If you are praying to saints who do you think you are praying to? Is this wrong to pray to saints?

Question

Here are some verses that I found:
As for the saints who are on the earth, “They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.” Psalm 16:3

But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.’ Daniel 7:18

But now I am going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints. Romans 15:25

To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: 1 Corinthians 1:2

for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,Ephesians 4:12

Sound to me like the saints are those that follow Christ on earth and in heaven. I would not want anyone to pray to me. Christians should not pray to other believers in God. We should pray to God only.

Answer 1

You are right! All true followers of God are saints...not exactly just those people named by the Catholic Church. The Bible teaches that we are to pray to God the Father in Jesus name, or for Jesus sake...not to anyone else, not even to the Angels, Holy Spirit or even Jesus. We are to pray to the Father.

Answer 2

One thing I think you missed. There is a difference between saints and Saints. We, as believers in Jesus Christ are all saints. (see all your quotes above) We are to pray FOR the saints, for each of us that are here, on earth, doing the work of Christ. We all need the support of other believers to keep satan at bay. I'm sure you've heard it said that as your faith walk gets stronger you will come under greater and greater persecution from satan. THIS is why we need the prayer support - here and now.
The other saints that are Saints are people that have been cannonized by the church by the ministry work they did and they are now dead. Praying for the dead is a waste of time. They are where they are, doing whatever they are doing and there is NOTHING you can do change that. You are called to do your work NOW for the living.
You are a saint under the head of Jesus Christ and I pray for your strength and wisdom. Amen

Answer 3

Praying to the Saints

"‘And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God said to him, "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob"? He is not God of the dead, but of the living . . .’" (Mark 12:26-27)
"Pray at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me . . ." (Eph. 6:18).
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely . . ." (Heb. 12:1).
"And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders 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).

Answer 4

It is not wrong to "speak" to the Saints in Heaven, which in itself by definition is "prayer." In that sense it's a form of communication and not a kind of reverential request, as to God. If the question was instead, "Is it wrong to want to talk with your fellow Saints/Believers in heaven?"--You may not think it so strange nor disrespectful to God. But of course, you might be waiting along time for a direct response from your fellow Heavenly Saint. Where as, the Holy Spirit will speak directly to you, that is, if you hear God's voice. The question then is, "Why would you waste your time asking for prayer from a Heavenly Saint, when you have a direct line of communication to the Father/Son through the Holy Spirit?"
(John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:)

Keep in mind, that any requests for the Lord to consider, needs to be asked in the name of the Son of God (Yeshua.) In other words Jesus should be in your heart and His will should be on your mind, as you make your requests. So always remember you can hear his voice if you are a Child of God (a born again, baptised, & Spirit-filled Believer.)


In Christ,
Alight4JC

Answer 5

Christ gave us the example of how to pray in the Lords Prayer...that is good enough for me...It seems to me, that if we think we need intervention besides the Holy Spirit to pray to God, we are negating the Sacrifice of Jesus.

Answer 6

The Bible gives absolutely no indication that the saints can hear our prayers. 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).

Answer 7

All of the "saints" in the Scriptures you mentioned simply means "believers." while Catholic definition of the saints are different and special...like Mary (Jesus' mother) and Mother Teresa for instance.

Answer 8

Saints are believers , Jesus say on how to pray " Our Father which art in heaven.......

Answer 9

you are very correct indeed, one thing you left out is there are no saints in heaven, we ought to listen to God and not mens traditions. For they and we are waiting the first resurrection.

Joh 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

there are many verse's such as this , but i will leave it up to others to prove all things.

1Th 5:21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

Answer 10

Yes , it is wrong to pray to saints, we all are saints in the body of Christ and nowhere in the bible does it tell you to pray to your sister or brother in Christ, may they be dead or alive.
The bible tells us only to pray to God and to pray in the name of Jesus and that is what we ought to do.