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DEFENDING THE BRIDE
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Defending the Glory of God 9
Prayers of the Saints : More Biblical Support
The Bible shows us how the prayers of others are very beneficial for us and that we should ask for their prayers.
In Genesis God tells Abimelech that he is to return Sarah to Abraham and how because of Abraham’s prayers Abimelech will be saved.
Genesis 20:7
“Therefore, return the
man’s wife—as a spokesman he will intercede for you—that your
life may be saved.”
Also, in Job we see God telling Job’s false friends Eliphaz and Temanite that they are to go to Job and ask for Job’s prayers. God tells them that he will accept Job’s prayers on their behalf.
Job 42:7-9
“ … the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, ‘I am angry with you
and with your two friends; for you have not spoken rightly
concerning me, as has my servant Job. Now, therefore, take
seven bullocks and seven rams, and
go to my servant Job,
and offer up a holocaust for yourselves;
and let my servant Job pray for you; for
his prayer I will accept, not to punish you severely.
For you have not spoken rightly concerning me, as has my servant
Job.’ Then Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite,
and Zophar the Naamathite, went and did as the LORD had
commanded them. And the LORD
accepted the intercession of Job.”
Again in First Kings we see how King Jeroboam appeals for the intercession of a prophet, a man of God, who intercedes for him.
1 Kings 13:4-6
“ … King Jeroboam … stretched forth his hand from the altar …
But the hand he stretched forth against him withered, so that he
could not draw it back. … Then the king appealed to the man of
God. ‘Entreat the LORD, your
God,’ he said, ‘and intercede for me
that I may be able to withdraw my
hand.’ So the man of God entreated the LORD, and the king
recovered the normal use of his hand.”
God did not create a me and Jesus only type of arrangement for our salvation. God works through others and God wants us to recognize others seek their help since it is nothing less than God’s help that comes through them. See Acts 9:4
1 Corinthians
16:18
“… for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. So give
recognition to such people.”
And we also see this Biblical encouragement to ask for others prayers made in the New Testament.
Romans 15:30-32
“I urge you, (brothers,) by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the
love of the Spirit, to join me in the struggle by your
prayers to God on my behalf,
that I may be delivered from the disobedient in Judea, and that
my ministry for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the holy ones …”
Also see Col 4:3; 1 Thess 5:25; Eph 6:18-19; 2 Thess 3:1
The prayer of others can be life giving.
1 John 5:16
“If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly,
he should pray to God and he will give him life.”
James 5:16
“ … The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful.”
When the saints on earth die and go to heaven they are more righteous because they are even closer to God, and therefore they are even more open to the workings of God’s grace so that their prayers become even more efficacious for us. Asking for the prayers of others cannot violate Christ’s role as sole mediator, see Romans 15:30-32 above. We are all required to love one another and the Saints in heaven express their love for us by praying for us. We are all part of the ONE Body of Christ, 1 Corinthians 12:12-26. Although they have gone before us they are still connected to us through the head of Christ. It would be Scripturally wrong to say that we do not need them. See 1 Corinthians 12:21 below.
The ancient practice of asking the Saints in heaven to pray with us and for us goes back to the early church. The Bible shows that they are in heaven interceding on our behalf and taking our prayers up to God.
Revelation 5:8
“When he took it, the four living creatures and the
twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each of the elders
held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the
prayers of the holy ones.”
Revelation 8:3-4
“And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden
censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of
all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne; and the
smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the
hand of the angel before God.”
The Saints in heaven belong to the Body of Christ. And the Christians on earth also belong to the Body of Christ. So, we have the question, “How many Bodies does Christ have ?”
1
Corinthians 12:27
“Now you are Christ’s body, and individually
parts of it.”
1 Corinthians
12:20
“But as it is, there are many parts, yet one
body.”
Cf. Eph 4:4; Col 3:15
Therefore, the saints here on earth are united with the Saints in heaven in the one Body of Christ. We would be wrong to ignore the help that Jesus wants to give us through them and their intercession on our behalf.
James 5:16
“… pray for one another, that you may be healed. The fervent prayer
of a righteous person is very powerful.”
We need the prayers of the Saints in Heaven because we are all one family, and part of following Jesus is being humble enough to accept that we need there help.
1
Corinthians 12:20-21
“But as it is, there are many
parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I
do not need you,’ nor again the head to the feet, ‘I do not need
you.’ ”
Therefore, it is a good and holy thing to avail ourselves of help that God wants to give to us through their intercession done in Jesus Christ.
For the answers to more objections
concerning praying to Mary or the other Saints see
See Articles at