Enos 1:2-4

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Enos 1Â*

2 And I will tell you of the wrestle which I had before God, before I received a remission of my sins.

3 Behold, I went to hunt beasts in the forests; and the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into my heart.

4 And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.

Quotes for Discussion

Mighty Prayer

I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.

Abraham Lincoln (as quoted in A Nation Asleep, Benson, p. 42)

The very first verse contains the key to starting anyone’s spiritual growth, namely, a feeling of gratitude. Enos recognized the great blessing of having good parents who taught him correct principles, and he acknowledged this as a blessing from God.

It is interesting that this feeling of gratitude is also the first recorded expression of Nephi, and thus the actual beginning of the Book of Mormon. To my mind, this sets a very important precedent or pattern for us; that is, spiritual growth begins with gratitude. If we do not recognize that we have been blessed, or if we do not feel gratitude for our blessings, we simply cannot grow spiritually.

One of the most consistent themes in the Savior’s life was His constant expression of gratitude to His Father. How often we read in the scriptures the phrase, “Father, I thank thee!”…

Thus having achieved a grateful heart, he was prepared to take the next step, which I have chosen to term humility….

Verses 2-4 express this step very well. As Enos pondered on the blessing of having good parents who taught him correct principles, the importance of those principles “sunk deep” into his heart. The deeper they sank, the more he knew that his life must be in harmony with God in order for him to experience “the joy of the saints.’ Because of the humility that followed his gratitude he was able to see clearly that his life was not fully in tune with the Spirit of God and that he must do something about it.

Humility is largely a recognition of our own inadequacies as well as a recognition that we need outside help to achieve the joy that is the end of our existence, namely, eternal life. As Enos sensed this truth his soul “hungered” to achieve that goal.

I have a feeling that this was not the first time he had wondered, or prayed about these things, but his account explains that this was the time he resolved to seriously do something about it….Like Enos, we will only achieve our goal when we are determined enough to do whatever is necessary to reach it….

Because of his gratitude and his humility and his determination, he knew what he must do, so he “kneeled down before [his] Maker,” and “cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication” for the welfare of his soul (see verse 4). He was beginning the third step of the cycle of spiritual growth, that is, putting forth great effort to bring his life into tune with God’s will….

After he had paid the necessary price in effort and sincerity, he received his heart’s desire, as recorded in verse 5: “And there came a voice unto me saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.”

John H. Groberg, Heroes from the Book of Mormon [salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1995], 48-50, 54

To those of us who would pay pennies toward our unfathomable debt, there is no better example than Enos. Like many sons of good families he strayed; his sins weighed heavily upon him. He wrote:

And I will tell you of the wrestle which I had before God, before I received a remission of my sins. (Enos 2.)

He speaks graphically. He speaks not of a trite prayer but of an intense striving, a vigorous wrestling and almost interminable struggling.

Behold, I went to hunt beasts in the forests;

But no animals did he shoot nor capture. He was traveling a path he had never walked before. He was reaching, knocking, asking, pleading; he was being born again. He was seeing the pleasant valleys across the barren wastes. He was searching his soul. He might have lived all his life in a weed patch, but now he envisioned a watered garden. He continues:

and the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into my heart. (Enos 3.)

Memory was both cruel and kind. The pictures his father had painted in sermon and admonition now stirred his soul. He was warmed and inspired. He hungered for the good. Then memory opened the doors to his ugly past. His soul revolted at the reliving of the baser things but yearned now for the better. A rebirth was in process. It was painful but rewarding.

And my soul hungered;

The spirit of repentance was taking hold. He was self-convicted. He was remorseful for his transgression, eager to bury the old man of sin, to resurrect the new man of faith, of godliness.

and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul;

This was no silent, unexpressed wish or hope, but a heart-wrenching, imploring, begging, and pleading. It was vocal and powerful prayer.

He had now come to realize that no one can be saved in his sins, that no unclean thing can enter into the kingdom of God, that there must be a cleansing, that stains must be eliminated, new flesh over wounds. He came to realize that there must be a purging, a new heart in a new man. He knew it was not a small thing to change hearts and minds. He writes:

and all the day long did I cry unto him;

Here is no casual prayer; no worn phrases; no momentary appeal by silent lips. All the day long, with seconds turning into minutes, and minutes into hours and hours. But when the sun had set, relief had still not come, for repentance is not a single act nor forgiveness an unearned gift. So precious to him was communication with and approval of his Redeemer that his determined soul pressed on without ceasing.

yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens. (Enos 4.)

Could the Redeemer resist such determined imploring? How many have thus persisted? How many, with or without serious transgressions, have ever prayed all day and into the night? Have many ever wept and prayed for ten hours? for five hours? for one? for thirty minutes? for ten? Our praying is usually measured in seconds and yet with a heavy debt to pay we still expect forgiveness of our sins. We offer pennies to pay the debt of thousands of dollars.

How much do you pray, my friends? How often? How earnestly? If you have errors in your life, have you really wrestled before the Lord? Have you yet found your deep forest of solitude? How much has your soul hungered? How deeply have your needs impressed your heart? When did you kneel before your Maker in total quiet? For what did you pray-your own soul? How long did you thus plead for recognition-all day long? And when the shadows fell, did you still raise your voice in mighty prayer, or did you satisfy yourself with some hackneyed word and phrase?

If you have not, I sincerely hope that the time will soon come when, as others before you have, you will struggle in the spirit and cry mightily and covenant sincerely, so that the voice of the Lord God will come into your mind, as it did to Enos, saying:

. . . thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed. Because of thy faith in Christ . . . I will grant unto thee according to thy desires. . . . (Enos 5, 8, 12.)

For this is the ultimate object of all prayer, to bring men closer to God, to give them a new birth, to make them heirs of his kingdom.

Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, p.209-211

We cannot find Enos-like faith without our own wrestle before God in prayer. I testify that the reward is worth the effort. Remember the pattern: (1) hear the word of God, spoken and written by His servants: (2) let that word sink deep into your heart (Enos 1:3); (3) hunger in your soul for righteousness (Enos 1:4); (4) obediently follow gospel laws, ordinances, and covenants: and (5) raise your voice in mighty prayer and supplication, asking in faith to know that Jesus Christ is our Savior (Enos 1:4). I promise that if you do these things sincerely and unceasingly, the words Christ spoke to His disciples will be fulfilled in your life: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Matt. 7:7).

Robert D. Hales, in Conference Report, Oct. 1004 [salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2004], 74