Exercised in Faith - Alma 2:29-30

And it came to pass that Alma fought with Amlici with the sword, face to face; and they did contend mightily, one with another. And it came to pass that Alma, being a man of God, being exercised with much faith, cried, saying: O Lord, have mercy and spare my life, that I may be an instrument in thy hands to save and preserve this people. Now when Alma had said these words he contended again with Amlici; and he was strengthened, insomuch that he slew Amlici with the sword.

This is one event that sounds like it came from a blockbuster movie. The leader of the good guys fights face to face with the leader of the bad guys. We can be certain that there was plenty of zeal and animocity in Amlici because Alma was the embodiment of everything that he was rebelling against - equality, freedom the church and the commandments of God.

When left to the skills and passions of the carnal man, it is likely that Amlici had the advantage since it isn't likely that Alma, being a missionary and leader of the church, had much training with the sword. But the wisdom of Alma is that he didn't rely on his carnal strengths, he relied on the Lord.

The writer of Hebrews references the advantages of the faithful in time of war and calamity:

And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. (Hebrews 11:32-34)

Alma was a man "exercised with much faith". This phrase is instructive as it tells us that Alma had proved the Lord in the past. I am convinced that Alma trusted the Lord enough that had the Lord told him to surrender instead of fight, he would have done it. But that was not the case. He had exercised faith enough to be fully committed to submit his will to the Lord, no matter what His will turned out to be.

Faith is a gift from God, but you must nurture your faith to keep it strong. Faith is like the muscle of your arm. If you exercise it, it grows strong. If you put it in a sling and leave it there, it becomes weak.
-- True to the Faith

 Alma's faith was strong because he kept doing all of the small and simple things, reading, praying, attending church, etc. But most importantly, when the Lord manifested His will via the spirit, Alma obeyed and believed that God would keep His word.