“Revive Thy Work”

God is unchanging. Therefore, if He performed miracles in the past, he can perform miracles today.

This is a core message of the Book of Mormon. Nephi repeatedly appeals to scriptural accounts of miracles as evidence that his family can expect miracles in their lives. “The Lord is able to deliver us, even as our fathers, and to destroy Laban, even as the Egyptians” (1 Nephi 4:3). “If the Lord…has wrought so many miracles among the children of men, how is it that he cannot instruct me, that I should build a ship?” (1 Nephi 17:51).

Mormon framed this as a general principle. In a sermon to his people, he asked, “Have miracles ceased?” His answer: no, but miracles come in response to faith. If you aren’t experiencing miracles, you are probably not exercising faith (Moroni 7:27-37).

Mormon’s son Moroni further emphasized this point, urging modern readers to recognize that God can work miracles in our lives:

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?

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.

Mormon 9:17-19

The prophet Habakkuk lived in a time of turmoil. The northern kingdom of Israel had been conquered by the Assyrians, and things didn’t look good for his nation either. In the third chapter of his book, we read a prayer in which he appeals to God’s prior miracles as he asks for divine intervention on behalf of his people. Here is the beginning of that prayer:

O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.

Habakkuk 3:2

The King James translation of that verse is difficult to understand. Why was he afraid of the Lord’s speech, for example, and what does it mean for God to revive his work? Here are two other translations of the verse which help to clarify its meaning:

Lord, I have heard of your fame;

I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord.

Repeat them in our day,

in our time make them known;

in wrath remember mercy.

Habbakuk 3:2, New International Version

I know your reputation, LORD,

and I am amazed

at what you have done.

Please turn from your anger

and be merciful;

do for us what you did

for our ancestors.

Habakkuk 3:2, Contemporary English Version

Last April, President Russell M. Nelson suggested five specific actions we can take in order to increase our spiritual momentum. One of those was to seek and expect miracles. He said:

Every book of scripture demonstrates how willing the Lord is to intervene in the lives of those who believe in Him. He parted the Red Sea for Moses, helped Nephi retrieve the brass plates, and restored His Church through the Prophet Joseph Smith….

In the same way, the Lord will bless you with miracles if you believe in Him, “doubting nothing.” Do the spiritual work to seek miracles…. Few things will accelerate your spiritual momentum more than realizing the Lord is helping you to move a mountain in your life.

“The Power of Spiritual Momentum,” General Conference, April 2022, italics in original

Today, I will seek for miracles. I will remember that God is a God of miracles, and that His miracles in the past demonstrate that He can do miracles in the present. Like Habakkuk, I will plead for miracles, knowing that God can be as active in my life as He was in the lives of my ancestors.