So as to avoid misunderstanding, let me define what I mean by “faith” and “miracle” before diving in (sorry about the post length, it’s a deep subject and a lot has been said above).

Faith is composed of 2 parts: action and belief. The action part requires us to do all we can do. The belief part requires that we believe unwaveringly that God will make up the difference between what we can do and what we want to have happen.

A miracle is something that occurs with no explanation that fits our own limited understanding of the laws of the universe. SteveP mentioned 5 ways miracles can happen. All happen all the time, but not necessarily to each person (but there are those who receive them frequently).

When it comes to faith and miracles, the Standard Works teach a clear and consistent message: God works miracles according to our faith (Ether 12 and Moroni 7 are particularly good chapters for this). Whenever God ceases to do miracles, it is because the people do not have the required faith.

Here are some examples:
- Enoch moved mountains because of faith (Moses 7:13)
- The brother of Jared moved a mountain by faith (Ether 12:30) (Ether 12 has many more examples).
- The stripling warriors were preserved because of their faith while many of their fellow Nephites died (Alma 57:26).

The scriptures are full of stories about how God has worked miracles through faith. They are similarly full of exhortations to ask with the promise that we will receive if we have faith.

Furthermore, the scriptures include many accounts when miracles were not performed. For example, when Jesus called His apostles during His mortal ministry, He gave them power to heal the sick and cast out devils. Yet it occurred that a couple times they couldn’t do it. When that happened, Jesus rebuked them for lacking faith. He also told the Nephites when He came to the New World that He couldn’t show as great things to the Jews because the Jews didn’t have as much faith (3 Nephi 19:35).

In order to receive a miracle, we must have faith. The only logical conclusion I can draw from the scriptures is that if the miracle doesn’t happen, it’s because we simply lacked faith, i.e. there was more we could do that we didn’t do and/or we didn’t actually believe it would happen. Both are common. Very few Latter-day Saints have a hard time believing that God CAN do what we ask, but very few of us actually believe He WILL do what we ask.

I hope that doesn’t sound harsh, because I don’t think it is. We’re all imperfect. We all lack faith. We see miracles fail to happen all the time. So we lack faith—we’re human. God does His own thing most of the time, but if one of His children has the faith necessary, He’ll grant it. It’s not common because miracles do in fact require a lot of faith. The fact the Christ said that faith the size of a mustard seed can move a mountain, indicates that most people have faith much, much smaller than that.

Even though this post is getting long, I have a few more things to say by way of application to make this more clear.

First, I want to apply this to Matt and Mandy. There’s all kinds of context not included in that comic. Depending on the context our adult minds automatically fill in, the Dad probably hasn’t done all he could, hence the criticism in this thread. Given that a miracle happened, and that there’s no context given, we can only assume that he had. Considering the target audience (children), it’s not surprising that the comic was simple.

Second, let’s talk about child-like faith. Our problem as adults is that our experience is that miracles don’t happen. Actually believing that something miraculous could happen is hard. Children don’t have that baggage. One post called it “magical thinking” which is a common philosophical way to put it. Children don’t understand cause and effect like an adult and therefore believe that things can happen even if the regular cause is missing. The fact that there is a God somewhere out there in the universe that loves us and knows how to give good gifts to His children and can do anything means that believing in miracles is faith, not magical thinking (unless we do know we aren’t meeting the requirements).

The Savior told us to have faith as a child, because He knows we have that baggage. As we do our best to live the gospel, we qualify for the Holy Ghost’s companionship and also for the gifts of the Spirit which are promised to those who seek them, and which include “exceedingly great faith”, the faith to be healed, and the faith to perform “mighty miracles (Moroni 10). God can help us overcome the baggage of our experience so that we can believe as a child.

Third, I want to talk about the broken distributor wire. Knowing what the problem is does not tie God’s hands such that He can’t perform the miracle. Knowing what the problem is means that we know without a doubt that in order for God to help He has to intervene in a major way, beaking the laws of nature that we know. That’s harder for us to believe, so we lack faith. Not knowing the problem means that our imagination can conjure up various less-amazing ways the Lord can help, and so it’s easier to believe that He will.

