Moro. 7:9; 10:4; Miracle of Forgiveness, Kimball, p. 211
“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)
“To those of us who would pay pennies toward our unfathomable debt, we remember Enos, who, like many of us, had great need. Like many sons of good families he strayed. How heinous were his sins I do not know, but they must have been grievous… . Here is no casual prayer; here no trite, worn phrases; here no momentary appeal. All the day long, with seconds turning into minutes, and minutes into hours, and hours into an ‘all day long.’ 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… . Could the Redeemer resist such determined imploring? How many of you have thus persisted? How many of you, with or without serious transgressions, have ever prayed all day and into the night? Have you ever wept and prayed for many hours? How many of you have prayed for five hours? for one? for thirty minutes? for ten?” (Spencer W. Kimball, BYU Speeches of the Year, Oct. 11, 1961, pp. 8-9)
“In answer to my first prayer, no answer came. The faith was there, I felt, to the extent that I could exert it. The need was there, I felt certainly no doubt about that, but was the worthiness? I could always think of something, as I prayed night after night without an answer, … and so I continued to pray, feeling that when I could make myself worthy of an answer, I would get it. It was after I had been praying nightly for five years that the whole family … attended a Sunday School entertainment. My class rendered its number, followed by another that sang, and I remember some of the words of that song: ‘Keep on asking, God will answer by and by.’ To me that was a revelation. I kept on praying. Some four years later, in the latter part of the month of August, 1887, in my nineteenth year, after I had been praying nightly for nine long years with all the earnestness of my soul for this special blessing, I was alone in the bedroom, and I said, half aloud, ‘O Father, wilt thou not hear me?’ I was beginning to get discouraged. Then, brethren, something happened. the most glorious experience that I have received came. In answer to my question I heard as distinctly as anything I ever heard in my life the short, simple word: ‘Yes.’ Simultaneously my whole being, from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet, was filled with the most joyous feeling of elation, of peace and certainty that I could imagine a human being could experience. I sprang from my knees, and jumped as high as I could, and shouted: ‘O Father, I thank thee.’ At last an answer had come. I knew it.” (Joseph F. Merrill, Conference Report, Apr. 1944, pp. 151-152)
“I have a longtime friend… . Occasionally, to find relief from the stress of his responsibilities, he would partake of substances forbidden by the Word of Wisdom. As the stress in his life increased, so did his consumption of alcohol. Indeed, he was becoming a prisoner to alcohol. One afternoon he felt the enticing of the Spirit prompting him to overcome this addiction… . He … drove to a very secluded spot far removed from the city. There he knelt in humble prayer and pled with the Lord with all the energy of his heart for added strength to overcome this addiction, which robbed his spirituality and threatened to destroy his very soul. He remained on his knees for a very long time, and eventually a sweet, purifying spirit began to distill upon his soul, cleansing him from any desire to drink and fortifying him with a firm resolve to keep the commandments. A spiritually sensitive bishop noticed a change in my friend and extended a call for him to work with the young Aaronic Priesthood brethren of the ward. He was a natural, enthusiastic leader of youth, and about a year later he was called to be the new bishop, dearly loved by all …” (Spencer H. Condie, Ensign, Nov. 1993, p. 16)