How can one ask a dead woman in prayer to help them?

Question

The thought of praying for Mary's assistance in your desires.... how odd.

I think of a chapter where King Saul spoke to a dead (or whatever) person. He got in a lot of trouble. Soul SHMoul

Answer 1

I agree.

We can’t talk to the saints or Mary because they are not in Heaven YET. This topic deals primarily with the state of the dead. Are the Saints in Heaven right now? The Bible teaches that they are not. The Bible teaches that the Saints are asleep waiting for the resurrection. So if they are not in Heaven they can’t intercede for us. To better understand this we have to understand what happens when you die (no where in the Bible does it say Mary was assumed into Heaven) read below.


A lot of Christians are saying that the soul can’t die but what does God say

Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. Ezekiel 18:4


Are our souls immortal?

Which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who ALONE is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen. I Timothy 6:15,16

Talking about death we should look at how life was created
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. - Genesis 2:7
From this we see that the soul is the combination of both the breath of God and the physical body.
So what happens when you die?
1) In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.- Genesis 3:19
2) And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. - Luke 23:46
3) Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. - Ecclesiastes 12:5

From these scriptures we see that when you die the two components of the soul either decay (the physical body) or goes back to God (the spirit)

Many people believe that the spirit is some intangible ghostlike substance but if you look at what the bible says
All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils - Job 27:3

From this we see that the spirit is the Breath of Life not a … ghost (for lack of a better word)


Do the dead go directly to heaven or hell?

Psalms 115:17 The dead praise not the Lord.
Psalms 6:5 In death there is no remembrance of thee.
Isaiah 38:18 Death can not celebrate thee.
Psalms 146:4 His thoughts perish.
Job 21:32 Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.
Ecclesiastes 9:5 For the living know that they shall die; but the dead do not know anything, nor do they have any more a reward; for their memory is forgotten.
From these verses we see that there is no thought in death

Some may argue that these are all Old Testament examples of the teaching of death so lets look at the New Testament
Jesus speaking about the death of Lazarus
These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. John 11:11-14
Matthew 27:52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose
1 Thessalonians 4:15 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
1 Thessalonians 4:14 Them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
There are some people who are in Heaven now and the Bible tells us how they got there
1)Enoch was taken directly to Heaven Genesis 5:24

2)Moses was resurrected early Jude 9. notice what it says
even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the BODY of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"
If your spirit flies off to Heaven why is Michael fighting for his body

3)Elijah went in a fiery chariot 2Kings 2:11

4) it is believed that those resurrected when Jesus resurrected Matt 27:52 went to Heaven when Jesus ascended.


If we look at what Jesus said on the cross in Luke 23:43
And Jesus said to him, Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.

Many use this to prove the point that we go directly to our reward. The problem is in the Greek there was not a comma, the comma was placed centuries later by people who believed that we go directly to our reward. If you move the comma it conforms to the rest of scripture

And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you today, you will be with Me in Paradise.”

Read on and Jesus tells Mary he did not ascend to heaven yet.


But doesn’t the Bible say to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord?

As I mentioned above the Bible says we do not go directly to heaven or hell. I think we should look at 2 Corinthians 5, but rather than only looking at verse 8 lets look at the whole chapter in order to gain better perspective. If you read the whole text we see Paul talking about three states of being. In chapter 1 Paul writes 1) our earthly house {our earthly bodies} 2) a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens {glorified bodies}. In verse 3 he says 3) naked.

The question to ask is when do we get our glorified bodies?

1 Corinthians 15:51 says we get them at the last trumps when Christ returns proving we do not go directly to heaven upon death.

If we go directly to heaven or Hell when we die then there is never a time when we are “naked”

Let’s look at what Peter said in Acts chapter 2

Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.
Acts 2:29

For David is not ascended into the heavens
Acts 2:34

The Bible calls David a man after God’s own heart, he was the only one who stood against Goliath in the name of the Lord and Jesus was of his lineage. If anyone deserved to go directly to Heaven it would be David

[Speaking of Stephen] when he had said this, he fell asleep. Acts7:60
So when do we go to heaven?

He that eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, has everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the LAST day. John 6:55

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. I Thessalonians 4:16

We go to heaven when Jesus comes


http://prophecycode.org/meeting-list.asp


this video explains the state of the dead
http://prophecycode.org/Resources/Video/PCVideo/ProphecyCode_13.asx


The Bible teaches that they are not in Heaven they are sleeping waiting for the resurrection. The Bible also teaches that it is a sin to try to talk to those that are dead.

