Enos goes into the forest to pray for his own soul. ⁣

After a long wrestle and many hours, he hears God’s voice reassuring him that his sins are forgiven.⁣

And then, Enos begins to feel a desire for the welfare of his brethren. ⁣

“When I had heard these words I began to feel a desire for the welfare of my brethren”. (Enos 1:9)

So the lesson is that when you feel conversion, you should naturally want to share the gospel with other people. ⁣

While that is 100% a beautiful application of this scripture, what if there is a different way to look at it?⁣

True prayer is when our faith in God is so strong, that our wills become the same. ⁣

“Prayer is the act by which the will of the father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other.” -Bible Dictionary, “Prayer”

Enos went into the forest looking for freedom for his own soul. ⁣

But as his faith grew stronger and stronger during this lengthy prayer, his desires began to change, too!⁣

At first, he desired to help his brethren.⁣

And then, he desired that God would preserve the record of his people so the Lamanites could one day read it and be converted. ⁣

Numerous other prophets before him and after him would have that same desire.

Why?

Because they were all aligning their wills to God’s. ⁣

In our lives, this looks like saying a prayer to know how to deal with your boss, and leaving the prayer with the desire to search for a new job. ⁣

This looks like praying for your ministering sister who won’t respond, and leaving with a specific thought of something you can drop off. ⁣

This looks like praying for your child to solve their problems, and leaving with a deep love for them, no matter what struggles they go through. ⁣

When our faith in God increases, we trust that His will is really what is best for us.

And when that faith and trust grow, we naturally allow God’s will to take precedence over our own. ⁣

We just have to engage in the wrestle to let our own will go.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Aligning wills through prayer  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

It seems like the winds never stop.

I try to block things out for a bit – but when I resurface with my emotions, the wind is still there.

I keep trying, but I can’t get rid of it.

It can be exhausting.

To want to fix a problem. To want to eliminate the wind and keep the calm sea for just a bit. To feel in control.

But the wind still blows.

And so these two verses jumped out to me:

“The Lord God caused that there should be a furious wind blow upon the face of the waters…” (Ether 6:5)

“The wind did never cease to blow…” (Ether 6:8)

The Jaredites experienced constant and furious winds.

For weeks and months on end, the wind blew and there wasn’t a thing they could do about it.

But guess which part of the scriptures actually jumped out to me?

The second half.

Read those same verses again, now with the endings added:

“The Lord God caused that there should be a furious wind blow upon the face of the waters, towards the promised land.” (Ether 6:5)

“The wind did never cease to blow towards the promised land.” (Ether 6:8)

The winds weren’t blowing just for fun. The Lord didn’t forget about calming the sees of their journey.

The winds were exactly what was driving them towards the Promised Land.

Maybe some Jaredites prayed for the wind to stop or at least slow down.

But that actually would have gone against their prayers for safety on their journey.

The winds WERE the answer. They were what was driving them towards the result they wanted. The result He knew they needed.

And so I received the reminder I so desperately needed.

I don’t think my winds are going anywhere right now.

Because they are actually blowing me towards my destination.

Thanks, furious, never-ending wind.

Artwork: Jonathan Arthur Clarke

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Where the winds blow first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.