What is Prayer and To Whom Do We Pray?
Biblically, prayer is how we communicate with God. The Bible never has a believer praying to anyone other than God. So-called prayers to false gods are depicted as being pointless and empty as false gods cannot hear or respond to prayers. God is omniscient and omnipresent. He can always hear our prayers. We are also told that the Spirit aids our prayers to God.
26 Now in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; 27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27)
The Spirit (Gr. pneuma) refers to the Holy Spirit. When we pray, the Holy Spirit knows our heart and intercedes for us. Note He always intercedes “according to the will of God.” If we have the Holy Spirit interceding for us, why would we need any other intercession?
So why do some people pray to “saints” or Mary? Is that even prayer?
We are nowhere told in Scripture, nor do we find any examples, of living men or women praying to anyone other than God and being heard. No one prays to Moses, or Elijah, or Enoch. No one prayed to Isaiah, David, or John the Baptist. When the disciples asked Jesus to tell them how to pray, Jesus addressed His prayer to “Our Father”, a reference to God the Father. Not once in the Old or New Testament does a believer pray to anyone other than God.
We are also never told that those who are in heaven can communicate with us. Attempts to communicate with the dead via seances or speaking to spirits or people who channel is expressly forbidden. Why? Because God has not provided a way for the living to communicate with the dead including those alive in heaven. When people think they are communicating with a dead relative they are actually communicating with demons. Demons do this to draw us away from God and get us to believe there are other sources of spiritual knowledge and communication.
While the Catholic church declares some people to be “saints”, that is not a Biblical designation. There is no special category of believers in heaven for whom the normal rules don’t apply. Declaring some to be “saints” is a practice of the Catholic church but foreign to Scripture. Teaching that “saints” can hear our prayers is false not only because there is no such category of believers but false because such communication is impossible. Biblically, the term “saint” is used of all believers in Jesus Christ. Not a special class of believers.
It also begs an important question. If you can pray directly to God, who already knows your heart, why would you “pray” to anyone else? God is not a human. We might sometimes think having someone else make a request on our behalf (because that person has greater status or is well-liked by the person we are making the request of) makes a favorable response more likely. The request-grantor might be more agreeable as a favor to the one asking on our behalf or is more trusting of their judgment. None of this applies to God. God knows us inside and out. He knows the every thought of our heart. God always answers prayers according to His will. He is not more or less likely to answer a prayer based on who makes the request.
Scripture does say “the prayers of a righteous man accomplishes much” but we need to understand what that means. Proverbs says to “delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” When our will aligns with God’s will for us, our prayers will be granted. A righteous man, who delights himself in the Lord, is likely praying in accordance with God’s will and thus his/her prayers will accomplish much. God hears everyone’s prayers from the worst sinner to to the most godly person. He always answers according to His will. God is no more or no less inclined to listen to our prayers as opposed to a “saints” prayer. He hears all prayers. He will only answer according to His will which is not affected by the person praying.
Why then do we ask others, in this life, to pray for us? Prayer does not change the will of God. Prayer changes us. Prayer is how we learn to trust God, seek His will, and accept it. We draw closer to God through prayer. By praying for each other we bear (Galatians 6:2) each other’s burdens and comfort and encourage each other. We are commanded to pray for each other. When I ask someone to pray for me, or with me about some need, I am talking to them or texting or writing. I am communicating with another living person. We have no way to communicate with those in heaven and we can’t pray to them as prayer is only to God.
Reasons why we don’t “pray” to “saints” or Mary:
- The Bible gives no examples of this. Never do we see anyone of faith addressing a prayer to anyone other than God. Not to Abraham or Moses or Isaiah or Elisha, or Enoch. Not to anyone other than God. Never are we instructed to pray to anyone other than God. The Bible also never mentions anyone in heaven praying for anyone on earth.
- The Bible gives no mechanism for them to hear our prayers. God is omniscient. He knows everything. God is also omnipresent. He is everywhere. Nothing is hidden from God. He knows our every thought. Mary and the “saints” are finite beings who are not omniscient or omnipresent. We have the Holy Spirit within us to hear our prayers. The Holy Spirit is God. Why would God listen to our prayers, share them with Mary or a “saint”, so that they could turn right around and talk to God on our behalf? Do you think that by “praying” to Mary or a “saint” they hear those prayers before God does? God knows our heart even before we pray. Nowhere in the Bible are we told the dead can hear or answer prayer.
- When prayer to the dead is mentioned, it is always in a very negative light. The Bible strongly condemns such prayer (Leviticus 20:27; Deuteronomy 18:10–13; 1 Samuel 28:7–19).