Answer 2

Remember death is only something the woman went through; it's not a permanent condition. Get a nice ophoto of her and stand it up ..After you've prayed for guidance, as the good friend who died to listen to what you have to say. Then don't have any hard and fast ideas of what she is supposed to do for you. She may in no way ready or able to help you at this time. Pray for her happiness and well being and let her know that you love her regardless.Appreciate whatever help you can get.

Answer 3

Mary is dead. If you pray to dead people that is witchcraft, that is what the witches and druids and warlocks do they pray to the souls of the dead. By praying to dead people you are aligning yourself into witchcraft.
The RC church has taken on many pagan practices, they ask you to pray for the dead and even they will pray too but they WILL CHARGE YOU for the purpose of it.
So basically there are two reasons NOT to pray to the dead,
1. It is unscriptural and God tells us to have nothing to do with praying to the dead.
2. If someone takes money for praying, then that is ONE BIG CON!
Read the Scriptures and you will find in 1 Tim 2:5 FOR THERE IS ONE GOD, AND ONE MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MEN, THE MAN CHRIST JESUS.
So here we are clearly told to direct our prayers ONLY to Jesus anything else is man made teaching and scriptural

Answer 4

Why should that be any odder than asking any other "dead" woman -- your grandmother, for example? If you believe in immortal souls, then surely those who are in Heaven can hear and assist as surely as when they were "alive."
Have you ever thanked anyone for praying for you? Then why would the "dead" in Heaven be less capable of interceding for you than the "living" on Earth? I'd think just the opposite.

Answer 5

I took a Cultural Anthropology class in college and one of the first principles my professor introduced was something called ethnocentricity. This is when we think our own culture is superior and that all other cultures are wierd. We are unable to accept that culture for its differences. There have been many cultures that pray to their ancestors for help and guidance even going as so far as displaying the skulls of their ancecestors for protection. I feel that anything anybody needs to do to make themselves feel secure and protected as long as is doesn't harm anybody is fine with me. We as human beings have the right to believe whatever we want to. Not everyone taps into spirituality and some people feel that organized religion is what make them "spiritual". I'm not sure that I need to be organized. I just need to follow what is in my heart and soul.

Answer 6

Mary is not a "dead woman".

Mary, as we all are, is an eternal soul, residing in our true home in the spiritual dimension, with God, ready to assist anyone who asks of her.

We all have angels and spirit guides with us at all times, sent by God, ready, willing and able to assist us with anything we may ask. They are not false idols, they, as we are, are all individuations of God.

Your assertion is very limited and small-minded, but then, God is FAR beyond our limited human comprehension.

Answer 7

Great question, kinda like how can one pray to a dead man for help, like as in her son Jesus? Since they are both dead, you should probably leave both of them alone.

Answer 8

Fundamentalists challenge the Catholic practice of asking saints and angels to pray for us. But the Bible directs us to invoke those in heaven and ask them to pray with us.

Thus in Psalm 103, we pray, "Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, hearkening to the voice of his word! Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers that do his will!" (Ps. 103:20-21). And in Psalm 148 we pray, "Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise him in the heights! Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his host!" (Ps. 148:1-2)

Not only do those in heaven pray with us, they also pray for us. In Revelation, John sees that "the twenty-four elders [the leaders of the people of God in heaven] fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints" (Rev. 5:8). Thus the saints in heaven offer to God the prayers of the saints on earth.

Angels do the same thing: "[An] angel came and stood at the altar [in heaven] with a golden censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne; and the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God" (Rev. 8:3-4).

Jesus himself warned us not to mess with small children because their guardian angels have guaranteed intercessory access to the Father: "See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven." (Matt. 18:10).

Because he is the only God-man, Jesus is the only Mediator between man and God (1 Tim. 2:5), but this in no way means we cannot or should not ask our fellow Christians to pray with us and for us (1 Tim. 2:1-4), including those Christians in heaven, who have already had their sanctification completed, for "[t]he prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects" (Jas. 5:16).

Answer 9

Some people think that way, but I'm not among them. I like to do things simply-- If I want a glass of water, I'll get it myself. If I ever wanted to pray, I'd do it to god, not to anyone else "inbetween."

Answer 10

Simply praying to that person's soul

Answer 11

It is believed that Jesus is a part of god and so not one that an ordinary mortal can go to with requestes. Still he is a good Momma's Boy and if you ask her to interceed with him on your behalf he just might answer your prayer.