The setting for Enos’s struggle before the Lord comes as he is hunting alone in the forests. Before looking at the spiritual aspects, it is important to note that the Nephites had often spoken ill of the Lamanites because they hunted beasts, yet here Enos is hunting. The difference is whether or not hunting was the principle means of sustenance. The ethnocentric slur against the Lamanites was that, unlike the Nephites, they did not primarily farm. Hunting in and of itself was not the problem, simply the social implications of how much hunting needed to be done.
Joseph Smith would later enter woods to be alone and pray. Enos was already in the forests and went there for a different purpose. Nevertheless, both men were alone in nature and sought the God of nature in prayer.
The key for Enos is that “my soul hungered.” There is a difference between simply praying and the earnest supplication that comes from a hungry soul. Enos says that he prayed for a long time. We must take him at his words. Even if his statement that he cried all day and into the night were not completely accurate, he nevertheless persisted in prayer a long time. This was because of the hungry soul. A casual prayer doesn’t have that much to say in private.
As a result of earnest effort to reach out to Jehovah, Enos is answered. We do not know why he came before the Lord, but the Lord responds that his sins were forgiven. This may have been similar to Jesus healing a man of palsy who could not rise from his bed by saying that sins were forgiven. Jesus indicated that it was no easier to say that one’s sins were forgiven than to say arise and walk (see Matthew 9:2–5).
We need not assume that Enos was guilty of major sin. Jehovah was declaring that he atoned for Enos’s sins and, therefore, Enos was pure enough to converse with the Lord.