The Story of Enos

April 23, 2013 by FHElessons

Here’s another Book of Mormon story for you. To view where it falls in the whole timeline, go HERE. To view the story that comes before this one, Sariah, Woman of Faith, go HERE. If you’d like to use the following image for your lesson, just click on it, and you will be taken to lds.org where you can print it.

from lds.org media library

The Story of Enos

Found in the Book of Enos in the Book of Mormon

Another story from the Book of Mormon that I really like is the story of Enos. One thing I like about it is how it starts – Enos was out walking in the forest when the words which he had often heard his father speak sank deep into his heart. For one thing, I like that he started thinking about the things of God while he was out in nature, because being out in the beauty of God’s creations and feeling the peace that comes with that beauty always seems to inspire reflective, inspirational thought in me as well. Another thing that I like is that when he starts thinking these thoughts, it’s the words of his father that he remembers. His father must have been diligent about teaching him the gospel, for Enos to be able to recall his father’s words.

Next I like vs.4 where he says, “My soul hungered, and I kneeled down before my Maker.” I like that image of the “hungry soul.” Enos prays all day and continues praying on into the night before the Lord speaks to him, telling him his sins are forgiven. He says, “I, Enos, knew that God could not lie; therefore, my guilt was swept away” (vs 6).

Now most people would stop there, having received the blessing they wanted for themselves, but not Enos. He continues praying for all his brethren, the Nephites. He obtains a blessing for them from the Lord, and then he says that, “My faith began to be unshaken in the Lord” (vs. 11). So he’s obtained a blessing for himself and for everyone he knows, but he’s not through. Next he decides to pray for his enemies, the Lamanites. He prays for them “with many long strugglings.” He prays that even if the Nephites are destroyed, that the Lamanites will not be destroyed and that the Lord will preserve a record of the Nephites for the benefit of future Lamanites. We know that the Lord granted him this blessing. Enos says that to obtain this he “prayed and labored with all diligence.”

Another reason I like this story is because of how it illustrates the nature of prayer. Enos didn’t just say a quick, cursory prayer, asking for a blessing for himself. He prayed all day and night. He describes his prayer as labor and struggling. The answer to his prayer was granted after a lot of hard work as well as time. And the more he prayed, the stronger his faith became. He didn’t pray just for himself but also for his friends and even his enemies. This story is a great example to us of how to pray and obtain blessings from the Lord.

Points to Ponder:

Have you ever felt closer to God when you were out enjoying the beauty of His creations?
Does asking the Lord for blessings have an effect upon whether He will grant those blessings to us? Can we change the Lord’s mind? Or do we only change our own minds during prayer?
How can prayer be like work?
Jesus told us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. Is this possible? How?

Activity Idea: Go somewhere out in nature to tell this story to your family. Afterwards, invite each family member to take a walk by themselves and kneel down to pray while they are alone among God’s creations.

For the next story in this series, Zeniff, Courageous and Compassionate, click HERE.