard, care-for/attend-to, firmly-hold/stand-in/maintain-a-present-state’” as in Christ’s proseuchomai conversationally-praying for God “to tereo them (Christians) safe from the evil one” (a), or of “jailers to guard others securely” (b), or of “staying within your own place of residence” (c), or “to maintain” (d) as with “The Trusting-Relying-Faith” (e) or our “place in heaven” (f). I could go on, but you get the idea of Jude 1:21 above – “definitively/wholly tereo ‘carefully watch/observe to safely-guard, care-for/attend-to, firmly-hold/stand-in/maintain-a-present-state’ yourself in The Unconditional-Love of God, routinely prosdechomai ‘expectantly waiting to interactively welcome’ the [coming] mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings zoe genuine-life everlasting” <Notes> a) John 17:15, b) Acts 16:23, 24:23, 25:4, 21; Matthew 27:36, 28:4, c) Jude 1:6, d) Ephesians 4:3, e) 2 Timothy 4:7, f) 1 Peter 1:4.

Watchful proseuche conversational-prayer is a great way to fix our eyes on Jesus! Paul warns Jewish-Christians in 2 Corinthians 3:7-18 that if they even read the Law of Moses (a), like Jews who atenizo ‘fixed their eyes on or gazing at’ Moses’ face that shown from directly meeting God, than now Jewish-Christians reading Moses will have their hearts be hardened just like the Jews’ were. Metamorphoo ‘metamorphic transformation’ (b) instead comes from kataoptanomai ‘fixing that eyes on or gazing with wide-open eyes [in amazement] as looking in a mirror’ the glory of the Lord [Jesus], who is the Spirit,” not by reading the old covenant of Moses!  Hebrews 12:2 says we should be aphorao ‘turning the eyes away from something toward fixing the eyes on another to observe, perceive-know, or discern it’ eis ‘toward and reaching the goal of’ Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our trusting-relying-faith.” This is where our focused-gaze should be, not on ancient biblical writings, and so watchful proseuche conversational-prayer is a great way to practice this! <Notes> a) technically the first 5 books of the OT, but 97.4% of the OT contains the conditions of obedience for God’s conditional-favor – see Logos Word of God – BT5a, b) Romans 12:2 – it’s highly questionable that Paul meant for “the renewing of the mind” by having your head buried in the bible, and certainly NOT the OT graphe scripture.  Paul’s writings consistently speak of the Holy Spirit renewing the mind through genuine, experiential, relational epignosis knowledge through koinonia intimate-fellowship, not be acquiring gnosis informational-knowledge from books!

Paul said “I don’t run aimlessly” (a), but “aim to please Him” (b), “to please the one who enlisted me” (c), for “my aim in life” (d) is the same “the aim of our charge is unconditional-love that issues from an unmixed heart and a good conscience and a sincere trusting-relying-faith” (e), for “I decided to know in-possibility-NO thing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (f), for “the life I now live in the flesh I live by trusting-relying-faith in the Son of God, who unconditionally-loved me and gave Himself for me” (g), for “I count everything [h] as a loss liability (i) because of the surpassing worth of the gnosis informational-knowledge (j) of/belonging-to Christ” (k). Certainly this how we can skopeo ‘attentively observe/watch, contemplate, or take heed with scrutiny’ of heaven in order to “not lose heart” (l). <Notes> a) 1 Corinthians 9:26, b) 2 Corinthians 5:9, c) 2 Timothy 2:4, d) 2 Timothy 3:10, e) 1 Timothy 1:5, f) 1 Corinthians 2:2, g) Galatians 2:20, h) All that Paul had before in the Jewish religion, including expert scripture gnosis informational-knowledge, i) as garbage laced with feces, j) a rare occasion when Paul non-derogatorily speaks of gnosis, k) Philippians 3:8, l) 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.

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