Does God hear/honor prayers to Mary or the saints?

Psalm37v4

Hated and laughed at by the world but loved by God
I need some help in explaining to a Catholic about this. They believe that Mary and the saints hear their prayers. I told them they cannot because they are dead, and that only God, Jesus & the HS hear them. Now they claim that God hears them for them bc they had God in their hearts. How can I explain to them in love this isn't so? Is there any scripture I can use?
Thanx :)
 

Armor of Light

Praising my Savior all the day long!
What does the Bible say about praying to the dead?
Question: "What does the Bible say about praying to / speaking to / talking to the dead?"

Answer:
Praying to the dead is strictly forbidden in the Bible. Deuteronomy 18:11 tells us that anyone who “consults with the dead” is “detestable to the Lord.” The story of Saul consulting a medium to bring up the spirit of the dead Samuel resulted in his death “because he was unfaithful to the LORD; he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance” (1 Samuel 28:1-25; 1 Chronicles 10:13-14). Clearly, God has declared that such things are not to be done.


Consider the characteristics of God. God is omnipresent—everywhere at once—and is capable of hearing every prayer in the world (Psalm 139:7-12). A human being, on the other hand, does not possess this attribute. Also, God is the only one with the power to answer prayer. God is omnipotent—all powerful (Revelation 19:6). Certainly this is an attribute a human being—dead or alive—does not possess. Finally, God is omniscient—He knows everything (Psalm 147:4-5). Even before we pray, God knows our genuine needs and knows them better than we do. Not only does He know our needs, but He answers our prayers according to His perfect will.

So, in order for a dead person to receive prayers, the dead individual has to hear the prayer, possess the power to answer it, and know how to answer it in a way that is best for the individual praying. Only God hears and answers prayer because of His perfect essence and because of what some theologians call His “immanence.” Immanence is the quality of God that causes Him to be directly involved with the affairs of mankind (1 Timothy 6:14-15); this includes answering prayer.

Even after a person dies, God is still involved with that person and his destination. Hebrews 9:27 says so: “…Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” If a person dies in Christ, he goes to heaven to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:1-9, especially verse 8); if a person dies in his sin, he goes to hell, and eventually everyone in hell will be thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14-15).

God has provided His Son, Jesus Christ, to be the mediator between man and God (1 Timothy 2:5). With Jesus Christ as our mediator, we can go through Jesus to God. Why would we want to go through a sinful dead individual, especially when doing so risks the wrath of God?

https://www.gotquestions.org/praying-to-the-dead.html
 

Everlasting Life

Through Faith in Jesus
Jesus Himself prayed to the Father,

O Father, Lord of heaven and earth....

Matt 11:24

Jesus specifically taught the disciples to pray and He teaches to pray to the Father...

Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

Jesus said, “This is how you should pray:

Father, may your name be kept holy.
May your Kingdom come soon.
Give us each day the food we need,
and forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us.
And don’t let us yield to temptation.


Luke 11:1-4
 

mattfivefour

Well-Known Member
Perhaps suggest to them that they look at the subject in this way-- To pray to Mary or the Saints rather than to God is to actually disbelieve God. It's actually saying, "Lord, I do not believe You when You tell me I should pray directly to You. It is to disbelieve Jesus when He said, 'Whatsoever you ask the Father in My name, He will do.'" If they want to see Scripture in context, take them to John 14:12-13, John 15:16, and John 16:23-24.
 

DanLMP

Well-Known Member
I always go to God. I am developing a relationship with Him, not Angels, Mary or any other lesser being.

I think the idea of not praying directly to God was developed off of this expectation that God would be too busy to be bothered by us. This is the same world view that sees God as an impersonal being who created and now wants to be more hands off.

There are numerous scriptures that refute this idea and a logical review of God's characteristics would refute it too.
 
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Andy C

Well-Known Member
Excellent answers, thought I would add Jacks response.

Question: I’m wondering what you have to say about Catholics “praying” to Mary or other saints. I understand that the first commandment tells us to have no other gods, but Catholics seem to believe they’re not praying to Mary or the other saints, but somehow praying to God through them.
This also brings another question to mind of praying for someone after they’ve died. Is there anyplace in the bible that speaks to this?
Thanks so much for your thoughtful answer.

