2. Prevailing Prayer Works! (James 5:16) – “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.”

Check out the word study:

• The word “effectual” is ἐνεργέω (en-erg-eh’-o), which means to be at work, to be active, or to be effective. Are your prayers working?
• Do you see the word “righteous”? Does it mean perfect? Not hardly! Instead, it is the word “δίκαιος”, which means just or upright. Greek scholars identify the word as referring to the elect or a Jewish idea. Additionally, the word elect is used for the Church as well.
• The phrase “availeth much” is ἰσχύω (is-khoo’-o), which means to be strong or to have power. It also has to do with prevailing. Do you feel like your prayers have power? If not, why not?

If you continue reading the next verses in this chapter, you will discover that James uses Elijah as an example of a man of prayer. His prevailing prayers caused God to withhold rain for three and a half years and then release the rain. Needless to say, Elijah was a courageous prophet who was bold and had great faith in the God of the Bible. Is it any wonder that his prayers prevailed?

“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.” (James 5:17)