James 5:16 instructs us, “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”  Here, we learn of the effectiveness of prayer.  We are told to confess our faults (sins, trespasses) to each other.  Having the knowledge of a fellow believer’s faults, we are told to pray for that person.  According to the needs, the healing could be spiritual, physical, emotional, etc.  The Lord knows the need and according to His perfect and Holy will, He will answer, as we read in 1 John 5:14-15, “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”

Does prayer really make a difference?  Indeed, it does!  Let’s read James 5:16 out of the Amplified Bible.  That says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another [your false steps, your offenses], and pray for one another, that you may be healed and restored. The heartfelt and persistent prayer of a righteous man (believer) can accomplish much [when put into action and made effective by God—it is dynamic and can have tremendous power].”  The Lord promises us that our persistent, heartfelt prayers can make a huge difference.  We enjoy knowing that the Lord will answer our petitions when it is in accordance to His will.  He will never give us anything that will hurt us or draw us away from Him.  He will grant our desires when they are led of Him.  When the Lord leads us to pray for a particular person or situation, He will answer that prayer.

A good illustration of the power of praying according to the leading of the Lord is found in verses James 5:17-18 telling us that, “Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.” 

Did Elijah truly pray for the rain to cease for 3 ½ years?  While we do not have the exact language in 1 Kings that Elijah prayed, it is certainly intimated in 1 Kings 17:1, “And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, BEFORE WHOM I STAND, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.”  Elijah had been in the presence of God.  After all, he was the Lord’s minister and prophet.  Certainly, it was by the authority of God that he announced to Ahab that it would not rain until he spoke again.  This boldness and confidence must have come from being in the presence of God in dutiful prayer.  It was by the leading of the Lord that is given through prayer, that Elijah made this bold declaration.  So, when he prayed, the Lord responded and stopped the rain.

James 5:18 tells us that Elijah “prayed again, and the heaven gave rain…”  We read about this event of Elijah praying in 1 Kings 18:42 and 25, “So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees…And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.” 

I think we can see there is no discrepancy here.  Sometimes it just takes a little digging to get the complete message of God’s Word.  Even if we could not find instances of Elijah praying, this would not be an indication of an inconsistency in the Word.  The Lord could certainly have revealed to James that Elijah prayed and stopped the rain, then prayed again and restored the rain. 

Because of so many proofs in the Bible, we can rest assured that the Bible, in its original writ, is inerrant and infallible.  God used men to write the Bible and God Himself is inerrant and infallible.  We read in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”  (CC)  (574.4)