Answer: All during Old Testament times, the way to God was through the Priest. The people brought their prayers to the temple along with a sacrifice and the priests presented their prayers to God. When Jesus died the veil of separation in the Temple was torn apart, signifying that the people would no longer need an intercessor on Earth. They could now approach God directly (Ephes. 3:12)
In the New Testament, only Jesus (Rom 8:34) and the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:26) are named as intercessors for us. None others are authorized. The notion of praying to Mary or others is uniquely catholic and has no Biblical support.

The same is true about praying for the dead. It comes out of the Catholic tradition of purgatory, where according to them all believers go to pay for their remaining sins upon death. It’s believed that the prayers and good works of their living loved ones can shorten their stay there. This is another non-Biblical tradition of the Catholic Church.

The single over riding purpose of our lives is to decide whether to allow the Lord’s death to pay for our sins or not. We have to decide for ourselves, no one can do it for us, and we have to do it while we’re still alive. Failing to decide is the same as rejecting it. At the instant of death, we’re either saved or not based on that one decision, and no effort by us or anyone we’ve left behind can alter it thereafter. Man was destined to die once and after that to face judgment. (Hebr. 9:27)

https://gracethrufaith.com/ask-a-bible-teacher/what-about-praying-to-mary-and-the-saints/
 

JDP

Member
All wonderful answers, and as a former 45 year Catholic who finally got out of that idolatrous cult, we are to pray only to God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Dead people are not the way to the Father - only Jesus is.

And many years ago, I heard some very sage advice about prayer. Without a doubt or ANY exceptions, God answers every single prayer. Every single one.

We just have to keep in mind that sometimes the answer is no. And usually it's for a purpose we may not yet be able to see, but will realize in time the good that answer will do us and/or others.
 

Annie

Be A Berean!
My Catholic family seems to pray more to saints and Mary than Jesus. My father doesn't like the current pope but he doesn't have a clue what I'm getting at when I tell him and my mother to please pray to Jesus, not Mary. The RCC elevated her to a God-dess and said when she died she went straight to Heaven (bypassed their purgatory) making her a God not a human. I doubt the Catholics consider her dead...
 

SkyRider

Well-Known Member
My Catholic family seems to pray more to saints and Mary than Jesus. My father doesn't like the current pope but he doesn't have a clue what I'm getting at when I tell him and my mother to please pray to Jesus, not Mary. The RCC elevated her to a God-dess and said when she died she went straight to Heaven (bypassed their purgatory) making her a God not a human. I doubt the Catholics consider her dead...


Well, the real Mary is not dead; she is more alive than we are.

The Catholic Mary though, never existed. There is a no “Queen of Heaven”, other than paganistic Babylon-ish folklore. And God detested the worship of her. But Rome has no problem with the adoration of her. She is not a mediator nor a co- redemptrix; Christ is more than suuficient in redeeming us. The Catholic Mary is not the Mother of God; God had no beginning, always was, always will be - He doesn,t have parents or grandparents. Mary was not sinless, and so the fabrication of her being “assumed” into Heaven and her body not seeing corruption had to be invented by Rome to explain away her being buried someplace. Only Christ was sinless. There is never once in the New Testament where it tells of Christ, the Apostles or other followers where they prayed to Mary or any other being than God. Only He is omnipresent, omniscient or omnipowerful to hear and answer prayer. All of these attributes of the Catholic Mary only serve to diminish what Christ accomplished for us and refute what the Word of God tells us of Mary. They are in essence calling God a liar and that scripture cannot be believed. There is no way then that they can be a Christian organization. These and other myriad teachings of theirs expose them for what they are: a counterfeit Christianity.
 

Annie

Be A Berean!
Well, the real Mary is not dead; she is more alive than we are.

The Catholic Mary though, never existed. There is a no “Queen of Heaven”, other than paganistic Babylon-ish folklore. And God detested the worship of her. But Rome has no problem with the adoration of her. She is not a mediator nor a co- redemptrix; Christ is more than suuficient in redeeming us. The Catholic Mary is not the Mother of God; God had no beginning, always was, always will be - He doesn,t have parents or grandparents. Mary was not sinless, and so the fabrication of her being “assumed” into Heaven and her body not seeing corruption had to be invented by Rome to explain away her being buried someplace. Only Christ was sinless. There is never once in the New Testament where it tells of Christ, the Apostles or other followers where they prayed to Mary or any other being than God. Only He is omnipresent, omniscient or omnipowerful to hear and answer prayer. All of these attributes of the Catholic Mary only serve to diminish what Christ accomplished for us and refute what the Word of God tells us of Mary. They are in essence calling God a liar and that scripture cannot be believed. There is no way then that they can be a Christian organization. These and other myriad teachings of theirs expose them for what they are: a counterfeit Christianity.

