If your interest in repentance is genuine, He will know. Your link to God does not come with a manual, you can not be expected to know exactly what to do, when to do it. Ignorance is not a sin, so you should be safe
We all know the story of the crucifixion, where Jesus in their final moments assure the regretful that he is forgiven. In the end, he accepted God, and the gates to afterlife opened for him
I do not think he is trying to teach you to fear him. I believe he is teaching you to live through your fear, to live despite it but also to accept rather than run from it.