Enos 1: Wrestling in Prayer, Remission, and the Burden for Others

I was reading Enos 1 this morning, and I kept stopping at the same place. Not the prayer itself, though that's the part everyone talks about. The moment after. Enos gets what he's been asking for, and the very next thing he does is start praying for someone else. He turns right away and starts carrying the weight of other people, without sitting with it first or writing it down.

What Does It Mean That Enos Wrestled in Prayer

The language in the first few verses is specific. Enos says his soul hungered and he kneeled before his Maker. He cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for his own soul. The word that sticks out is "wrestled." He says he wrestled before God before he received a remission of his sins.

I think about what that word means in a physical sense. Wrestling is not a passive thing. You don't win a wrestling match by showing up and standing still. It takes effort and strain and a willingness to stay in it when you want to tap out. Enos prayed all day and into the night, which is not a quick check-in before breakfast. That's a sustained fight to get something right, and verse 4 captures it well.

The verse that lands hardest is verse 4. He wanted eternal life and the joy of the saints, not a comfortable life or an easy path. He wanted the real thing. His soul hungered, and the hunger was specific.

"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." (Enos 1:4)

How to Pray for the Remission of Sins Like Enos

The answer comes in verse 5. A voice comes to Enos saying his sins are forgiven and he shall be blessed. Enos asks how it is done, and the voice says it is because of his faith in Christ. He hadn't seen Christ yet or heard him speak, but he had faith. That was enough.

I used to read that and think it sounded simple. You have faith, you get forgiven. But the context changes it. Enos had been wrestling all day, and his faith was the kind that gets tested through hours of prayer and struggle, not a casual Sunday-morning belief. The remission came after the work, not before it.

The voice also tells Enos that his faith has made him whole. That word "whole" matters. Enos was restored, with the guilt gone and the separation closed. He was put back together.

How Enos's Prayer Changed His Focus to Others

This is the part I keep coming back to. Verse 9 says that after Enos heard these words, his soul began to hunger for the welfare of his brethren, not his own. The shift happens in the same sentence.

Enos had just received the most personal gift imaginable. A remission of his sins. Peace with God. And the first thing he does with it is turn around and pray for his family. He prays for the Nephites. Then he prays for the Lamanites, people who would spend generations trying to kill his descendants.

The Lord tells Enos that his kindred will be blessed according to their diligence in keeping the commandments. But Enos doesn't stop there. He prays again, this time for the Lamanites. He asks the Lord to preserve a record of his people so the Lamanites might be brought to salvation. The Lord promises him that the record will be preserved and will come forth in his own due time.

That promise connects directly to the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, which is a thread that runs through the small plates of Nephi and the ministry of prophets like Jacob 7: Sherem's Denial, the Sign He Demanded, and Confession, where Jacob faced down a denier and held the line.

Examples of Persistent Prayer in the Book of Mormon

Enos is not the only one who prayed like this. The Book of Mormon is full of people who stayed on their knees longer than most of us would think to. Alma the Younger prayed for deliverance from the torment of his sins. The brother of Jared prayed until the Lord showed him the finger of a spirit. Nephi prayed until he saw the things his father had seen.

But Enos is the shortest book in the Book of Mormon, and it's entirely about one prayer and what came after it. The ratio of prayer to aftermath tells you something about what Enos thought was important.

What Did the Lord Promise Enos About His Kindred

The promises in this chapter are specific. The Lord tells Enos that the Nephites will be blessed if they keep the commandments. The Lamanites will be destroyed if they persist in their wickedness. But he also promises that the record of the Nephites will be preserved and will come forth in the Lord's due time.

Enos also gets a promise about the future. The Lord tells him that he will come unto him in his kingdom and that he will be blessed. Enos sees the coming of Christ in the spirit and hears the voice of the Lord promise that the faithful will be saved in his kingdom.

That's a lot of promise for one short chapter. But Enos earned it through wrestling. He prayed all day and into the night and didn't stop until he got an answer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did Enos have to pray all day and night before receiving an answer?

The length of the prayer shows the intensity of what Enos was going through. He was wrestling his own soul into alignment with God's will, not just asking for something, and some spiritual breakthroughs take that kind of time and effort. The answer came when Enos was ready for it, not before.

What is remission of sins as described in Enos 1?

Remission means being forgiven and cleansed from the guilt of sin. In Enos's case, it came through faith in Jesus Christ after a long and sincere struggle. The voice told him his sins were forgiven and his faith had made him whole.

How did Enos's personal experience with prayer affect his mission to others?

The peace Enos received changed his focus right away. He went from praying for himself to praying for his family and even his enemies. That pattern shows up again and again in scripture. Personal conversion creates a natural desire to help others find the same peace.

What does it mean that Enos wrestled before God?

Wrestling in this context means a sustained spiritual struggle. Enos didn't just say a prayer and move on. He stayed with it all day and into the night and put his whole soul into the effort. The word suggests active engagement, not passive waiting.

What did the Lord promise Enos about the Lamanites?

The Lord promised that the record of the Nephites would be preserved and would come forth to the Lamanites in his due time. He also promised that the Lamanites would be brought to salvation if they believed and repented. That promise connects directly to the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.

The chapter ends with Enos saying he rejoiced in the day his people would receive the record. He had spent his life laboring among them, and he died knowing the work would continue. That's the kind of faith that outlasts a single lifetime.

-- D.