Will God Answer if Only One Person Prays?

In my experience, certain people believe that many prayers for something will more likely make it come to pass. Certainly it's not a sin to have many believers asking God for souls to be saved. But I know from the Bible that God will answer even one prayer from a single person when that prayer aligns with his will.

Remember the story of Elijah and the 450 prophets of Baal? They had a contest to see which god would answer. The priests of Baal danced around their altar all day but nobody answered. We read in 1 Kings 18:36-38 (BBE) how one prayer by one man was answered. "Then at the time of the offering, Elijah the prophet came near and said, 'O Lord, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be seen this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things by your order. Give me an answer, O Lord, give me an answer, so that this people may see that you are God, and that you have made their hearts come back again.' Then the fire of the Lord came down, burning up the offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and drinking up the water in the drain."

As I've pointed out before, and will have to keep pointing it out, Matthew 18:20 doesn't mean that Christ is with people when two or three are gathered in his name. The context of the chapter shows that he was speaking about church discipline.

The Jews had a law that charges must be verified by more than one witness. Deuteronomy 17:6 (BBE) makes this clear. "On the word of two or three witnesses, a man may be given the punishment of death; but he is not to be put to death on the word of one witness."

As we also read in 2 Corinthians 13:1 (BBE), This also applies to correct doctrine. "This is the third time that I am coming to you. From the mouth of two or three witnesses will every word be made certain."

And as James 5:16 (BBE) affirms, God answers the prayers of one or many faithful believers. "So then, make a statement of your sins to one another, and say prayers for one another so that you may be made well. The prayer of a good man is full of power in its working."

Prayer is an important topic. I'll be including it in my book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? Believers need to know how to pray and what to pray for. As it is, there's too much error preached in churches.

On Thursday, I'll post about why just being "good" doesn't impress God.