Praying to the saints or asking them to help, where is that in the bible?

Question

If I can pray to the saints to help me, aren't we deintizing them? Why didnt Jesus pray to saints? Why didnt Paul or peter or the first diciples? why can I just pray to saints, why cant I ask my Grandpa to help me? When we pray, we pray only to God. We petition him for everything. Isnt He big enough to help us?

Answer 1

I almost got hoodwinked by Julia's answer. You had me going there for about. . .10 seconds.

Why would I pray to a saint -
Wait a minute. I am a saint! I did not get voted by a bunch of Cardinals in Rome to become one. Read the New Testament.

Better than that. I am allowed to come boldly before the throne of grace.

Finally, a saint being one set aside (consecrated (by the blood)) (are imbedded parenthetical statements permissable?) for service; when I ask someone to pray for me, and they be in Christ, then I am asking a saint/Saint to pray for me.

They even got Saints in New Orleans.

Answer 2

God, like any good Father, is also "big" enough to leave something for us to do, too, even after we make it to heaven.

You won't find the Trinity mentioned in the Bible either, or the sinner's prayer, or altar calls, for that matter.

All the saints, whether on earth or in heaven, are still active members of the church.

There's absolutely no reason they can't be included in the ongoing work of saving souls.

If your grandpa is in heaven, there is little doubt that he's already interceding with God on your behalf, whether you realize it or not.

Answer 3

Praying to saints is a man made tradition handed down by the catholic church. God is the only one we pray to through what Jesus Christ did for us.

Answer 4

The Bible directs us to invoke those in heaven and ask them to pray with us. Thus in Psalm103, 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!" (Psalm 103,20-21). And in Psalms 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" (Psalm 148, 1-2).
NOT ONLY DO THOSE IN HEAVEN PRAY WITH, THEY ALSO PRAY FOR US. In the book of revelation, we read: "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" (Revelation 8,3-4).
And those in heaven who offer to God our prayers aren't just angels, but humans as well. 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" (Revelation 5,8). The simple fact is, as this passage shows: THE SAINTS IN HEAVEN OFFER TO GOD THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS ON EARTH.
Peace and every blessing!

Answer 5

Saints are those who by a life of fidelity to Christ have gained eternal life in Heaven,they are good examples of how we are to follow Jesus every day of our lives, now they are in the position of speaking for us to Jesus more intimately and Jesus loves to hear their prayers on our behalf.
Remember not everything Jesus said or did is recorded in the Gospels,so we have the grace of tradition to supplement the scriptures and the church has a divine right to interpret tradition and scripture to our spiritual advantage.

Answer 6

"Deintizing" them? What does that mean?

If you're not going to ask the saints to pray for you, then by logical extension, you should not ask anyone here on earth to pray for you either.

And if someone asks you to pray for them, by logical extension, you should refuse them and tell them to pray to God directly.

But, of course, no good Christian would be so uncharitable as to refuse to pray for someone.

I don't know why some Christians think it's okay to ask people on earth to pray for them, but it's NOT okay to ask people who dwell with God to pray for them.

For the life of me, that makes no sense at all.

By the way, just because something isn't in the Bible, doesn't mean we shouldn't do it.

You seem to think that the Bible is the sole rule of Christian faith. But guess what? The Bible never says that!

There is NO verse in the Bible which says that the Bible is the sole rule of Christian faith.

If you believe the Bible is the sole rule of Christian faith, then you're believing something that is not in the Bible.
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Answer 7

When Christianity spread, many people tried to introduce elements of their old pagan gods into the religion. To counter-act this many Saints were given similar properties to pagan gods, and thus saint-worship was born. It is in fact a kind of idolatory.