Mark records the Twelve anointing many sick people with oil and healing them; James instructs elders to anoint the sick with oil while praying.

James explicitly names Elijah and recalls the period when rain was withheld, interpreting the drought tradition as connected with Elijah’s earnest prayer. First Kings supplies the historical prophetic setting in which Elijah announces the drought under YHWH’s authority.

James’s Elijah example includes both drought and renewed rain; 1 Kings 18 supplies the return phase, where YHWH promises rain and Elijah persists in prayer until the storm appears. The later apostolic text treats the narrative as a model of effective prayer.

James explicitly says Elijah prayed again and the heaven gave rain, while 1 Kings 18 narrates Elijah’s prayer posture, the small cloud, and the returning storm. The apostolic reference interprets the event as an example of effective prayer by a fully human servant of God.

Luke 4:25 and James 5:17 share the otherwise non-explicit biblical duration of three years and six months for Elijah’s drought.