Should we pray to saints?

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Should we pray to saints?

Some churches have a historic practice of praying to dead saints. Does the Bible teach that we should pray to the saints?



Answer:



Jesus Christ taught His followers to pray to "our Father in heaven" (Matthew 6:9After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.



See All...), and the example throughout Scripture is that prayer is communication with God and part of our worship of Him.



What else does the Bible say about where prayers should be directed? Paul wanted the Roman church's "prayers to God" (Romans 15:30Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me;



See All...). Moses was to "pray to the Lord" (Numbers 21:7Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.



See All...), and David sang to God that "to You I will pray" (Psalm 5:2Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray.



See All...). Christians can come directly to God's throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.



See All...), and the Bible clearly teaches that Jesus Christ intercedes for us (Hebrews 7:25Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.



See All...). We don't need saints to do that.



Scripture shows saints (true believers) refusing to accept the worship of people (Acts 10:26But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man.



See All...; 14:8-18). The Bible also tells us not to worship angels (Colossians 2:18Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,



See All...), and it shows that angels refuse adoration and worship by humans (Revelation 19:10And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.



See All...).



Notice also Revelation 22:9Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.



See All..., where the apostle John saw in vision the time after the resurrection and fell down in awe at the feet of the being talking to him. "Then he said to me, '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.'"



Righteous created beings, whether human or angelic, refuse to be worshipped and they point us to worship the Creator. Only Satan and his followers seek others' adoration and worship (Matthew 4:9And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.



See All...; Acts 8:9-11 [9] But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:

[10] To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.

[11] And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries.





See All...; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 [3] Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

[4] Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.





See All...).



In addition to all this, praying to dead saints today assumes the doctrine of the immortal soul, which many people are surprised to find is not taught in the Bible. The Bible teaches that death is like sleep that lasts until the resurrection at Jesus Christ's second coming (1 Thessalonians 4:13-16 [13] But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

[14] For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

[15] For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

[16] For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:





See All...).



For more information, please read our booklet Who Is God?

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Society's Five Rotten Apples: Part 2 - A Pill Without a Prayer

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Society's Five Rotten Apples: Part 2 - A Pill Without a Prayer

article by Mario Seiglie





Again we ask: Why is the world the way it is? What’s shaped our society and the kind of people we are? We’ve come up with all kinds of great things, like technology, medicine and governing constitutions. But the way we live is only getting worse and worse. Why?







Source: sxc.hu/MattoxAs if society’s first three rotten apples of Marxist communism, Darwinian evolution and Freudian psychology weren’t enough (read Part 1: Bad Philosophy and Corrupt Theories ), here are two more bad apples that have corrupted the hearts and minds of modern youth.



Society’s rotten apple #4: the sexual revolution by way of “the pill”

The birth control pill, invented in the United States in the 1950s, was approved for contraceptive use in the country in 1960. Before “the pill,” most women were afraid of having sex before marriage. After its availability, it became a cheap and convenient way to avoid pregnancy. And it helped launch the sexual revolution of the 1960s in much of the world.



In the wake of that immoral revolution, and in spite of the birth control pill, there are more unwanted pregnancies than ever before.



A recent news story titled “Out-of-Wedlock Births Society’s ‘New Normal’” pointed out some startling findings: “More children are now being born outside of marriage, according to a new study by the National Marriage Project and the Institute for American Values. The report focuses on what it calls ‘middle-America,’ the nearly 60 percent of Americans who complete high school but not college. Among that group, 44 percent of children are now born outside of marriage. That’s up from 13 percent in the 1980s. ‘America is at a tipping point, with unwed childbearing threatening to become a new norm,’ study co-author Brad Wilcox said. Research shows children born or raised outside of marriage are more likely to suffer from a range of social and emotional problems” (CBN News, Dec. 18, 2012).



This is not to say that contraception is wrong, as perhaps practiced by married couples in trying to determine when they have children. The problem lies in using a method of avoiding consequences as license to commit sexual immorality. We see the same problem with the promotion of other methods of contraception and protection from sexually transmissible diseases today.



The fact is, immorality eventually catches up with individuals and societies that condone and indulge in it.



Society’s rotten apple #5: the banning of school prayer

In 1961 the U.S. Supreme Court made the decision to ban prayer from American public schools. This idea has also spread around most of the world.



Randall Price, an archaeologist and religious writer, recently commented in his newsletter about the impact of this watershed decision and the 1973 decision to legalize abortion:



“These decisions affected our society’s moral consciousness . . . by making humanism the only religion sanctioned in the public education system and demeaning the value of human life. Over the years since these anti-values became a part of our national values, we have witnessed degeneration in our society, especially with our youth who never knew other values once were accepted and practiced under the law in our nation. We have also witnessed the government and the private sector increasing[ly] apply these anti-values in ways and to an extent that may never have been envisioned by the justices that rendered their original decisions (such as prayer and the mention of God at commencements and sports events and expressions of public faith . . .).



“However, while expressions of Christian values are prohibited or denounced, these anti-values are marketed wholesale through the entertainment industry (movies, TV, and video games) that saturates our culture with trivial violence and death, creating the illusion that wanton murder is just a game and the hero is the one with the ‘baddest’ weapons! This was one of the traits of the young man who murdered the teachers and children in Connecticut” (“What’s Wrong With Our Country?” World of the Bible News & Views, Winter 2012, p. 21).



As it often has after terrible tragedies like the school killings in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012, the following fictional letter exchange between a student and God made the internet rounds. It begins with a question: “Dear God, Why do you allow so much violence in our schools? Signed, a concerned student.” And this is the reply: “Dear Concerned Student, I’m not allowed in schools. —God."



Former governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee stated it well when he said: “We ask why there is violence in our schools but we’ve systematically removed God from our schools. Should we be so surprised that schools would become a place of carnage?” (interview on Fox News, Dec. 14, 2012).



Indeed, the expulsion of God from schools was followed by an accelerated rise in all manner of societal ills.



Sorting out the rotten apples

It’s important to realize that these five “rotten apples” have affected society in a profound way—their toxic corruption permeating it throughout.



The Bible describes the last generation before Jesus Christ returns to earth, and it’s not a pleasant picture. It should be obvious that these “rotten apples” have much to do with this.



Notice the apostle Paul’s prophecy of what things would be like: “You must understand this: In the last days there will be violent periods of time. People will be selfish and love money. They will brag, be arrogant, and use abusive language. They will curse their parents, show no gratitude, have no respect for what is holy, and lack normal affection for their families. They will refuse to make peace with anyone. They will be slanderous, lack self-control, be brutal, and have no love for what is good. They will be traitors. They will be reckless and conceited. They will love pleasure rather than God” (2 Timothy 3:1-4 [1] This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

[2] For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

[3] Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

[4] Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;





See All..., God’s Word Translation).



Doesn’t this define the world we live in today? Read the news or watch TV. The lack of moral and spiritual values is glaring.



So what can we do about it? The answer is: We can’t change society, but we can change ourselves—and even more so with God’s help.



Paul said it well in another passage: “So then, my friends, because of God’s great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him . . . Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God—what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect” (Romans 12:1-2 [1] I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

[2] And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.





See All..., Good News Bible).



Throw out the rotten apples. Learn the truth about the incredible future God has planned for you by reading our free booklet What Is Your Destiny? From your heart and mind follow God’s ways—the true values—and reject the “anti-values” of this present, evil world.

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