“My Soul Hungered”

Bryan Richards

One of the reasons that Enos' prayer was so dramatically answered is because of the faith and desires of his heart. His soul hungered and the result is a perfect example of the blessing spoken of in the Sermon on the Mount, blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost (3 Nephi 12:6).

Spencer W. Kimball

"The supplication of Enos is written with a pen of anguish and on the paper of faith and with a willingness to prostrate himself totally that he might receive forgiveness. His words are mighty and definitive. He could have said merely, 'I wanted information.' But he said, '. . . my soul hungered. . . .' (Ibid., 4.) He could have merely prayed unto the Lord like so many pray, but in his eagerness for forgiveness, he said, '. . . I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; . . .'
"How impressive his words! 'Mighty prayer and supplication' is not the usual prayer. The Lord's agonies in Gethsemane, so long, so earnest, were mighty prayers." (Conference Reports, Apr. 1965, p. 62)

Spencer W. Kimball

"How much do you pray, my young friends? How often? How earnestly? If you should have errors in your life, have you wrestled before the Lord? Have you found your deep forest full 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 liquidate it with some trite word and phrase?
"As you struggle in the spirit and cry mightily and covenant sincerely, the voice of the Lord God will come into your mind, as it did to that of Enos, Thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blest. (Enos 1:5.)" (BYU Speeches of the Year, Oct. 11, 1961, p. 9)

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