An oversimplified reading of the question Moroni asks, “Have ye forgotten the captivity of our fathers?”, would be that Jehovah’s miraculous deliverance in the past would similarly provide another miraculous delivery. That isn’t the lesson Moroni wants Pahoran to remember. While there were clear indications of a divine hand at play, the fathers had to do much to work out their own salvation, and they suffered much before the time of that salvation arrived.
Thus, Moroni sarcastically asks: “Or do ye suppose that the Lord will still deliver us, while we sit upon our thrones and do not make use of the means which the Lord has provided for us?” Moroni is clearly indicating that having faith in God does not mean that we are not to act on our own, to the best of our ability.