Why is it wrong for Catholics to pray to saints?<\/p>\n\t
Well, first of all, prayers to someone dead is an exercise in futility. The dead cannot hear your prayers. They are no longer involved in life. “For the living know that they will die; but\u00a0the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward<\/strong>, for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished;\u00a0nevermore will they have a share in anything done under the sun<\/strong><\/em>” (Ecclesiastes 9:5-6). Those who have died can no longer have an effect on life.<\/p>\n Second, prayers to men have always been forbidden. Prayer is a form of worship. It is making requests of another knowing that the other is greater and able to fulfill your requests. But men are all equal in the sight of God. We have little control over the flow of our lives here on earth and as we have shown, we definitely will have no control over the lives of others after we die. This is why Peter was upset when Cornelius bowed to him. “As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I myself am also a man”<\/em>” (Acts 10:25-26). Even angels in heaven refuse worship, “See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God<\/em>” (Revelation 22:9).<\/p>\n That is the message Jesus gave: “You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve<\/em>” (Matthew 4:10). If you want someone to watch over your life, then obey the Lord God. He has the ability to aid us. He has promised to watch over His children. When you are praying to a dead man, you are elevating the dead to the level of the Eternal God.<\/p>\n And consider that if Peter refused to receive prayers while alive, why would you think that such becomes acceptable after death?<\/p>\n Actually, since the Bible states it contains all things godly (II Peter 1:2-4), we should turn your question around. Where in the Bible does God tell men to pray to their dead?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: Why is it wrong for Catholics to pray to saints? Answer: Well, first of all, prayers to someone dead is an exercise in futility. The dead cannot hear your prayers. They are no longer involved in life. “For the living know that they will die; but\u00a0the dead know nothing, and they have no more…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[109,1510,1599],"class_list":["post-20187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-death","tag-prayers","tag-roman-catholic-church"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10921,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-ephesians-618-teach-that-saints-are-to-be-intercessors-between-christians-and-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":20187,"position":0},"title":"Does Ephesians 6:18 teach that saints are to be intercessors between Christians and God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 3, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a member of the church\u00a0of Christ as described in the New Testament. Can you help me to answer the Catholics about\u00a0Ephesians 6:18? They use it to support the idea that the Bible invites us to intercede or mediate for all of God's holy people. That is why\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15005,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-okay-to-pray-for-my-dad-or-does-he-hear-my-prayers\/","url_meta":{"origin":20187,"position":1},"title":"Is it okay to pray for my dad or does he hear my prayers?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 3, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My dad just passed away and I'm worried about his soul. My question is: Is it okay to pray for him and does he hear my prayers? It's a calming thought that your parents are in heaven watching us like angels. Is this possible, or do they really have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13583,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-prayers-only-be-made-for-things-that-bring-god-glory\/","url_meta":{"origin":20187,"position":2},"title":"Should prayers only be made for things that bring God glory?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 12, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I've been struggling (perhaps not the best word) lately regarding my prayer life.\u00a0 I wonder if you could share some insights into my thoughts.\u00a0 I don't know that I have an answer, just questions. It occurs to me that I see a pattern in several locations in Scripture from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13743,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/to-whom-should-we-pray\/","url_meta":{"origin":20187,"position":3},"title":"To whom should we pray?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 31, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: To whom should we pray? To the Father, or to the Son, or to the Holy Spirit, or to any of the three? Can we say \"you died for us\" during prayer? Answer: The majority of the prayers are directed to God in general or to God, the Father,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32077,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-proper-to-publish-your-prayers\/","url_meta":{"origin":20187,"position":4},"title":"Is it proper to publish your prayers?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 15, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Pleasant good morning, I'd appreciate some guidance, please.\u00a0I have observed prayers in the comment section under news articles of tragic incidents. When tragedy strikes I could, in the privacy of my home, say a prayer for those involved, and believe that God hears my prayers. However, others are posting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28624,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-pray-for-non-believers\/","url_meta":{"origin":20187,"position":5},"title":"Is it wrong to pray for non-believers?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 27, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: One thing I am noticing when I am praying is that I pray for non-believers to somehow find Jesus and God. Is it wrong to pray for them? Answer: Praying that nonbelievers might hear the gospel is a wonderful prayer. Paul offered similar prayers, \"Brethren, my heart's desire and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20187\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}