Do you believe prayers to saints are idol worship?

Answer 1

Depends, are you asking if praying to them for final results is wrong, then yes, but to pray and ask them to pray with and for us, then no.

Many people 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 2

Yes, prayers to the dead saints are idol worship and they are detestable to God.
Deut 18:11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spirits or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord, and because of these detestable practises the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you.

Answer 3

Yes. Why?

1. There is only one God and Him only shall you worship (bow down to).

2. The Bible also states: "For there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus who died for all to be justified in due time".

So, if I'm not to bow down before anyone BUT God and Jesus is God's ONE and ONLY Mediator, what can the statue of a saint do for me?

Exactly. Nothing.

Answer 4

Yes! It is a sin to pray to anyone other than God. Why pray to saints, what can they for you? They can not save you or heal you. Pray to the only one that can answer your prayers.

Answer 5

I don't "pray to saints" - but since St. Paul said that "death" is one of the list of things that will not separate us from the Love of Christ - I feel free to ask the Saints who have gone on before us to intercede for us.

Answer 6

Yes. The who idea is a direct relationship. Why pray to any other than God?

~ Eric Putkonen

Answer 7

praying to a saint as if He or She were God is wrong.

praying that a saint might hear your prayer and pray to God with you and on your behalf is another story.

Answer 8

Not idol worship, but wrong.

Answer 9

Matthew chapter 6

6: But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

Answer 10

Yes, we're only supposed to pray to Jesus or the Father. The bible says there is but one mediator between God and man, and that is Jesus.