Receiving Revelation Until Our Faith Becomes Unshaken

By Mark A. Mathews

Seminaries and Institutes

“I encourage you to take the necessary steps to hear the Lord better and more often so that you can receive the enlightenment He wants to give you.”¹ —President Russell M. Nelson

The account of Enos in the Book of Mormon is a great resource for learning to “hear the Lord better and more often,” as President Russell M. Nelson has counseled us.² This beautiful, short scriptural account shows us how to qualify for revelation, how revelation usually comes, and why we should seek revelation. From Enos we can also learn how our faith becomes “unshaken in the Lord” (Enos 1:11) and we know that we will rest with our Redeemer (see verse 27).

Seeking Revelation

“The wrestle which I had before God” (verse 2). Enos describes his efforts to receive revelation as a “wrestle.” This denotes a struggle and confirms what President Nelson has taught, that “receiving revelation takes work.”³ We cannot expect to receive it from casual or minimal effort (see Doctrine and Covenants 9:7–8).

“I went to hunt beasts in the forests” (verse 3). Enos’s revelation came when he was alone in the forest, showing us that “quiet time is sacred time—time that will facilitate personal revelation and instill peace.”⁴ Concerned that our modern lack of quiet time is limiting our ability to receive revelation, President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, shared: “The people of earlier times experienced solitude in ways we cannot imagine in our crowded and busy world. Even when we are alone today, we can be tuned in with our mobile devices, laptop computers, and televisions to keep us entertained and occupied. As an Apostle, I ask you a question: Do you have any personal quiet time?”⁵

“The words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life … sunk deep into my heart” (verse 3). In this quiet time, Enos began to ponder, which means “to meditate and think deeply, often upon the scriptures or other things of God.”⁶ Enos’s experience confirms what President Henry B. Eyring, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, taught: “When we ponder, we invite revelation by the Spirit.”⁷

“And my soul hungered” (verse 4). Like one feeling hungry for food, Enos had an intense desire or deep yearning to know and experience the things of God. This desire motivated and qualified Enos to seek for and receive personal revelation. President Nelson has promised: “When you reach up for the Lord’s power in your life with the same intensity that a drowning person has when grasping and gasping for air, power from Jesus Christ will be yours. When the Savior knows you truly want to reach up to Him—when He can feel that the greatest desire of your heart is to draw His power into your life—you will be led by the Holy Ghost to know exactly what you should do.”⁸

“I cried unto him in mighty prayer … all the day long … , and when night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens” (verse 4). The experience of Enos shows that intense, persistent prayer invites revelation. However, this does not have to happen through a single, lengthy prayer. As Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained: “A spurt may appear to be impressive in the short run, but steadiness over time is far more effective, far less dangerous, and produces far better results. … An attempt to pray one time for several hours likely will not produce the same spiritual results as meaningful morning and evening prayer offered consistently over several weeks.”⁹

Like Enos, there will be times in our lives when the revelation we seek does not come immediately. When this happens, we should follow his example and continue to pray in faith and faithfully wait upon the Lord.

Recognizing Revelation

“The voice of the Lord came into my mind” (verse 10). Enos knew his prayer had “reached the heavens” (verse 4) because he received a response from the Lord. He records, “There came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee” (verse 5). Although Enos describes hearing a voice, he later clarified that it was not a voice audible to his ears but a spiritual voice to his mind. He records, “The voice of the Lord came into my mind again” (verse 10).

President Boyd K. Packer (1924–2015), President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, explained that “these delicate, refined spiritual communications are not seen with our eyes, nor heard with our ears. And even though it is described as a voice, it is a voice that one feels, more than one hears.”¹⁰

The experience of Enos shows that the most common form of revelation is not when the Lord audibly speaks to our ears or visually appears to our eyes but when He subtly speaks through His Spirit to our mind and heart (see Doctrine and Covenants 8:2–3).

Blessings of Revelation

“Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee” (verse 5). By personal revelation, Enos received the assurance that his sins were forgiven. This is one of the greatest blessings we can receive through revelation. In fact, anytime we receive revelation through the Holy Ghost, it is evidence that our hearts are changing and we are drawing nearer to God. President Eyring explained, “If you have felt the influence of the Holy Ghost today, you may take it as evidence that the Atonement is working in your life.”¹¹

“My faith began to be unshaken” (verse 11). Having received the blessing he sought, Enos’s desires turned outward—toward the spiritual welfare and eternal salvation of others. He prayed for his family among the Nephites and then for the Lamanites. As he prayed, he experienced something sacred. He explains, “After I, Enos, had heard these words, my faith began to be unshaken in the Lord” (verse 11).

One of the blessings of receiving personal revelation from the Lord is that these spiritual experiences strengthen our faith in Him. Each time we hear Him, our faith in Jesus Christ grows. Over time, consistent revelation can make our faith in Him unshakable.

President Joseph F. Smith (1838–1918) shared his own experience with this: “When I as a boy first started out in the ministry, I would frequently go out and ask the Lord to show me some marvelous thing, in order that I might receive a testimony. But the Lord withheld marvels from me, and showed me the truth, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, until he made me to know the truth from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet, and until doubt and fear had been absolutely purged from me. He did not have to send an angel from the heavens to do this, nor did he have to speak with the trump of an archangel. By the whisperings of the still small voice of the Spirit of the living God, he gave to me the testimony I possess. And by this principle and power he will give to all the children of men a knowledge of the truth that will stay with them.”¹²

“Their faith was like unto thine” (verse 18). When Enos was first forgiven of his sins, the Lord explained that it was “because of thy faith in Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen” (verse 8). After receiving many more revelations, Enos eventually gained the same faith that his fathers had: “their faith was like unto thine” (verse 18). Enos had faith in Christ similar to that of Lehi, Jacob, and Nephi, all of whom had seen the Lord in vision. Although his testimony came simply by personal revelation through the Holy Ghost, it was just as sure as if he had seen the Lord. Enos’s experiences illustrate a principle Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught about the Apostle Thomas’s witness of the Savior: “One could have the same belief or witness Thomas had received without touching and seeing Him [see John 20:29].”¹³

At the end of his book, Enos records that he will soon die and “then shall I see his face” (verse 27). His concluding witness reminds us of the final testimony of Elder Bruce R. McConkie (1915–1985) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. In the April 1985 general conference, just days before he died, he said of the Savior:

“I am one of his witnesses, and in a coming day I shall feel the nail marks in his hands and in his feet and shall wet his feet with my tears.

“But I shall not know any better then than I know now that he is God’s Almighty Son, that he is our Savior and Redeemer.”¹⁴

“I soon go to the place of my rest, which is with my Redeemer; for I know that in him I shall rest” (verse 27). Enos knew by personal revelation that he would be saved by Jesus Christ in the celestial kingdom. Some assume that this is something we can never know in this life. Others think that this knowledge requires something dramatic like a visit from the Savior. However, the Lord has taught that the Holy Spirit can give people the promise of eternal life through their consistent faithfulness in keeping their covenants.¹⁵ This spiritual assurance is conditional on our faithfulness: “The Holy Spirit withdraws the stamp of approval where covenants are broken.”¹⁶

As we “press forward” on the covenant path, striving to “endure to the end,” the Lord will give us spiritual assurances along the way until we know with confidence that “[we] shall have eternal life” (2 Nephi 31:20). “The scriptures call this process making our calling and election sure.”¹⁷

Like Enos, as we wrestle before God, as our souls hunger and our hearts ponder, as we pray mightily for ourselves and others, we will receive revelation upon revelation, in our quiet moments, until our faith in Jesus Christ becomes unshaken and we know that we will one day rest with Him.