Is praying to the saints Biblical?

Praying to the Saints and the Roman Catholic Claim

Is praying to the saints biblical? One of the erroneous teachings of the Roman Catholic Church is the doctrine of praying to the saints. Catholicism teaches that it is okay to offer prayers not only to God, but also to creatures such as Mary, Joseph, and others who have entered heaven.

Is it biblical to pray to anyone other than God? We firmly hold that it is not biblical, and that to pray to anyone other than God is idolatry. Nevertheless, Roman Catholics will try and find whatever they can in Scripture to demonstrate that praying to the saints is permitted.

Revelation 5 and the Prayers of the Saints

One of the major sections of Scripture used to support this idea is found in Revelation 5, verses 8 -14. Let me read it to you. And when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

And they sang a new song, saying, Worthy art thou to take the book, and break its seals. For thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God with your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

And you have made them to be a kingdom and priest to our God, and they will reign upon the earth. And I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and the living creatures and the elders, and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.

And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea and all things in them, I heard saying, To him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion for ever and ever.

And the four living creatures kept saying, Amen, and the elders fell down and worshipped. Let's look at this section of scripture from the Roman Catholic perspective and then analyze the position. Verse 8 speaks of the golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

Verses 9 and 10 speak of a new song sung in heaven. Verse 11 speaks of those around the throne of God. And verse 12 says that they were saying, Worthy is the Lamb. Verse 13 mentions every created thing in heaven and earth, saying, To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion for ever and ever.

We have no problem with those in heaven hearing what is said on earth. Many Christians deny that this is possible, but it seems to be clearly taught here. But does this justify the Roman Catholic teaching of praying to those who are in heaven?

Why Revelation 5 Does Not Teach Prayer to Saints

Not at all. Let's take a look at that verse and check it out. First of all, regarding verse 8, can the prayers be authored by those who are already in heaven? It doesn't say. There are different interpretations on exactly who the saints are because their identity can't be precisely demonstrated.

After all, Revelation is a highly symbolic book. Therefore, if it cannot be demonstrated conclusively who they are, then it cannot be demonstrated conclusively whose prayers they are either. Nevertheless, verse 9 says that they sang a new song.

Who is the they? It would have to be either the four living creatures and or the twenty-four elders since the prayers of the saints don't sing. Creatures and elders do the singing. In verses 11 and 12, the angels, the creatures, and the elders who were all around the throne, which means they are in heaven, were praising God directly.

In verse 13, it says every created thing in heaven and earth was praising God. Then the elders fell down and worshipped in heaven. Second, just because those in heaven can hear the prayers of those on earth does not mean that it is okay to pray to them.

If they can hear the prayers of people, it is because God grants that ability to them. Think about it. Can those in heaven hear the prayers uttered without speech? Can they read minds? It is only God who knows all things, and only God can grant anyone to hear or to know what the prayers are of those who pray in silence.

Let's not give the saints superhuman powers similar to omniscience. Anyway, all the text is saying is that they can hear the prayers and praise of God. It does not say that they are to receive prayers, nor does it imply praying to them is permitted.

All it says is that they can hear the prayers and praise. There is nothing suggesting that those on earth are requesting the prayers or intercession of those in heaven. Nothing like this is in the text, nor is there even a hint of it being in the text.

Third, even if the case can be made that the prayers are authored in heaven and that those prayers are mingled with the prayers of those from earth, it still does not justify those on earth praying to those in heaven.

At best, all we can say is that the prayers of those in heaven and the prayers of those on earth are mingled. To say any more than that is to read into the scripture what is not there. Fourth, can the saints in heaven hear every prayer of every creature, all the time, in different languages, simultaneously?

The Roman Catholic Church prefers to say that it is possible. Otherwise, it would not be possible to pray to Mary legitimately. The standard objection is that praying to the saints implies a type of omniscience on the hearer's part.

The Roman Catholic Church replies that we do not know what the state is of those in heaven and that we should not therefore conclude that they cannot hear all of our prayers. But this is an argument of silence.

In other words, we do not know what it is like so we can conclude that it is possible. It is a bad argument based on what we do not know rather than what we do know. This is very, very weak argumentation.

It is a poor way to do theology. Ultimately, it is an admission by the Roman Catholic Church that the scriptures do not teach in any direct way their dogma of praying to the saints. The Roman Catholic Church must infer this from scripture and read into the text that which is not there in order to support its error.

Prayer Is Worship Offered to God Alone

We have to ask the question now. Who should we pray to? Should we pray to the saints or should we pray only to God to the exclusion of those in heaven? There is no biblical teaching at all that states we are to pray to those who once were alive on earth and are now in heaven.

Revelation, the same book used by the Roman Catholics to justify their position, says the following, and I fell down at his feet to worship him. And he said to me, Do not do that. I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus.

Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. John, who wrote the book of Revelation, is a fellow creature. If the angel says that he is a fellow creature like John and that John is not to bow to him, then neither should anyone else bow to an angel or any creature so as to offer worship.

Worship includes prayer. Therefore, no one should pray to any created thing. Biblically, prayer is always offered to God. All religions view prayer as an act of worship to their God or gods, since they contain petitions and confessions of sin, requests of intercession, and things like that.

These are the things that are received and answered by God, because he alone is the one who is able to hear thousands of different languages simultaneously, either spoken or in the silent speech of the mind.

Created things do not do this. Only God does this. Prayer is not the same thing as talking to someone face to face. Prayer is a humble petition to the Lord and not to a friend who is in the same room with you, or on the other end of a phone, or in heaven.

Prayer is offered to God, never to any created thing. To do so is to offer worship, to pray to a creature, even Mary. To do this is idolatry. The Roman Catholic Church needs to repent of its false and idolatrous practice of praying to the saints.

Why? Because prayer is a form of worship and should only be given to the Lord God Almighty and to no one else. For God alone is great. God alone is omniscient. We are not. Let us pray to God only and serve him alone.