Why Pray to God Alone?

Why I Pray to God Alone

I have spent considerable time trying to reconcile the Catholic and Orthodox practice of invoking saints with what I find written in Scripture.

I want to begin carefully because this is an area where Christians can very quickly begin attacking one another rather than examining the question.

I am not saying that Catholics or Orthodox Christians believe saints are gods.

Their theology distinguishes between worship owed to God and the honor or veneration given to saints. They also argue that asking a departed saint to pray for them is similar to asking another Christian here on earth to pray for them.

I understand that distinction.

My disagreement is that I do not find Scripture telling Christians to address departed believers at all.

That is the issue I want to examine.

Not:

“Do Catholics think Mary or the saints are gods?”

But:

“Where does Scripture authorize a Christian to speak to a departed believer and ask that person to hear, receive, or carry a petition?”

That is a very different question.

Who Are the Saints?

We should begin with the word saint.

The New Testament does not reserve that word for an extraordinary class of Christians who have died and later been officially recognized by a church.

Paul repeatedly uses the term for ordinary believers.

He writes to the “saints” in Rome.

He addresses the church at Corinth as those called to be saints.

He speaks of saints who are very much alive, worshiping, struggling, learning, serving, and sometimes needing correction.

Biblically, then, a saint is fundamentally one who belongs to God.

That does not mean Christians cannot honor faithful believers who have gone before us. Hebrews 11 itself remembers men and women of extraordinary faith.

We should remember them.

We can learn from them.

We can thank God for them.

But remembering a faithful believer and addressing that believer in prayer are not the same thing.

Christians Should Pray for One Another

Scripture clearly teaches Christians to pray for other Christians.

James 5:16 tells believers to pray for one another.

Paul repeatedly asks churches to pray for him.

There is nothing wrong with saying to another Christian:

“Please pray for me.”

I have asked others to pray for me many times.

The question is whether Scripture extends that instruction beyond the living Christian community and tells us to address Christians who have died.

I do not find such an instruction.

That absence becomes significant when we consider how much Scripture actually says about prayer.

Jesus taught His disciples how to pray.

He told them:

“Our Father in heaven…”

The ordinary biblical pattern is prayer directed to God.

Christians come to the Father through Christ.

Hebrews tells believers that because we have a great High Priest, we can approach the throne of grace with confidence.

Romans tells us that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us.

Romans 8 and Hebrews 7 describe Christ Himself interceding for believers.

First Timothy 2:5 tells us that there is one God and one mediator between God and humanity, Jesus Christ.

That does not mean another living Christian cannot pray for me. Scripture explicitly tells Christians to do exactly that.

But it does make me ask:

Why would I address someone who has died when Scripture repeatedly directs me toward God and gives me direct access to Him through Christ?

Are Departed Christians Alive?

One Catholic response is that the saints are not truly dead because they are alive with Christ.

There is truth in that.

I believe those who die in Christ are with Him.

Paul could say that to depart and be with Christ is far better.

Jesus teaches that God is the God of the living.

So I do not think the argument should be:

“Saints are simply nonexistent dead bodies and therefore nothing more needs to be said.”

That is too simplistic.

The real question is not whether believers who die continue to exist with God.

The question is:

Does their continued life with Christ mean Christians on earth have been authorized to address them?

Those are two different propositions.

I believe the Apostle Paul is with Christ.

That does not automatically mean Paul can hear me if I stand in Texas tonight and say:

“Paul, please pray for me.”

Scripture would have to establish that connection.

I do not find where it does.

Saul and Samuel

This brings us to one of the most troubling passages for me concerning communication with those who have died.

First Samuel 28 tells us plainly that Samuel was dead.

Saul desperately wanted an answer from God.

God was not answering him.

Instead of accepting that silence, Saul went to a medium and asked that Samuel be brought up.

Whatever questions exist about precisely what happened in that extraordinary account, Scripture certainly does not portray Saul's actions positively.

First Chronicles 10 later reflects upon Saul's death and specifically mentions his unfaithfulness in consulting a medium.

That deserves attention.

Samuel was not an evil man.

He was one of Israel's great prophets.

He had served God faithfully.

Yet Samuel's righteousness did not make Saul's attempt to reach him acceptable.

That is important to my argument.

Someone might respond:

“But Catholics aren't going to mediums and trying to summon saints.”

I agree.

The practices are not identical.

I do not want to claim that something is identical when it is not.

But the story establishes a principle I cannot easily dismiss:

The godliness of the departed person does not by itself authorize the living to seek communication with that person.

Samuel's status as a prophet did not make contacting Samuel permissible.

What Does the Old Testament Prohibit?

Deuteronomy 18 prohibits practices including divination, sorcery, mediums, spiritists, and consulting the dead.