Fourth, I want to talk more about what it means to do all we can. Going further with the broken distributor wire, BobW did most of the leg-work himself. He was able to, and he undoubtedly had some divine help along the way seeing as how it was a Sunday night in Western NC. Very often we want the miracle to save us from having to do what we know we can/should do. Even if BobW didn’t know what the problem was, he could have found the patrolman, who found the tow truck, that could have towed him to town so he could find a place to stay for the night and have it repaired the next day.

Let’s change the example a little bit. Let’s say Bob got a call that his wife was enroute to the hospital after having a heart attack. He didn’t have time to track down a distributor wire or wait until morning. There was nothing he could do himself to get the car fixed and get to the hospital in time, even though he knew the problem. The rest of that would be left up to faith. Most people in that situation would probably end up at the hospital the next day. So we’re human!

Whether it’s the miracle of the Atonement that cleanses our sins, a miracle that starts the car, or a miracle that heals an injury, we have faith that if we do all we can, God will make up the difference. If we don’t have sufficient faith, then we just keep doing our best and maybe we will next time. The Atonement will make up the difference.

Fifth, it is common to hear in Church meetings and other settings for people to pray that blessings be granted “according to their faith and Thy will”. If it’s the Lord’s will for something to happen, then it does happen. One of the things He has said is that it IS His will to perform miracles IF we have the faith. Whether the miracle happens or not is according to His will and is determined by us, our faith, hence that prayer is ALWAYS answered. ;)

Sixth (again, sorry about the length…but I’m not too sorry to post this anyway ;) ), faith does require righteous living. Sin demonstrates a lack of faith because it shows that we don’t really believe what God has said, i.e. that only the righteous can be saved. If we don’t believe that enough to live the commandments, how can we really believe God when He says “ask and ye shall receive”?

We do what we can and trust God to make up the difference. That is faith, and that is how miracles are wrought among the children of men. It doesn’t matter how “amazing” the feat, how small the intervention, or whether our hands are abnormally large: all that is required is faith!

If you know that the distributor wire is broken, no amount of prayer will fix it. You will need to replace or repair it. Only if you do not know what the problem is will a miracle be workable.

So, that being said, we were stranded in the rain on top of Mount Mitchel in NC after an arduous climb. It was me and 5 kids. The van would not start. I quickly determined that it was indeed the distributor cable. It was Sunday, not a good day for auto repair in western NC. I was cold and wet.

Found a highway patrol man who managed to find a tow truck, who managed to walk into a closed auto repair shop and find a cable on the wall so we could drive home. So, yes, it is right. If you know what the problem is you have to fix it. But sometimes miracles happen.

Unfortunately miracles are not dependable. People die at stop signs or of cancer with people praying for their recovery. I know.

But the underlying discussion seems really important. To accurately discern when God has actually intervened in our lives must be to truly understand and know Him. I’m not there.

Dumb comic – leads kids to believe that all they have to do is ask – we know that isn’t always true. Imho, it sets them up for a great deal of disappointment in real life.

Or maybe it’s because your resume has misspellings, has obviously factual errors, and you’re a jerk in a one-on-one, face-to-face setting.

That reminds me of one of my mother’s best lines. In a stake conference, a woman was speaking about how her son had been in a terrible car accident, leaving him paralyzed. She said, ‘It’s hard to know why such bad things happen to good people.’ My mother leaned over and whispered louder than I thought possible, ‘IT’S BECAUSE THEY DON’T WEAR SEATBELTS.’

Maybe.

Or maybe it’s because your resume has misspellings, has obviously factual errors, and you’re a jerk in a one-on-one, face-to-face setting.

I’ve been unemployed before. And we had much fasting and prayer during our job search. And I received a blessing from a priesthood leader that promised me certain blessings that came to pass, during my interview. And I got the job.

I won’t dismiss the power of prayer. But if you’re not availing yourself of every option God has already placed on the earth (up to and including other people, including secular institutions) … I doubt HF is going to help you…