How much does prayer matter? Can the prayer of man change anything? James says it can. "The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much" (James 5:16).
Exactly what is "much"? How "big" can we pray? Will prayer only bring about results that are likely to happen anyway? Or could they bring about something that is highly unlikely? Even impossible? James gives an example.
"Elijah ... prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months" (James 5:17). The story is recounted in I Kings, where Elijah announced, "As the LORD, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word" (I Kings 17:1).
The Bible confirms that there was "no rain in the land" (I Kings 17:7). The brook where God temporarily supplied for Elijah dried up (I Kings 17:7). The resulting "famine was severe" (I Kings18:2). Prophets hiding in a cave had to be supplied with water (I Kings 18:4).
Three and a half years with no rain. That's pretty intense. But is it within the realm of common experience? How much of an aberration was this?
The Dust Bowl (1931-1939) is considered the worst drought in the last millennium in North America. Several years of drought (1930-1931, 1934, 1936, 1939-1940) mixed with years of more normal rainfall in the Great Plains. Arkansas and Oklahoma were among the most affected. For eleven years (1930-1940), the average annual rainfall for each state was 23 inches, with 18 being the least amount of rainfall in any one year. In the worst drought we can imagine in our country, it still rained at least 18 inches even in the worst year.
How does that compare to Israel, where Elijah's drought occurred? Average annual rainfall in Israel is about one-third what it is for Arkansas and Oklahoma. Yes, there are dry times in Israel. Average rainfall from June through September is zero. But it rains the rest of the year, adding up to an average 7.29 inches per year. No rain at all for three and a half years? That is pretty incredible, since on average, they would get 25.5 inches in that time frame.
Is there anywhere in the world that doesn't get some rainfall each year? There are some very arid deserts, including places where, in fact, there is no known rainfall for decades or centuries on end. Those locations are rare, and are not inhabited. The driest inhabited places are pretty dry, but they still get minimal amounts of rain. My research found nine locations averaging less than a half inch of rain per year. (Aoulef, Algeria - .48; Pelican Point, Namibia - .32; Iquique, Chile - .2; Wadi Halfa, Sudan - .096; Ica, Peru - .09; Luxor, Egypt - .034; Aswan, Egypt - .0338; Al-Kufrah, Libya - .0338; Arica, Chile - .03). In three and a half years, the driest of these most extreme places on earth would get a tenth of an inch of rain. How much did Israel get in that time frame? Zero.
There is no way to interpret these statistics that would make zero rainfall possible for that amount of time. And if the extended drought were not amazing enough, at the end of those years, Elijah "prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit" (James 5:18).
Even though there was not a cloud in the sky, Elijah told the king, "There is the sound of the roar of a heavy shower" (I Kings 18:41). Then, after announcing this to the king, Elijah prayed seven times until his servant reported "a cloud as small as a man's hand is coming up from the sea" (I Kings 18:44). "In a little while the sky grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy shower" (I Kings 18:45). The man whose prayers had stopped the rains for three and a half years also prayed for an abundance of rain, which arrived almost immediately.
Yes, God did amazing things through the prayers of prophets. But God did not inspire James 5:16 for the benefit of first-century (or twenty-first century) prophets. He gave it to the New Testament church. The illustration of Elijah was intended to reveal how much prayer can accomplish.
In fact, Elijah's prayer was not effective just because he was a prophet. The Bible is quick to point out that "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours" (James 5:17). He was a frail human living in a finite body, just like we are. He was like us. Elijah had his share of struggles, just as we do.
Our prayers can accomplish much. There is other biblical teaching that guides our prayers, so this verse is not a guarantee that we will always see the results we expect. But it is an encouragement to pray, even for impossible things, because "The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much."
