grammar - Pray as if he sees you vs. Pray as if he is seeing you

When we want to write or say about something general as in the following, which sentence makes more sense over the other? And what could be the differences?

When you pray to God, pray in a way as though he watches/sees you.
When you pray to God, pray in a way as though he is watching/seeing you.

When you pray to God, pray as if you see him.
When you pray to God, pray as if you are seeing him.

Answer

See is one of the sensory verbs that is generally not used in the continuous form. So in each of the following pairs the first is grammatical and the second is not:

• I see a cat. I am seeing a cat.


• I hear the phone. I am hearing the phone.


• I smelled cheese. I was smelling cheese.

Commonly, such sensory verbs are used with can: I can see a cat, I could smell cheese, etc.

Watch can take with both verb forms, with the continuous form used for actions in progress.

On this basis, your sentences read best as:

• When you pray to God, pray (in a way) as though he can see you.



• When you pray to God, pray in a way as though he is watching you.




• When you pray to God, pray as if you can see him.



• When you pray to God, pray as if you are watching him.