And it came to pass that my father did speak unto them in the valley of Lemuel with power, being filled with the spirit, until their frames did shake before him. And he did confound them that they durst not utter against him; wherefore, they did do as he commanded them. And my father dwelt in a tent. And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I cried unto the Lord. And behold he did visit me and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father. Wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers.
The Book of Mormon gives multiple examples of the power of the word spoken by someone filled with the spirit and power of the Holy Ghost.
At a time later in the journey when Laman and Lemuel were withholding their labor from Nephi when Nephi was commanded to build a ship we have the example of Nephi speaking with this power.
(1 Nephi 17:23 - 55, NC 1 Nephi 5 par. 17 - 23)
Jacob speaking with Sherem. (Jacob 7:8, NC Jacob 5 par. 2)
Abinadi speaking to the court of king Noah. (Mosiah 13:1 - 6, NC Mosiah 7 par. 19 - 20)
Nephi son of Nephi in the book of 3rd Nephi. (3 Nephi 7:16 - 20, NC 3 Nephi 4 par. 9 - 10)
Moroni spoke of this power in the book of Ether. (Ether 12:23 - 25, NC Ether 5 par. 4)
We have the example of Enoch as he preached repentance in the Book of Moses. (Moses 6:32 - 47, OC Genesis 4 par. 2 - 6 )
We are sure that there are many more examples of this that match the power used by Lehi in speaking to his oldest sons Laman and Lemuel.
All of these examples show that even though the God's power is manifest in speaking the words, those hearing the words may still reject the words outright, even though they have been confounded, or they still may choose not to exercise faith in Christ and they will forget about the power of the words spoken to them.
Nephi uses a phrase, "past feeling", to describe someone who finds themself not heeding words spoken in power because they were unable to feel the power of what was spoken.
Now we come to the part of Nephi's walk where we see that Nephi chose a path opposite to the path that leads to not knowing the dealings of that God who created us.
It would appear that Nephi at this point finds himself questioning his father's words.
Is this a bad thing?
We don't believe so. This leads Nephi to inquire of the Lord if what his father is saying and doing is of God.
Nephi states clearly that he had "great desires to know of the mysteries of God."
Nephi cries unto the Lord.
Is crying unto the Lord different than praying?
What would crying unto the Lord entail?
What feelings and desires must an individual possess if they are crying to the Lord?
Do we have other examples of individuals who cried unto the Lord to show us what this entails?
How about Enos?
"And I will tell you of the wrestle which I had before God before I received a remission of my sins. Behold I went to hunt beasts in the forest, and the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning Eternal life and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into my heart, and my soul hungered, and I kneeled down before my Maker and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul. And all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came, I did still raise my voice high, that it reached the heavens." (Enos verses 2 - 4, NC Enos par. 1)
What about king Lamoni's father?
"And it came to pass that when Aaron had said these words, the king did bow down before the Lord upon his knees yea, even he did prostrate himself upon the earth and cried mightily saying, O God Aaron hath told me that there is a God and if there is a God and if thou art God wilt thou make thyself known unto me and I will give away all my sins to know thee and that I may be raised from the dead and be saved at the last day." (Alma 22:17 - 18, NC Alma 13 par. 10)
What about the brother of Jared?
"And he did carry them in his hands up on the top of the mount and cried again unto the Lord, saying, O Lord, thou hast said that we must be encompassed about by the floods. Now behold, O Lord, and do not be angry with thy servant because of his weakness before thee, for we know that thou art holy and dwellest in the heavens and that we are unworthy before thee; because of the fall our natures have become evil continually. Nevertheless, O Lord, thou hast given us a commandment that we must call upon thee that from thee we may receive according to our desires. Behold, O Lord, thou hast smitten us because of our iniquity and hath driven us forth, and for this many years we have been in the wilderness; nevertheless thou hast been merciful unto us. O Lord, look upon me in pity and turn away thine anger from this thy people..." ( Ether 3:1 - 3, NC Ether 1 par. 11)
What do these three examples all have in common?
What is the attitude of the person in each of the three examples?
How do they feel about their place before God?
Are they all earnest in their requests?
Are there more examples in the scriptures of individuals crying in faith unto God?
We believe that Nephi possessed the same attributes in his petition to God at his point as those individuals in the above three examples possessed.
Would crying unto the Lord affect one's ability to receive an answer from Him?
Nephi describes his first answer. "And behold he did visit me and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father."
At the beginning of the path Nephi has his heart softened to believe the words of his father Lehi.
Nephi is following the pattern described by the prophet Alma that all must follow in order to grow in faith to be able to receive the mysteries of God.
"But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise even a particle of faith, yea, even if you can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work within you even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words. Now we will compare the word unto a seed. Now if ye give place that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief that ye will resist the spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts. And when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves, It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul. Yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding; yea, and it beginneth to be delicious to me." (Alma 32:27 - 28, NC Alma 16 par. 27 - 28)
We can state that Nephi has experimented upon the words of his father Lehi.
The Lord softened Nephi's heart so that Lehi's words could have place there and Nephi found that those words swelled within his breast so that he knew that his Father's words were good.
This first answer to an earnest petition is small and simple.
We believe that this is the pattern for any who would desire to know of the mysteries of God.
If we have desires and we experiment upon the words of the Lord by crying unto the Lord to know concerning it He will answer and soften our hearts to believe.
Are we willing like Lamoni's father, the king, to give away all our sins to experiment on God's word?
Are we willing to be open to God breaking down our deeply held traditions if they are incongruent with His words?
The beginning answer is so fragile; just like a budding seed that Alma describes. It must be nourished.
Action must be taken that is consistent with what God's words direct.
Can we say that if an individual receives such a small and simple answer to their petition such as a softening of their heart to believe in the words given that they now know for themselves the dealings of that God who created them?
Is this the power of Godliness; to ask and receive directly from Him?
Is such a response to a sincere petition a manifestation of God's mighty power?
We believe so.
Because of such a small, simple fragile answer to his crying, Nephi is given a gift. He believes his fathers words and avoids the tragedies that come from rebellion.
Nephi described himself as being exceedingly young at this point in the journey from Jerusalem.
1) There are several examples of those who are exceedingly young desiring and receiving the mysteries of God. Therefore there is no age limitation to following this path and receiving these things.
Mormon (Mormon 1:15, NC Mormon 1 par. 4)
Samuel (1 Samuel 3:1 - 10, OC 1 Samuel 2 par. 8 - 10)
Joseph Smith (T&C 1 JSH part 2 par. 1 - 6)
There are many others.
2) We must become like little children or the "exceedingly young" in our attitudes in order to desire and receive a knowlege of the mysteries of God.
"And again I say unto you, Ye must repent and be baptized in my name and become as a little child or ye can in mowise inherit the kingdom of God." (3 Nephi 11:38, NC 3 Nephi 5 par. 9)
Children would look upon a small, simple, fragile answer to their request as something precious. They would be apt to act upon the answer, thereby showing faith in what they had received.
We must do likewise as we start the path.
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