Working miracles through faith

A miracle is an outcome whose means are generally unknown. However, miracles are not magic. Though the means of miracles are generally unknown, they are known to some, and they are available to all. All outcomes are determined by specific preconditions stipulated from before the foundation of the world:

20 There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—
21 And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated. (D&C 130)

Miracles, which are a subset of all possible outcomes, are not an exception to this rule. Even miracles are subject to laws. The difference between a common outcome and a miracle is not the existence or absence of a law of cause and effect, but our awareness of such.

We know miracles can happen because they are plainly described in scripture and because Jesus said that they are a permanent fixture of the gospel. Why are they rare? Are they meant to be?

Since outcomes are predicated on specific conditions, uncommon outcomes can only be uncommon because their specific conditions are only rarely fulfilled. This is just as true with miracles as any other outcome.

34 And he hath said: Repent all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me, and be baptized in my name, and have faith in me, that ye may be saved.
35 ...has the day of miracles ceased?
36 Or have angels ceased to appear unto the children of men? Or has he withheld the power of the Holy Ghost from them? Or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man upon the face thereof to be saved?
37 Behold I say unto you, Nay; for it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men.... (Moroni 7)

Miracles are rarer than other outcomes because their conditions are less known than those of other outcomes. They are less known because people are rarely willing to do what is required to learn those conditions or even willing to fulfill those conditions when they are plainly taught to them:

15 And now, O all ye that have imagined up unto yourselves a god who can do no miracles, I would ask of you, have all these things passed, of which I have spoken? Has the end come yet? Behold I say unto you, Nay; and God has not ceased to be a God of miracles.
16 Behold, are not the things that God hath wrought marvelous in our eyes? Yea, and who can comprehend the marvelous works of God?
17 Who shall say that it was not a miracle that by his word the heaven and the earth should be; and by the power of his word man was created of the dust of the earth; and by the power of his word have miracles been wrought?
18 And who shall say that Jesus Christ did not do many mighty miracles? And there were many mighty miracles wrought by the hands of the apostles.
19 And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles. 
20 And <u>the reason why he ceaseth to do miracles among the children of men is because that they dwindle in unbelief, and depart from the right way, and know not the God in whom they should trust. (Mormon 9)</u>

Rather than think of miracles as exceptional and mystical phenomena, we ought to think of them as no different than any other instance of the faith cycle, except that the actions and reasons are beyond the understanding of most, and the outcomes are greater than most are willing to desire. They are, in a sense, the purest example of the faith cycle because they result in outcomes that can’t come except through the exercise of great faith. If one can work miracles, they are expert enough at the faith cycle to obtain any lesser outcome. The reverse is not true. Though all outcomes are obtained through faith, those most common do not require very much desire or reasons or action. Miracles require extreme desire, reasons, and action.

Miracles, like every other outcome, happen through faith. Miracles occur as a result of the faith process: desire, reason, and action. There is never a miracle except as the result of someone having more desire, stronger reasons, or different actions than they otherwise would have had. This description of what causes miracles to occur is also the prescription for causing them to happen.

Melchizedek used faith to obtain miraculous outcomes that were not automatically available, such as stopping the mouths of lions, quenching fire, etc.¹ He did not have a right to those outcomes through some arbitrary power he received from God. Rather, he first had faith to envision these potential outcomes in spite of a lack of a known path to obtain them, and he worked according to his knowledge of God’s power and character. Melchizedek learned from God what he could do to bring about God’s will, leaning on God to carry whatever part of the transaction only he could.