why do Catholics ask saints to intercede for them when the Holy Spirit himself does so for all Christians ?

Question

Romans 8:26 & 27. DOes the Holy Spirit need help then?

Answer 1

Catholics argue that praying to Mary and the saints is no different than asking someone here on earth to pray for you. Let us examine that claim. (1) The Apostle Paul asks other Christians to pray for him in Ephesians 6:19. Many Scriptures describe believers praying for one another (2 Corinthians 1:11; Ephesians 1:16; Philippians 1:19; 2 Timothy 1:3). The Bible nowhere mentions anyone asking for someone in Heaven to pray for them. The Bible nowhere describes anyone in Heaven praying for anyone on earth. (2) The Bible gives absolutely no indication that Mary or the saints can hear our prayers. Mary and the saints are not omniscient. Even glorified in Heaven, they are still finite beings with limitations. How could they possibly hear the prayers of millions of people? Whenever the Bible mentions praying to or speaking with the dead, it is in the context of sorcery, witchcraft, necromancy, and divination - activities the Bible strongly condemns (Leviticus 20:27; Deuteronomy 18:10-13). The one instance when a "saint" is spoken to, Samuel in 1 Samuel 28:7-19, Samuel was not exactly happy to be disturbed. It is plainly clear that praying to Mary or the saints is completely different from asking someone here on earth to pray for you. One has a strong Biblical basis, the other has no Biblical basis whatsoever.

God does not answer prayers based on who is praying. God answers prayers based on whether they are asked according to His will (1 John 5:14-15). There is absolutely no basis or need to pray to anyone other than God alone. There is no basis for asking those who are in Heaven to pray for us. Only God can hear our prayers. Only God can answer our prayers. No one in Heaven has any greater access to God's throne that we do through prayer (Hebrews 4:16).

Recommended Resource: The Gospel According to Rome: Comparing Catholic Tradition and The Word of God by James McCarthy.

Answer 2

In prayer, we can express our dependence on the spirit for help regarding our weaknesses. (Romans 8:26, 27) If we realize that sinful desires or attitudes are affecting us, or if a loving fellow believer draws this to our attention, it would be wise to be specific about the problem in our prayers and ask for God’s assistance in overcoming these leanings.

Catholics have been deceived into believing that the saints or even Mary can intercede for them. But it will do them no good. Praying to anyone other than to God thru his Son, Jesus is wrong.

Answer 3

Asking the saints to intercede for them is NO different than asking the so-called "Holy Spirit", which is supposed to exist as a part of carving up the ONE God into 3 parts.

That being said, there isn't anything wrong with asking someone to go with you for a little extra help when you pray to GOD (and God alone).

The idea is that a saint has a more favored position in God's eyes than us ordinary shmucks do, has a little more merit than we do, so a saint's help might turn God's favor to us more easily than if we came on our own asking for whatever we are asking.

I see this go on plenty in the human world, kids are always getting other kids to ally with them to go ask a parent for something, more persuasion going on that way, more points for what they want and why they deserve it are brought out for consideration by the parent, etc. Nothing strange about that. Why wouldn't it become human practice when asking God for something too?

Answer 4

Due to the fact that these
Christians use the Protestant Old Testament which is lacking 7 entire books 2 (Tobias, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus/Sirach, Baruch, I Maccabees, and II Maccabees), 3 chapters of Daniel and 6 chapters of Esther may be one of the reasons they ask catholics so many questions.

For the Sola Scriptura this is too bad .
In the 16th c., Luther removed those books from the canon that lent support to orthodox doctrine, relegating them to an appendix. Removed in this way were books that supported such things as:

prayers for the dead (Tobit 12:12; 2 Maccabees 12:39-45),

Purgatory (Wisdom 3:1-7),

intercession of dead saints (2 Maccabees 15:14),

and intercession of angels as intermediaries (Tobit 12:12-15).

The lesson, though, is this: relying on the "Bible alone" is a bad idea; we are not to rely solely on Sacred Scripture to understand Christ's message. While Scripture is "given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16-17), it is not sufficient for reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness. It is the Church that is the "pillar and ground of Truth" (1 Timothy 3:15)! Jesus did not come to write a book; He came to redeem us, and He founded a Sacramental Church through His apostles to show us the way. It is to them, to the Church Fathers, to the Sacred Deposit of Faith, to the living Church that is guided by the Holy Spirit, and to Scripture that we must prayerfully look.