Isaiah 8:19 asks a penetrating question:

Should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?

That verse gets to the heart of my concern.

Why not inquire of God?

I have direct access to Him.

I have Christ.

I have the Holy Spirit.

I have Scripture.

I have living brothers and sisters who can pray with me and for me.

What biblical necessity requires me to add departed Christians to that relationship?

I cannot find one.

Is Asking a Saint for Prayer Necromancy?

This is where I want to choose my words carefully.

Divination normally involves seeking supernatural knowledge.

Necromancy traditionally involves attempting communication with the dead, often for supernatural information or assistance.

Catholics do not describe invocation of saints that way. They believe they are communicating with living members of the body of Christ who are presently with God.

I understand their argument.

Nevertheless, I believe deliberately addressing a departed human being and asking that person to hear and respond to a petition crosses a boundary Scripture gives me no permission to cross.

At the very least, it comes dangerously close to the category Scripture describes as consulting the dead.

For me, that is enough reason not to do it.

When Scripture explicitly tells me to pray to God and gives me no explicit command to address departed Christians, I am going to remain with what Scripture clearly authorizes.

What About Mary?

The same principle applies to Mary.

I believe Mary deserves tremendous respect.

God chose her for an extraordinary role.

She bore Jesus Christ.

She demonstrated faith and obedience under circumstances that must have been extraordinarily difficult.

Scripture itself says generations would call her blessed.

I have no desire to diminish her.

But honoring Mary is different from praying to Mary.

I can thank God for Mary.

I can study her faith.

I can admire her obedience.

I can call her blessed.

What I cannot find is Jesus telling His disciples:

“When you need help, ask My mother to intercede for you.”

I cannot find an apostle praying to Mary.

I cannot find a New Testament church addressing Mary after Christ's ascension.

That absence matters to me.

What About Images?

I would also modify another argument I once made.

The Bible does not prohibit every religious image simply because an image exists.

God Himself commanded the construction of cherubim upon the mercy seat.

The temple contained artistic imagery.

So the commandment against graven images cannot simply mean:

“Never create any religious artwork.”

The issue is idolatry.

The danger begins when something created becomes an object of religious devotion belonging properly to God.

Catholic theology distinguishes veneration from worship.

I understand that distinction intellectually.

But when I see people kneeling before an image, kissing it, addressing petitions in connection with it, or treating it as part of an act of devotion toward a departed person, I remain deeply uncomfortable.

Not because stone, paint, wood, or plaster possesses some supernatural evil.

It doesn't.

But because Scripture repeatedly teaches me to direct worship and prayer toward God.

I do not want anything obscuring that simplicity.

One Mediator

First Timothy 2:5 says:

“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”

We have to be careful with this verse.

It cannot mean Christians are forbidden from praying for one another because Paul has just encouraged intercessory prayer.

So Christ's unique mediation does not eliminate ordinary Christian intercession.

But Christ is unique.

No saint died to reconcile me to God.

No apostle purchased my redemption.

Mary did not die for my sins.

Peter did not open the way into God's presence.

Paul did not become my High Priest.

Jesus did.

That does not demean them.

It honors Christ.

They themselves pointed people toward Him.

Tradition and Scripture

I also need to correct something I once argued too simplistically.

It is not enough to say:

“Oral tradition is unreliable because it is like the telephone game.”

Scripture itself speaks positively of apostolic teaching that was delivered both orally and in writing.

The earliest Christians obviously learned many things before the New Testament writings had all been collected.

So the question cannot simply be:

“Written good, oral bad.”

The better question is:

Does a later tradition faithfully preserve apostolic teaching, or has it developed beyond what Christ and the apostles taught?

That is where Scripture becomes essential.

Every doctrine, whether Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, Baptist, Pentecostal, or something else, must be tested.

Including mine.

If someone can show me from Scripture where believers are instructed to address departed Christians and request their intercession, I need to consider that evidence.

But I do not believe church tradition can create an obligation that Scripture itself never gives me.

Speaking to Someone I Miss

There is also a very personal reason I have thought carefully about this subject.

My mother has died.

So has my sister.

I miss them.

Sometimes I speak aloud as though my mother were sitting beside me.

I might say:

“Mom, I miss you.”

Sometimes memories of her still bring tears.

I have done the same when thinking about my sister.

But I do not believe I am communicating with them.

I do not expect an answer.

I do not ask my mother to protect me.

I do not ask my sister to tell me what decision to make.

I do not ask them to carry a prayer to God.

I do not look for signs from them.

I know they are gone from my life here.

Speaking those words is an expression of grief.

It is my heart giving language to the fact that I still love someone whom I cannot presently hold or speak with face to face.

For me, there is an important difference between:

“Mom, I miss you.”

and

“Mom, hear my prayer and intercede for me.”

