“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.” (James 5:16–18 ESV). Healing here, as in the ministry of Jesus, often involved the forgiveness of sins (James 5:15). All suffering and sickness is not caused by sin, but some certainly can be. The early house churches had opportunity for confessing ones personal sins to other believers. This was for group accountability, as well as for soul and body health. Elijah is given as an example of effective prayer from a person who was righteous (right in his relationship with God). He is not used as an exceptional example, but one with a nature like us. This is to say, effective praying is not out of the reach of anyone.
