Lesson 9
Enos Prays

Preparation

• Items needed: removable double-sided tape, two cell phones (or two pretend phones), several sheets of paper, pencils, and an eight inch piece of ribbon and a small Ziploc baggie for each child.
• Print and cut out the Scripture Story Visual Aids. Also print and cut out the Game Items - printing one copy of the game questions and large phone, and one copy per child of the small cell phone and game answers, preferably onto heavy paper.  Put a piece of removable double-sided tape on the screen part of each cell phone. Put a small phone and one set of answers in each Ziplock baggie.

Attention Activity

Ask for a volunteer. Hand the volunteer one of the cell phones. Tell them to answer the phone when it rings. Call them using your cell phone. Greet them by name and then say, “I have a problem with my sister. She uses my stuff and doesn’t return it. It makes me very upset. What should I do about it?” Hang up before they can answer, or say, “Oh, I got to go, bye.”

• Did it do any good to ask the person for help and advice? Why not? Because time was not taken to listen to the answer. Do we sometimes do that - ask Heavenly Father for help with a problem but then don’t listen for the answer?

In today’s lesson we are going to learn about someone who prayed fervently and then took the time to listen for answers.

Ask the children if they remember which prophet they learned about in last week’s lesson. Give hints if needed. After they have recalled Jacob’s name, tell them that the prophet Jacob had a son named Enos. Jacob grew old and saw he would soon die, so he passed the spiritual and historical records of the people to his son Enos.

Have the children turn to the “Book of Enos”. Tell the children that the “Book of Enos” is only one chapter long, but it teaches important lessons about prayer.

Using the scripture story visual aids, tell the following story. Direct the children to listen for the three things that Enos prayed for.

Scripture Story
One day as Enos was hunting in the forest, he recalled the words his father had spoken about the joy of eternal life. Enos wanted to be forgiven of his sins so he could be worthy to enter into eternal life, so he knelt down, prayed, and asked for forgiveness. He prayed all day, and he was still praying when it became night.

• How long did Enos pray? Ask the children what things they do in a normal day. Explain that Enos would have been praying during the time they normally spend going to school, attending classes, and eating lunch. He still would have been praying during the time they come home from school, eat dinner, and get ready for bed.

After praying all day and into the night, a voice came to Enos saying, “Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.” Enos knew God could not lie, so his guilt was washed away. He asked the Lord how it was done. The Lord told him it was because of his faith in Christ.

• Why is faith in Jesus Christ necessary for forgiveness of sins? Jesus suffered and paid the price for our sins to made it possible for us to be forgiven. If we have faith in Christ and his atonement, we will believe we can be forgiven, and then we will do the things that are necessary in order to repent and be forgiven.

After Enos’s sins were forgiven, he was concerned for the welfare of the other Nephites, and he prayed for them. The Lord told Enos they would be blessed if they kept the commandments. But if they disobeyed, their sins would bring sorrow upon them.

• Why did Enos pray for the Nephites? He was concerned about them and their eternal spiritual welfare. The Nephites constantly had to be reminded to keep the commandments or be destroyed. Enos preached the word of God to them throughout his whole life.

After Enos prayed for the Nephites, he began to pray diligently for the Lamanites. The Lamanites had become a wild, ferocious, blood thirsty people, full of idolatry and filthiness. They lived in tents and fed on wild beasts, and many ate nothing but raw meat. They wandered around the wilderness with their heads shaven, wearing nothing but a short girdle made out of skins. They would not listen to the Nephites when they tried to teach them the gospel.

The Lamanites were constantly seeking to destroy the Nephites, and they swore to destroy the Nephite records and traditions. Enos prayed that if the Nephites were someday destroyed, the Lord would preserve a record of the Nephites and at some future date bring forth the record so the Lamanites might perhaps be brought to salvation.

• Why do you think Enos prayed for the Lamanites when they were the Nephites’ enemies? He had a great love for all of Heavenly Father’s children. He was sad about the choices the Lamanites were making and the consequences they would suffer. He wanted to help them change their ways, if not now then someday.

• What could we pray for in behalf of someone who has not been kind to us?

The Lord told Enos he would grant to him his desire; a record would be preserved. The Lord also said that other ancestors of Enos’s had prayed for the same thing.

• What is the Nephite record called that was preserved and brought forth in the latter days to help bring the Lamanites to God? The Book of Mormon

Discussion
• When Enos prayed, how do we know he took the time to listen for answers? He prayed all day and into the night.

We don’t have to pray all day like Enos, but we should take the time in each prayer to ponder and think about our problems and to listen for help and counsel.

President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “The trouble with most prayers is that we give them as if we were picking up the phone and ordering something. We place our order and then hang up.”

• What happens when we ask for help with a problem but then don’t take time to listen for an answer? We might miss out on the help we could have received.

Ask the children what kinds of difficulties kids their age have to face. Possible answers might be: problems with family, friends, schoolwork, health, etc. Explain to the children that the Lord wants to help them with these challenges, but they have to ask and then listen for His response.

• In what ways might the Lord respond? Explain that ideas might come into their mind as they ponder about a problem. Or if they have asked specific yes or no questions about their problem, they might have peaceful or uneasy feelings according to what the answer is.

• Enos said he cried in mighty prayer and supplication unto the Lord. How can we make our prayers more sincere and deeply felt so we are not just repetitiously repeating the same words? One possible answer might be to think about our specific problems and blessings before praying.

Activity
Give each child a piece of paper and a pencil. Instruct them to fold the piece of paper like a fan, then fold it in half, and then open it back up. On the inside of the folds on the left side of the paper, have the children write specific things that Heavenly Father has blessed them with. On the inside folds on the right side of the paper, direct them to write specific things they might need help with. After they are done, instruct them fold it into a fan again. Have them tie a ribbon around the middle part of the fan. Then, if they desire, have them fold the fan down into thirds so it is a small block of paper when done. Use the ribbon that is in the middle of the fan to tie around the block. Tell the children to put the fan on their pillow and open it when they are saying their prayers. Explain that it will help remind them of things to thank Heavenly Father for and of the specific things they may need help with.

Explain to the children that their blessings and needs will change as their life changes, but if they will always take a few moments to think of specific things that are going on in their life, before they pray, their prayers will be more sincere and heartfelt.

Review Game

Pass out the baggies you have prepared. Show the children the large cell phone. Tell the children you are going to put a question on the large cell phone, and they have to find the correct answer in their baggie and put it on their small cell phone. Direct them to show you their answers when they are done. If they get the wrong answer, encourage them to try again. Compliment them for their efforts. Wait until everyone has the correct answer before continuing. Replace the question on the large cell phone with another question. Continue in this manner until all the questions have been answered.

Weekly Reading Assignment

Remind the children to do their scripture reading assignment for this week –  The Book of Enos