1 Nephi 2:14

14  And it came to pass that my father did speak unto them in the ^avalley of Lemuel, with ^bpower, being filled with the Spirit, until their frames did ^cshake before him.  And he did confound them, that they durst not utter against him; wherefore, they did as he commanded them.

            -Here is the definition of true power.  It is not given to us by building muscles, learning a martial art, holding a gun, surrounding ourselves with devices or having the wealth to so enable ourselves, but power is obtained when we are “filled with the Spirit”.

       "...did speak unto them with power, being filled with the Spirit..."

            -what excellent training for Nephi, who would draw on such experience later in life.

     “until their frames did shake before him”

            -Laman and Lemuel were not inexperienced with feeling the influence of the Holy Ghost.  They participated in powerful manifestations of the Spirit on several occasions.  Likewise, there are many of us, especially youth, who have at one time (or several times) felt the Spirit and  then as time passes, seem to forget their experience with God and spiritual reality.  The proximity of mortal concerns and desires crowds out the experience of God.  The important questions are:  why?  How is it that one is changed by these experiences and another quickly goes back to their mortal orientation?  Why does faith grown in one person and not in another?  How can we maintain our high commitment to righteousness that follows a spiritual experience as time, adversity and mortal monotony wear us down?

            -while it does not seem to us now, the physical body is subservient and subject to the much more immense power of the spiritual body.   We live is a physical domain and have come to know only the power of the physical –muscles, mental and psychological.  To us these seem quite extraordinary.  We have tamed this world, by sheer desire and determination we can endure many things, great athletes demonstrate great feats of strength and agility…. And yet, when we have the full faculty of our spiritual beings –when the veil is removed- the extent of our spiritual power will reveal the enimic reality of our physical   By the power of our spiritual strength we will move mountains, channel mighty rivers and set in motion entire universes.  Spiritual strength consists of righteousness, faith, knowledge and the priesthood.  It has nothing to do with physical stature or prowess.  There will be quadrapeligics who wield immense power and muscule bound athletes rendered feeble and impotent.

 

            -This verse records the first time Lemuel and Laman are brought to be convinced of the power of God and the truth of their circumstance.  The two have multiple experiences with the convincing power of God.  See Appendix for a summary of these.