Yes INDEED the Catholic Mary is not the same as the biblical Mary, a highly favored human, chosen to be the mother of Jesus, but now dead... she should not be prayed to. Perhaps you are saying that she has eternal life in Heaven.

https://www.gotquestions.org/virgin-Mary.html

(snip)

The virgin Mary, by God’s grace, recognized that she needed the Savior. The Bible never says that Mary was anyone but an ordinary human whom God chose to use in an extraordinary way. Yes, Mary was a righteous woman and favored (graced) by God (Luke 1:27–28). At the same time, Mary was a sinful human being who needed Jesus Christ as her Savior, just like everyone else (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23; 6:23; 1 John 1:8).
 
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Xenosjeff

Well-Known Member
Mary was a Jewish momma with lots of kids. Miriam would have shut down all forms of adoration for her role in raising Jesus. She would have pointed to Jesus And said worship Him.

Rome tries to get around all of this by using the “ not the God of the dead but of the living” argument. In effect they are trying to adopt the “alive in Christ” to include a special hotline that circumvents the prohibitions of Deuteronomy. It’s a really stupid argument.
They can’t let one card fall otherwise it all falls down.

Jeff
 

Micki

MARANATHA!!
I've seen a lot of people lately making the same old heretical claims about Mary. They love to bring up the wedding in Cana. I tell them to look closely at the account because when Mary went to Jesus to say there was no more wine, all Jesus did was to say "Woman, what does that have to do with you and me? My hour has not yet come." He did exactly nothing else. Mary didn't bother trying any further, she had failed to move Jesus to act. She went back to the servants and told them the wisest words to be found in The New Testament, "Whatever he says to you, do it."

This account concludes with the servants going directly to Jesus. Once they did that they were rewarded with the 5 best jars of wine in all existence! Mary living couldn't move the heart of Jesus to act on anyone's behalf. She has since entered her eternal rest, it not her job to hear out prayers, that belongs to Jesus, our Mediator.
 

Beebee Hei

God’s beloved
i feel so sad that when i told my ex bf about such truth, and how the litany defies what's scriptural, he got so frustrated and depressed. He said we don't have the same God and that my God is a hypocrite and disrespectful God. He said he can't believe Jesus would ever disrespect his mother like that and I have been disrespectful to Mary as well, for telling him I do not worship Mary anymore (as i was once a catholic). I sometimes can't help but feel condemned for making him think about God that way becausse of what i said... I felt like i misrepresented our God :(
 

Beebee Hei

God’s beloved
Condemnation is from the enemy and not of God. You told your ex bf the truth, seeds were planted, hopefully he will investigate what you told him.
Honestly he made some attempts. on times when he got so confused on whom to believe (whether his parents or me), he started reading the bible...Coz I told him, he will find the truth in the scriptures and i asked him to read it without religious bias or whatsoever. He read from Matthew to Luke and then genesis to deuteronomy... Perhaps he got so overwhlemed with the situation that he read so fast... without necessarily understanding or being given the wisdom to understand what he read. Unfortunately, the more he read the bible, the more he felt frustrated because the verses he read seems to convict him to honor and obey his parents... worse, it also made him believe what the catholics claim that Mary is the Ark of the new covenant, as he read in Luke where mary was overshadowed by God when the angel appeared to her and compared it to what was written in Exodus where the tabernacle with the ark in it was overshadowed by God as well... on the good side of it, he said he understood that the bible is about God's love.

I spent time studying about the ark of the covenant and have discussed it with him on how it represented Jesus. He said he clearly understood my point but still seems to doubt if my "interpretation" is the truth. Coz he always keep on saying, at the end of the day, people will always have their own interpretation of the bible, whether mine, or the pastors', or the priests' or anyone else's
 
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