Faith to be Healed - D&C 42:48

And again, it shall come to pass that he that hath faith in me to be healed, and is not appointed unto death, shall be healed. He who hath faith to see shall see. He who hath faith to hear shall hear. The lame who hath faith to leap shall leap. And they who have not faith to do these things, but believe in me, have power to become my sons; and inasmuch as they break not my laws thou shalt bear their infirmities.

Notice that the first sentence says "he that hath faith in me". There is an important distinction between simply having faith, and having faith in Jesus Christ. Many people have "faith". They believe that the sun will come up in the morning. That their stock will go up. That a newly formed marriage will succeed. Faith gets us out of bed in the morning.

It is faith which impels us to action, and all people have it in different amounts and directed toward different things. However, when we assume to have faith in the supernatural, in miracles, faith in Jesus Christ is "the only name whereby salvation cometh",  and wherein there is true righteous power. If our faith is not in Jesus Christ, and is not confirmed by His holy will, the thing that we have faith in is not guaranteed, and in fact, may be unrighteous.

Jesus told us:

And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come; And whatsoever is more or less than this is the spirit of that wicked one who was a liar from the beginning. (D&C 93:24,25)

 Thus, not believing in things which have been revealed, and believing in things which have not been revealed are both non-conformant to the Spirit, and are forms of unbelief and idolatry.

Now, I say this with the caveat that hope and belief are different things. One may hope for something good without a knowledge of whether it is in accordance with His will. But when one begins to believe something without ascertaining the will of God, he's treading on thin ice.

All miracles are granted to those of faith whenever it is according to His will:

And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. (Mark 16:17-18)

I assert that the true church or people of God will have these and all other miracles among them. Many say that the day of miracles have ceased, but if that were so, why does the Bible not say so? And, why is the Bible so chock full of miracles? Isn't it so that we will believe in them? It is easy for us to doubt things we have not experienced for ourselves. But just because we haven't seen any of these things does not mean that they do not exist. If we don't experience miracles, it is usually due to a lack of faith.

And now, O all ye that have imagined up unto yourselves a god who can do no miracles, ... God has not ceased to be a God of miracles.

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. 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. And 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. Behold, I say unto you that whoso believeth in Christ, doubting nothing, whatsoever he shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted him; and this promise is unto all, even unto the ends of the earth. (Mormon 9:15,18-21)

Besides lack of faith and the will of God, another possible reason we may experience fewer miracles, or at least smaller ones, is that our circumstances may not warrant big miracles. Now I'm talking about the parting of the Red Sea, the submission of lions, fire from heaven, etc. For the majority of us, I think that our lives are not in danger most of the time and thus we don't need divine intervention to save our lives on a daily basis. I'm not saying that divine intervention doesn't occur on a daily basis, even to save our lives, but that it happens more subtly and in smaller degrees; to the extent that unless we are careful, we may not notice it.

... behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise. And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls. (Alma 37:6-7)

 I also want to address the final sentence of the topic scripture: "And they who have not faith to do these things, but believe in me, have power to become my sons; and inasmuch as they break not my laws thou shalt bear their infirmities."

Concerning faith to be healed, etc. many of us may not have sufficient faith. Or as was pointed out by Elder Bednar, "faith not to be healed" may be required; meaning the humility to accept that a trial in our life may have been put there in for a wise purpose in God, which we may not understand. Regardless, whether a particular miracle of healing or otherwise is granted, if they "believe in me" they "have power to become my sons". This is really the important part.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

When all things are considered, we realize that salvation is infinitely more important than survival. Thus accepting the will of God to grant or not grant miracles as His wisdom sees fit, is ultimately the best, because this life is a temporary step onto bigger and greater things. And it will be great, if we believe in Him.

The Weak Things Shall Thrash the Nations - D&C 35:9

For I am God, and mine arm is not shortened; and I will show miracles, signs, and wonders, unto all those who believe on my name. And whoso shall ask it in my name in faith, they shall cast out devils; they shall heal the sick; they shall cause the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak, and the lame to walk. And the time speedily cometh that great things are to be shown forth unto the children of men; But without faith shall not anything be shown forth except desolations upon Babylon, the same which has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And there are none that doeth good except those who are ready to receive the fulness of my gospel, which I have sent forth unto this generation. Wherefore, I call upon the weak things of the world, those who are unlearned and despised, to thresh the nations by the power of my Spirit; And their arm shall be my arm, and I will be their shield and their buckler; and I will gird up their loins, and they shall fight manfully for me; and their enemies shall be under their feet; and I will let fall the sword in their behalf, and by the fire of mine indignation will I preserve them.

God continues to be a God of miracles. And for those of faith, miracles are granted. I have spoken before about the need to obtain the will of God before expecting a miracle. The topic verse explains what we can expect without faith: "But without faith shall not anything be shown forth except desolations upon Babylon, ..." The world is becoming more and more engulfed in Babylon. Last week from the time of writing, a 14 year-old opened fire on innocent children at an elementary school. There were riots in North Carolina. Two bombings happened; one in New York and one in New Jersey. Terrorist groups operate with impunity in many parts of the world, killing innocent people. We had a presidential debate between two candidates; one of which is the poster child for ego and materialism, the other, one who sold national secrets for personal gain; an act that would send a normal person to jail for decades.

Truly, the last days are encroaching upon us. It is as we are told: "... it is by the wicked that the wicked are punished." (Mormon 4:5). Not to say that the children in the school yard were "wicked", on the contrary, concerning the fate of the innocent and the wicked who commit these crimes we are told:

... for behold the Lord receiveth [the innocent] up unto himself, in glory; and he doth suffer that [the wicked] may do this thing ... unto them, according to the hardness of their hearts, that the judgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and the blood of the innocent shall stand as a witness against them, yea, and cry mightily against them at the last day. (Alma 14:11)

I believe most people are generally good, but as the bumper sticker goes: "Evil wins when good people do nothing." And in that aspect, many - probably most of us stand convicted, and the judgements of God hang in the balance. I'm not in any position to judge, but like anyone else, am observing the things that Paul prophesied: 

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

Acting according to faith becomes more difficult in an increasingly secular world. We feel judged. We worry about what others will think of our actions and devotion. And if we heed that feeling, we lose faith. Jesus pointed this out to the scribes and Pharisees of His time:

How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only? (John 5:44)

It takes faith to disregard the shame that the world would heap upon us for practicing faith. And we must continue to hold on no matter what:

But, behold, the righteous, the saints of the Holy One of Israel, they who have believed in the Holy One of Israel, they who have endured the crosses of the world, and despised the shame of it, they shall inherit the kingdom of God, which was prepared for them from the foundation of the world, and their joy shall be full forever. (2 Nephi 9:18)

And I repeat the last part of the topic scripture:

Wherefore, I call upon the weak things of the world, those who are unlearned and despised, to thresh the nations by the power of my Spirit; And their arm shall be my arm, and I will be their shield and their buckler; and I will gird up their loins, and they shall fight manfully for me; and their enemies shall be under their feet; and I will let fall the sword in their behalf, and by the fire of mine indignation will I preserve them.