- The Bible teaches that there is only one mediator between God and man and that is Jesus.
- While there is a strong Biblical basis for asking other believers, now alive, to pray with and for us, there is no such basis for asking those who are dead to pray for us. We can talk to the living. No provision has been made for us to talk to the dead.
Catholics liken “praying” to Mary or the “saints” to asking a fellow living believer to pray for you. It is not the same! Mary and the “saints” may be alive in heaven but they are no longer with us on earth. Nothing in the Bible says they have the power to hear or answer our prayers. This is manmade teaching that has been added to the Bible. It is part of a Catholic tendency to create a special class of Christians (i.e. Mary and the “saints”) and ascribe to them powers reserved only for God. If this is such a wonderful thing to do, why is there not a single mention of it in the Bible? Why does not Paul or Peter talk about it?
Like so many other unique Catholic doctrines, the real basis for “praying” to Mary or the “saints” is the self-proclaimed authority of the Catholic church to add to Scripture. There is no basis for this doctrine of “praying” to Mary of the “saints” found in the Bible. This is an extra-Biblical teaching that rests solely on the claimed authority of the Catholic church. I reject their claims to such authority. I not only disagree with their interpretation of Matthew’s account of Jesus addressing Peter as “rock” and building the church upon him, but also their claim that there has been a direct line of succession from Peter to the present-day Pope. That claim rests on Catholic tradition with no clear Biblical teaching that such a succession was setup. Nowhere in Peter’s writings does he claim such authority or give instruction for his successor. Mark’s gospel (Mark got his information from Peter) does not even include Jesus calling Peter the rock and the other claims. His account of Peter’s profession of faith does not include the other parts found only in Matthew’s gospel. A strange omission if Peter understood himself to be the sole head of the church. Historically, the first bishop of Jerusalem was James, the Lord’s half-brother. The Pope was long called the “bishop of Rome” so why was Peter not the first bishop of Jerusalem? If the entire church was to be built upon Peter and his successors, whey did Peter not make a single mention of it? He wrote epistles yet never mentions this. In this writer’s opinion (and that of many others), the Catholic church reads too much into Matthew’s account and goes on to claim lasting authority based on it yet we see no clear example of it in the NT. Paul never refers to Peter as the head of the church nor do any other NT writers. This is a major teaching to be left out of the entire NT except for a couple of disputed verses in Matthew’s gospel not found in the other 3 gospels. I am not disputing that Jesus spoke those words but I am disputing the meaning of them and do not believe Jesus built the church on Peter. Peter was a godly man and an Apostle. Scripture does tell us the church is built on the “foundation of the prophets and the apostles” with Jesus Himself being the cornerstone. Aside from that one verse, Scripture nowhere else elevates Peter to a higher position than any of the other Apostles. This, and the fact that many key Catholic doctrines are not found in the Bible, is why there was a Protestant Reformation. Men (who were Catholics at the start) began to see their church departing from the teachings of Scripture and began questioning such teachings and the authority of the church. For this, some gave their lives.
Two New Saints?
Image: Statue of Pope Paul II falls and crushes a man to death just 2 days before John Paul II is declared a Saint. Where was his intercession on behalf of this man?
Yesterday Pope Francis honored John XXIII and John Paul II declaring them saints. Sainthood is a uniquely Roman Catholic practice that is not well understood by non-Catholics and perhaps even some Catholics. I’ve read where some Catholic commentators liken a saint to a hero of the faith. Someone to look up to and celebrate.The Roman Catholic Church teaches that saints are to be venerated which means to revere or hold in deep respect. Nothing wrong with having heroes or great examples of faith. However, in Roman Catholic theology a saint is more than a hero.
The Catholic Church has redefined the Biblical term “saint” or added a new class of saints. Biblically anyone who is a believer in Jesus Christ is a saint. Saints are not a special class of believers set apart by especially noteworthy lives or supposed miracles attributed to them nor subject to any earthy inquiry and ceremony. All who are in Christ are saints. So the Roman Catholic use of the term saint and declaring certain people saints is not using the term in its Biblical sense.
More than that though their belief about what sainthood means is also non-Biblical. Among other requirements, candidates for sainthood must have two miracles attributed to them. One while living and another after death.The purpose of there being a miracle after death is to prove the candidate is in heaven, receiving our prayers, and interceding before God on behalf. Yet nowhere in the Bible are we instructed to pray to anyone other than God! There is not one example of Jesus, the Apostles, or any of Christ’s followers praying to anyone but God alone. 1 Timothy 2:5 says there is “one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.” The Catholic Church tries to side step this verse by claiming it does not preclude “lesser mediators.” Therefore Christ is our “one mediator” when it comes to salvation but other mediators are possible in lesser matters. They cite the Apostle Paul exhorting men to make intercessory prayers. Yet Paul was writing to living men. There is nothing in Scripture to suggest there is any possibility of someone in this life communicating with someone in heaven other than God Himself. In fact, prayer, but it’s very definition is communication with God! To use the word prayer to cover communication with someone who has died and believed to be in heaven is a misuse of the word. Christ is the one who intercedes on our behalf before the Father and it is to Him alone we pray.
Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died–more than that, who was raised to life–is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. (Romans 8:34 NIV)
If we have Christ interceding for us why would we need anyone else? Do we imagine a sovereign God is persuaded in His actions by the intercession of a “saint?” No! We pray not to persuade God but to be changed by our prayers into trusting God, His mercy, His goodness, and His will. Prayer changes us not God. God does not change His mind because of our prayers or anyone else’s. So why do we ask other people to pray for us? It gives us comfort, it reminds us that we are all one in Christ, it teaches us all to look to God, trust in Him, and accept His will. God though is sovereign. His will is not moved by our prayers nor swayed by the sheer volume of prayers. To suggest a “saint” or Mary “has God’s ear” and can intercede on our behalf is not only un-Biblical but robs Christ of His role as our sole mediator.
What about the miracles attributed to the intercession of these former Popes or other past saints? Certainly God has and can perform miracles but Biblical miracles are always done for the glory of God. In the Book of Acts we find in chapter 14 an account of Paul healing a lame man. After the healing the crowds became excited exclaiming “The gods have become like men and have come down to us.” (Acts 14:11). What was Paul’s response?
“But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their robes and rushed out into the crowd, crying out and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you…” (Acts 14:15)
Paul was desperate to open their eyes that this man was healed by God and not be some “god” as they supposed he was. The focus of all the Biblical miracles was God never the servant through who attended over the miracle. The disciples of Paul did not venerate him because he healed people nor any of the other Apostles. They attributed the miracle to God and God alone. If someone would have tried to honor Paul because it was his intercession that brought about the miracle I can imagine Paul tearing his shirt and demanding that he was nothing and it was by the hand of God the man was healed and not due to Paul in any way. Yet the Roman Catholic Church goes to great lengths to attribute these miracles to the intercession of some saint and the focus quickly becomes the saint and not the Lord.Suddenly everyone is praying to that Saint. One woman was said to have been cured by holding a picture of the late Pope to the tumor on her neck and leaving it there overnight while praying to him. I have a very hard time with that. Biblical miracles never drew attention to the hands through which God worked but to God Himself. While Jesus once used spit and mud He never gave someone a piece of his clothing and told them to wrap their lame leg in it or sleep with it on their eyes. The whole focus is wrong in the case of the Catholic sainthood “miracles.”
I would even suggest it’s possible these were not true miracles. While only God knows it would not be unlike Satan to cure someone if it put the focus on a man and not on God. Now we have a billion Catholics world wide praying to “saints” and venerating them rather than focusing all their attention on the Lord.
Many have also suggested that the choice of these two Popes is to politically be inclusive by making saints of two different styles of Pope. While I cannot read the mind of Pope Francis the mere suggestion makes the whole thing more laughable. Should “saints” be chosen for political considerations?
Sadly sainthood, like so many other uniquely Catholic traditions, is not Biblical. The Catholic faithful don’t seem to mind though. They have bought into the authority of the church and its traditions and do not test by Scripture what they are taught. The Book of Acts highlights the Berean Christians:
Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. (Acts 17:11)
The examined the Scriptures to test what Paul was teaching them! Even the great Apostle Paul with all the miraculous things God did through him was checked up on by the very people he was teaching. This is mentioned to their credit. That meant opening, reading, and knowing their Scripture. It was not enough that Paul said it. Yet in my 24 years as a Catholic and in the lives of almost every Catholic I know no one questions the priest, the bishop, the cardinal, or the Pope. No one learns their Bible and checks for themselves. If pressed they run to Catholic Answers or some Catholic site to look up a response incapable of searching the Scriptures for themselves.
I hope these two past Popes are in heaven but if they are I guarantee they are not hearing our prayers. Do I question their salvation? Possibly as the Catholic Church does not preach the Gospel as they add works to faith thus preaching a false Gospel and Paul sternly said that if anyone preaches a false Gospel they shall be damned to hell. I will let God decide that though as He is judge.
Let us celebrate all who follow Jesus Christ. They are the saints. They don’t need a ceremony, the blessing of a living Pope, or any man made process. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus and not on men.
Our God is Too Big 
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