I think from now on every question regarding Catholic traditions, I am going to be lazy and just copy and paste the above answer......

any further questions, try this website:

http://www.fisheaters.com/beingcatholic....

Answer 5

Have you ever asked a friend to pray for you? It's like that.

Some people have a hard time conceiving of praying for the help of the Holy Spirit; it's easier for them to picture themselves talking to a person, albeit a deceased one.

Askings for the saints to pray with you is NOT a requirement of being Catholic, btw. We are allowed, nay, ENCOURAGED to pray directly to God.

Answer 6

You do know that it fairly is likely one in each and every of the main over-asked questions we get suitable? We answer this question various cases an afternoon and if I see it extra suitable than three times an afternoon, i do no longer answer because of the fact what's the use? no person seems to work out that little icon that pops up and says "Wait! we would have already got the respond you're finding for!" i'm no longer uncomfortable approximately this coaching in any respect. we are no longer worshipping the Saints or Mary. we are merely asking them to intercede our prayers for us. that is like asking a chum to wish for you once you're dealing with a coarse time. you're asking the chum to wish for you, no longer worshipping the chum. there's a undeniable distinction between worshipping and honoring. We have faith that the Saints and Mary are in heaven, alongside with our kinfolk. So what extra suitable human beings to intercede our prayers for us. with reference to the verse which you shared, you probably did no longer study the completed ingredient. The 4 verses previous it says,"in the beginning, then, i beg that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all adult males, for kings and all who're in extreme positions, that we could lead on a quiet and non violent existence, godly and respectful in each and every way. it fairly is nice, and eye-catching to God our Savior, who desires all adult males to be saved and to come back to the certainty of the fact." Intercessory prayers on behalf of others are "good and eye-catching to God." you in addition to mght misunderstand Christ being human's mediator. he's fairly unique because of the fact he's the only individual to be the two God and guy. subsequently he's the only one that bridges the two jointly. Christ is the mediator of the hot Covenant merely as Moses replaced into the mediator of the previous Covenant.

Answer 7

The Holy Spirit leads us to ask all members of the Body of Christ to pray for us and with us in Christ to the Father.

Answer 8

"Teach us how to pray," the disciples said to Jesus. (Luke 11, 1)

Jesus answered by teaching them the prayer we call the Our Father or The Lord's Prayer.

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give US this day OUR daily bread.
Forgive US OUR trespasses,
as WE forgive those who trespass against US.
And lead US not into temptation,
but deliver US from evil.

The entire second part of the Lord's prayer is intercessory prayer where we pray for ourselves and others (us, we, and our).

Christians praying for each other and the world is intercessory prayer and is accepted and practiced by all Christan denominations (that I know about).

Before Jesus Christ died for our sins and opened the gates of heaven there were no saints in heaven. Therefore there are no Old Testament writings that would mention them.

Very few of the new Christians died before most of the New Testament was written. Therefore there is little in the Bible about asking saints to pray for us.

However the last book of the Bible does talk about the saints in heaven praying.

Revelation 5:8: Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones.

Revelation 8:3-4: He was given a great quantity of incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the holy ones, on the gold altar that was before the throne. The smoke of the incense along with the prayers of the holy ones went up before God from the hand of the angel.

The Holy Spirit guided the early Church in many things not explained in the Bible including how does the Body of Christ (believers) living on Earth relate to the Body of Christ (saints) living in heaven. We are still one Body.

Catholics share the belief in the Communion of Saints with many other Christians, including the Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Episcopal, and Methodist Churches.

The Communion of Saints is the belief where all saints are intimately related in the Body of Christ, a family. When you die and go to heaven, you do not leave this family.

Everyone in heaven or on their way to heaven are saints, you, me, my deceased grandmother, Mary the mother of Jesus, Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II.

As part of this family, you may ask your family and friends living here on earth to pray for you. Or, you may also ask the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Andrew, or your deceased grandmother living in heaven to pray for you.

Prayer to saints in heaven is simple communication, not worship.

With love in Christ.

Answer 9

I don't know about you, but I need all the help I can get.

I ask them all for help!

I also ask friends to Pray for me at times, it is the same thing as asking Saints to do so.

Peace!

Answer 10

Does it really matter what grocery store you shop at? The products all still come from China either way.