The first expresses grief.

The second assumes supernatural communication.

That is the boundary I do not believe Scripture gives me permission to cross.

What About Prayer to Jesus?

There is one other point where precision matters.

The ordinary pattern Jesus gives us is prayer to the Father.

He Himself prayed to the Father.

Christians commonly speak of praying to the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit.

I think that is an excellent biblical pattern.

But Scripture does contain direct address to Jesus.

As Stephen was dying in Acts 7, he said:

“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

Revelation closes with:

“Come, Lord Jesus.”

And the New Testament describes Christians as those who call upon the name of Jesus Christ.

So I would not say that Christians may never address Jesus.

Jesus is not a departed human saint.

He is the risen Lord.

He conquered death.

He is God the Son.

He is seated at the right hand of the Father.

There is therefore no comparison between calling upon Christ and attempting to address another human being who has died.

Saints Are Not Gods

I also want to state something clearly.

The faithful men and women who came before us do not become gods when they die.

They do not become omniscient.

They do not become omnipresent.

They remain creatures.

Wonderful creatures, perhaps.

Faithful servants.

Examples worthy of imitation.

Brothers and sisters whom we may one day meet in the presence of Christ.

But still creatures.

Revelation gives us a beautiful example when John falls before an angel.

The angel immediately tells him:

Do not do that. I am a fellow servant. Worship God.

I think there is enormous wisdom in those two words:

Worship God.

My Conclusion

So where do I finally stand?

I believe Christians should pray for one another.

I believe we should honor faithful believers who have gone before us.

I believe we should remember them and learn from them.

I believe Christians who die are with Christ.

But I do not find biblical authorization for addressing them.

I therefore do not pray to saints.

I do not ask Mary to hear me.

I do not ask Peter, Paul, my mother, my sister, or any other departed believer to carry my requests before God.

Not because I despise them.

Because I don't need them to perform that function.

I have Christ.

I can pray to my Father.

I have the Holy Spirit helping me even when I do not know what to pray.

I have a High Priest who understands weakness.

I have a Savior who intercedes for me.

And I have living brothers and sisters whom Scripture explicitly tells me to ask for prayer.

That is enough.

Perhaps the simplest way I can express my position is this:

The question is not whether the saints are alive with Christ.

The question is whether Christ ever told the living to speak to them.

I do not find that He did.

So I will honor faithful Christians.

I will remember them.

I will learn from them.

I will call them my brothers and sisters in Christ.

But my prayers belong to God.

And my confidence rests in Jesus Christ.

an introduction

First let me tell you why I am starting a blog. In September 2011 I heard and answered the call to become a preacher. Once I did, all kinds of things started happening. For one, the Devil went on the attack. He does not want me to do what God desires for my life. I think that that is cool. Why you may ask? Because it means I am doing what I am supposed to be doing.

Today in Worship service, I realized that what I have been doing for God so far, has never seen the light of day so to speak. I have kept it all to myself on my computer, so the only person it is of use to is me. I can't become much of a preacher if I am my only audience. So, I decided to start this to share with you, what it is that I am learning from Gods word, and to allow for a chance to have my work looked at and commented upon by others.

Let me say, that I have been a Christian since August 1, 1970. I grew up in a Southern Baptist Church. I have spent a great deal of time in my past, reading and learning about God, but until recently, I have not spent much time studying the Bible in an in depth manner.

So, about a year or so ago, I enrolled in a 3 year Bible coarse, and have learned a great deal. I want to make a very important statement...I am not a man who feels he has discovered new and previously unknown revelations from God. I have no grand delusions that I know everything. I believe in Gods word. I believe that if it is not in Gods word, then the information is not from God. I believe that all scripture is true, that the Bible is complete, and that it is the inspired word of God handed down to man through divine revelation. I believe that God is and was in complete control of his work, and knows what he was doing. There is nothing new that I or anyone else could or should add to Gods words. I believe that my only job is the share with you, the information I have learned from Gods word, and how it may be applied to our lives today.

Now, I know that that was a bunch of stuff all thrown together, but as time goes on, I will outline this in more detail. I have learned over the past year that some things that I previously believed was in the Bible is in fact not there. I believed it because I took at face value what other people have told me. I believed it because they were my religious teachers, my pastors, my spiritual elders. I did not take the time to check it out for myself. I did not look to see if what I was told was in Gods word or not. Boy, did I make a big  mistake.

I'm not saying that any of my teachers intentionally tried to mislead me. In fact, I believe that they might not have been told the truth, or maybe like me, they did not study Gods word to see if what they were told was really in the Bible ether. Like me, they accepted what they were told for the same reasons.

In my limited studies, it looks like many things have been added by men who may have had good intentions, but messed things up a great deal for believers everywhere. I have seen where pagan practices have been incorporated into our churches, and since they have been there for as long as they have been, we accept them as though God ordained them and approves of them.

Some of what I will be writing will make you smile, some will make you upset. But, everything I write will to the best of my knowledge, be from Gods word, and will be based upon his authority and not mans. If your religious beliefs are based on man made rituals and practices, you need to read Gods word to see if they were commanded or ordained by God.  If your religious beliefs are based on books or writings other than the Holy Bible, you need to stop reading those books, and get back into the words actually given to us by God himself. I am of course referring to the so called Lost books of the Bible, or books that were written by men claiming to be inspired by God, but who's words contradict those actually given to us by God. If your religious beliefs deny the truth of God, or paints a picture of God that is contrary to the Holy scriptures, you are being led astray. If your beliefs teach of an impersonal or uncaring God, or promote violence, you need to find a real Bible and read about the real God. If your book and beliefs teach that there is more than one way to get to heaven, or a way other than through Jesus alone, you need to reevaluate your beliefs and find the true God.

So, who am I? I am a Bible believing man of God. A man who is no longer afraid or unwilling or just plain foolish enough to not check Gods word before accepting the beliefs or words of others. I am a Christian. I am a father, a husband, a brother and a son. I am human, and as such I know that I can and will make mistakes, but I will not be led astray from the truth of Gods word. In it you can find wisdom, strength, happiness, understanding, healing and truth. No words of mere men has that power. No traditions of man can replace the truth or Gods word. Gods own word tells us how he is and desires to be worshiped. Gods Son provided the way, the only way. And, the truth of scriptures provides the only way to salvation.

What do I believe?

I did a little of this in the previous post, but felt that I needed to have a post just for this purpose. I will add to this as time goes on, and I may change some things if I find, through Gods word, that I am in error.

1. I believe in the Bible. This is the 66 books as it was handed down and incorporated in the King James version.

2. I believe that the Bible is error free.

3. I believe that Gods message to mankind was complete and that there is no other source of Biblical knowledge available to mankind.

4. I believe that through careful study, and prayer, we can find the answers to all of our questions within it's pages.

5. I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God, and that it is through him only that we can come to the Father, and to salvation.

6. I do not believe in the use of "saints" as a way to talk to God. I believe that the Bible makes that very clear.

7. I do not believe in the worship of idols, or "Icons". Just because we rename somethings does not make it ok.

8. I believe that the mother of Jesus is truly blessed as the mother of Jesus, but that does not change who she was, her nature as a human, not her status as a person. She was simply a woman, and nothing more.

9. I believe in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

10. I believe in a literal 6 days of creation.

11.  I believe in the rapture, although I will say that at this point, I am not sure if it will be before or durring, or even after the 7 years of tribulation. I will have to study more to learn more.

12. I believe that the study of scripture is important, and that if more of us did so, and stopped taking verses out of context, we would find the answers we are looking for.

13. I believe in the Trinity, and that it is extensively talked about in Gods word in both the old and the new Testaments, even though that the term "trinity" is not used.

14. I believe that there is only one path to heaven, and that it is through Gods son, Jesus Christ.

15. I believe that God has given us specific instructions on marriage, worship, money management, government, and so much more.

16. I believe that marriage is to be between a man and a woman. It was never meant to be between two girls, or two guy, or animals, or computer game characters. Yes, I have heard that it is legal for a man to marry a goat in some countries.

17. I believe it is important to go to and become a part of a local church.

18. I believe that no mater how poor or rich we are, we need to help those who are in need.

19. As a christian, I believe in the Bible, not the various books of other religions, or their handed down traditions. The written word of God is enough for me.

20. I believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

21. I believe that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit still communicate with men today, but that at no time will they tell us things that are not able to be backed up properly through scripture.

22. I believe that no matter how good you think that you are, if you do not have a proper relationship with Jesus Christ, you won't go to heaven. Eternal life is not a right of man, it is a gift from God, given by his grace, through the blood of sacrifice made by his son when he died on the cross for the forgiveness of Sins.

23. I believe, and this is more of a personal belief, although I am sure that the Bible has something to say about it, that most of the problems we are dealing with in our country, stem from a decline in not only belief in God and Jesus, but a decline in God fearing Christians standing up for what we should believe.

24. I believe that according to God's word, men are supposed to be the leaders of their families. Not tyrants, but God fearing leaders who follow the commands of God, and recognize the co-leadership role of their wives as being equal to their own. Proper families and marriages are a part of Gods plan for his creations.

These are just a few of the things that I believe in, and I am sure that there are those who will read this and get upset with me over a few of them. If you have questions, just ask. I will be happy to discuss them with you in more detail, or just give me some time, and I will blog on each of them in more detail. I welcome comments and questions but, will not entertain hateful remarks or arguments.