How to Pray Article Series: Should I Pray To Saints?
Posted: Saturday, January 16, 2010
by Babes Tan-Magkalas
http://www.stjosephsite.com
A lot of people have numerous questions about prayer and how to pray effectively. One of the frequently asked questions about prayer is if we should pray to saints. Some people practice praying to saints while some are against it because for them it is idolatry.
Should we pray to saints?
Praying to saints is an act of asking our departed brothers and sisters who are in heaven for their intercession. Though there are a lot of issues surrounding the practice of praying to saints, I pray to saints and I am a devotee of Saint Joseph .
When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. Revelation 5:8 NRSV
Another angel with a golden censer came and stood at the altar; he was given a great quantity of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that is before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. Revelation 8: 3-4 NRSV
When I pray to the saints, I ask them to help me pray for my intentions to God. I do not pray to them and ask them to grant my prayer, I ask them to help me by praying to God that my prayers be granted. I do not say " St. Joseph , I need money, please send me some so that my house would not be foreclosed." Instead, I pray by saying " St. Joseph please help me pray to God. Please pray to Him that I will be able to have money to pay the bank so that my house would not be foreclosed." Saints do not grant prayers, God is the only one who does. Saints only help us by praying to God on our behalf.
I have received a lot of prayer request that asks St. Joseph to grant their prayers. They ask St. Joseph to send them money, give them a husband, to fix their relationship with others, etc. Their prayer request ends with a thank you' to St. Joseph for granting their prayers.
Their thank you' could mean that they thank St. Joseph in advance for interceding for them but I mentioned this here to emphasize the point that it is God who grants our prayers. The saints only help us get our prayers granted.
We sometimes ask other people to pray for us or help us pray and this practice is the same as praying to saints. I do not think it creates conflict with praying to God directly. We ask other people to pray for us because we believe that the more people who pray for us, the higher the chances that God will grant our prayers. Praying for each other is a part of our practices as Christians. In the writings of St. Paul , he encouraged us to pray for one another.
The saints are free from the evil that surrounds us here on earth. They are already made perfect since they are in Heaven. Their prayers are more effective.
As James said:
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.
Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.
James 5: 16-18
The saints have already proven their worthiness to God and this makes their prayers powerful and effective. It makes sense to ask for their help. But let us not forget to pray to God first before we ask for the intercession of the saints.
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