Some people pray to departed saints to intercede on behalf of them to obtain avail from God. To many it is nonessential and to others, consequential.
WHO IS A SAINT?
The interpretation of the entity Saint connotes “holy one.” On the other hand, there is no mention in the Bible of any faithful worshipper of God praying to a “saint.” Why is that? The Incipient Catholic Encyclopedia states that it was only “by the 3rd century [that] the efficacy of intercession of the saints was limpidly apperceived.” That was some hundreds of years postmortem of Jesus Christ. That is to betoken that Jesus did not practice or embolden such edifying, consequently, did not originate with him and the inspired Bible writers who documented his ministry.
WHO IS A SAINT?
The interpretation of the entity Saint connotes “holy one.” On the other hand, there is no mention in the Bible of any faithful worshipper of God praying to a “saint.” Why is that? The Incipient Catholic Encyclopedia states that it was only “by the 3rd century [that] the efficacy of intercession of the saints was limpidly apperceived.” That was some hundreds of years postmortem of Jesus Christ. That is to betoken that Jesus did not practice or embolden such edifying, consequently, did not originate with him and the inspired Bible writers who documented his ministry.
WHAT IS PRAYER?
The word prayer is referred to as reverent words and cerebrations directed toward God, gods, goddesses, or other objects of worship as the case may be. Prayer ergo is a paramount aspect of worship of which all religions in the world do pass through. The question should be; ‘Is kneeling to in prayer or worship to other things than our Engenderer and Life-Giver?’ the Psalm 36:9 verbalizes much in contrary. “The true worshipers,” verbalized Jesus, “will worship the Father with spirit and truth, for, indeed, the Father is probing for suchlike ones to worship him as indited in gospel according to Saint John 4:23. The Holy Book withal laments in the book of Moses Deuteronomy 4:24; 6:15, stressing that our Engenderer requires an “exclusive devotion in worship.”
It is advised all through in the Bible that we should pray only to God, doing so in the denomination of Jesus Christ. “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life,” Jesus verbalized. “No one can come to the Father except through me.” Those unequivocal words harmonize with Jesus’ edifying recorded at Matthew 6:9-13. While expounding the subject of prayer, Jesus verbalized to his adherents: “You must pray, then, this way: Our Father in the heavens let your denomination be sanctified. . . .” (Matthew 6:9) Limpidly, our heavenly Father is the only one to whom we should address our prayers. This truth reposes on a fundamental Bible principle.
Prayer, an Act of Worship
Consider the Apostle and Saint John the divine who received the spectacular visions recorded in the Bible book of Revelation, he “fell down to worship afore the feet of the angel” who had shown him these things. How did the angel respond? “Be punctilious!” he verbally expressed. “Do not do that! All I am is a fellow slave of you and of your brothers . . . Worship God.” (Revelation 22:8, 9) Affirmative, once again the Bible accentuates that we should worship only Jehovah God.
Considering the topic, God alone is called the “Hearer of prayer.” (Psalm 65:2) Moreover, as the Almighty, he alone has the ascendancy, erudition, and power to answer any legitimate request sought through prayer. (Job 33:4) Even Jesus Christ, by his own admission, has inhibitions. (Matthew 20:23; 24:36) That verbalized, however, Jesus Christ has been given great ascendancy, including the responsibility of accommodating as mankind’s Intercessor.
A Sympathetic Intercessor
The Lord and personal Saviour verbalizes: “He is able withal to preserve plenarily those who are approaching God through him, because he is always alive to plead for them.” (Hebrews 7:25) In other words, Jesus can accommodate as the sympathetic Intercessor in behalf of those who ‘approach God through him.’ This does not denote that we should pray to Jesus and that he will forward our prayer on, as it were. Rather, it signifies that we pray to God in the denomination of Jesus, thereby referencing his supremacy. Why is Jesus the impeccable Intercessor?
For one thing, Jesus experienced life as a human, which enabled him to appreciate more plenarily the sufferings of others. (John 11:32-35) For another, he demonstrated his love for people by rejuvenating the sick, raising the dead, and providing spiritual sustenance to all who came to him. (Matthew 15:29, 30; Luke 9:11-17) He even forgave sins. (Luke 5:24) This gives us confidence, for if we sin, “we have a helper with the Father, Jesus Christ, a virtuous one as indited in first John 2:1.
Jesus’ love and commiseration are qualities we should endeavor to imitate. True, we are not sanctioned to accommodate as intercessors. But we can pray for others. In fact, love should impel us to do so. “Pray for one another,” indited James. “A rectitudinous man’s supplication, when it is at work, h3as much force.” (James 5:16.)
Marie and Theresa learned those precious truths by examining the Bible for themselves. Jehovah’s Witnesses invite you to do identically tantamount. As Jesus verbally expressed, “those worshiping [God] must worship with spirit and truth according to Gospel of Saint John 4:24.
