Howard Coray - Earnest Prayer for Divine Testimony and Guidance

As a young man searching for religious truth, Howard Coray attended college in Jacksonville, Illinois, and met the renowned preacher Henry Ward Beecher. After their conversation, Coray realized he lacked the unmistakable testimony of God he desperately sought. He determined to lay aside his studies and turn his whole attention to getting religion and seeking divine testimony. He wrote: 'Being rather desirous to know of an absolute certainty that there is a God and one to whom we are amenable for all our acts and doings, I resolved to lay aside my studies, and turn my whole attention in the direction of getting religion, some testimony from God, and, if possible, to find out what His will was concerning me. So I prayed much-- I would get up in the night and pray, and followed this up about two weeks.' This intense seeking was part of Howard's spiritual journey that would eventually lead him to encounter the restored gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith.