Background
The four small books of Enos, Jarom, Omni, and the Words of Mormon, cover around 300 years of Nephite and Lamanite history, only just mentioning important events or the course of time. The book of Jarom rehearses the blessings that come from obey strict laws and constant preaching. In the book of Omni, two new people are introduced, the people of a city called Zarahemla, who also escaped to the Promised Land from Jerusalem. This group was from the seed of Judah, which added to the seed of Manasseh through Lehi and the seed of Ephraim through Ishmael. The Words of Mormon provide a bridge from the small plates to the large plates and explains why he included the small plates, in addition to his abridgement of the book of Lehi, which was originally part of the large plates.
There is a lot of really great information about these four books, but for my lesson, I felt to focus on the prayers of Enos. He prayed for himself, then for his people, then for his enemies. His answers and responses became new to me through this reading. I love it when that happens!
Enos 1:1-3
Enos was concerned about the personal guilt he had been feeling. But his shame was overcome by the knowledge his father gave him.
WHAT DID HE LEARN FROM HIS FATHER?
· He had a good example in his father (Jacob), faith in what works for others.
o Alma 22:18 O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day. And now when the king had said these words, he was struck as if he were dead.
· Felt that what Jacob taught were things from God
· The possibilities of eternal life and joy
· He could find nurture and direction from the Lord
Enos 1:4
WHAT DID ENOS DO TO OBTAIN KNOWLEDGE?
· Wrestled – what or whom did he wrestle? “Sometimes the greatest effort is put forth when a person contends with himself before the Lord. Such wrestling is the struggle to find and express one’s real desires, which are sometimes hidden behind sin, evasion, and cover-up. Wrestling with oneself involves deep thought, meditation, and concentration. It means going beyond the cliché level of prayer to the point that one truly pours his soul into words and offers them to God. Repetitions cease to be vain, trite, or unfelt. Instead, each phrase is an expression of a yearning desire to do God’s will. Such prayers are assisted and guided by the Holy Spirit, “for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Romans 8:26) The Book of Mormon Student Manual, pg 50.
· Pondered (v3)
· Soul hungered
· Kneeled to pray
· Cried to the Lord in prayer for his own soul
o Quality vs. quantity: He didn’t seem to have a bargaining attitude; “if I pray for 18 hrs, that will be enough sacrifice for me to get an answer.” He did not set the terms (or maybe his struggle was coming to the Lords terms), but seemed to be willing to pray until he received an answer.
Enos receives an answer
Enos 1:5-6
· Thy sins are forgiven and thou shalt be blessed
· Guilt was swept away
IS IT REALLY POSSIBLE FOR GUILT TO BE SWEPT AWAY? IF SO HOW?
· His relief is based on the fact that God cannot lie
· Again, must know the character of God
o V 1 He nurtures and admonishes (directs)
o V 6 God could not lie
o V 2, 4 He could pray to God and ask for and receive forgiveness
o V 4 He is Enos’ maker
o V 3 He offers eternal life and joy
o Joseph Smith said: “And lastly, but not less important to the exercise of faith in God, is the idea of the existence of the attributes truth in him; for without the idea of the existence of this attribute the mind of man could have nothing upon which it could rest with certainty – all would be confusion and doubt. But with the idea of the existence of this attribute in the Deity in the mind, all the teachings, instructions, promises, and blessings, become realities, and the mind in enabled to lay hold of them with certainty and confidence believing that these things, and all that the Lord has said, shall be fulfilled in their time; and that all the cursings, denunciations, and judgments, pronounced executed in the due time of the Lord: and, by reason of the truth and veracity of him, the mind beholds its deliverance and salvation as being certain” Lectures on Faith 4:16
Enos 1:7-8 (Enos’ reaction and confirmation of faith in Christ)
· Respect, Awe, Curiosity “How is it done?”
· This is how the Lord works, thought our faith.
· “Go to” get to work. Now that you are whole you can help make others whole (though not always mutually exclusive)
Prayer for loved ones
What was the answer Enos received?
· I will help them if they obey me.
· The Lord respects agency and can only work when people have faith in Him.
Why was this prayer for loved ones a struggling prayer for Enos?
· To know how to help them?
· To receive a promise for them?
· He likely saw what happened to them (like the vision of Nephi and Jacob)
· Ask for a miracle conversion or protection?
· Either way, it was likely a struggle to bring his will in alignment with the Lord’s will, or understand the Lord’s will.
· Sometimes we struggle with those we love the most.
For this revelation of agency, obedience and sacrifice, Enos says “my faith began to be unshaken.” He didn’t receive promises that they would all be saved or that there would be a miraculous conversion right then. Faith in his will and his timing (Maxwell). We have a tendency to want the immediate miracle, which you would think constitutes faith (moving mountains). But Enos was relieved at just the POSSIBILITY of a miracle.
It has been my experience to hear the same answer for people that I love. I ask for blessings to be upon them and possible intervention, but I often get the feeling that it is really just up to them. Though that doesn't mean I should stop praying for them, particularly for them to have the strength, the courage and the confidence to make good choices.
Example of obedience of Nephites = saved (Omni 1:5-7)
5 Behold, it came to pass that three hundred and twenty years had passed away, and the more wicked part of the Nephites were destroyed.
6 For the Lord would not suffer, after he had led them out of the land of Jerusalem and kept and preserved them from falling into the hands of their enemies, yea, he would not suffer that the words should not be verified, which he spake unto our fathers, saying that: Inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall not prosper in the land.
7 Wherefore, the Lord did visit them in great judgment; nevertheless, he did spare the righteous that they should not perish, but did deliver them out of the hands of their enemies.
Prayer for enemies
Enos 1:12-15
Enos said praying for his enemies was a “long struggle” (11) and that he prayed and labored with all diligence and prayed continually.
WHAT DO YOU THINK HE STRUGGLED WITH AS HE PRAYED FOR HIS ENEMIES?
Refer to Moroni 7:45-48
45 And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—
47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.
48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.
Enos seemed to know that the Lamanites would not accept the gospel at that time and also that the Nephites would parish and so he came to the point where he asked for the possibility of a future Lamanite conversion. Charity that asks with an eternal perspective, not just for the current circumstance.
Enos receives his answer
Enos 1:16-17
His answer was a covenant that the Lamanites would have a chance, later, in the time of the Lord. Because of his trust in the Lord, the covenant gave Enos rest. He also mentioned this rest before he finished writing on the plates, before his death. (Enos 1:27)
HOW DO THE COVENANTS WE AKE GIVE US REST?
Prayer leads to a good relationship with God, which leads to us making covenants with Him and Him making covenants with us. Making covenants and keeping them will bring us spiritual rest = no guilt.
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