Praying to Mary/ Saints - Some Christians believe Mary and some saints are intercessors before God. It is believed that a Saint, who is glorified in Heaven, has more “direct access” to God. Therefore, if a saint delivers a prayer to God, it is more effective. How scriptural is this?
Do the Saints really have the ability to intercede with the Father on our behalf? The Bible does say in 1Timothy 2:5 “for there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”; where then is the place of Jesus (the only mediator) and the Holy Ghost whom the Bible says is our intercessor Romans 8:26-27? How effective is this mode of praying to Mary (the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ) and Saints?
Kindly share your Word based thoughts on this subject of discussion right here on the Blog.
As a former Catholic, I would say that this practice is misunderstood by non catholics. The basis of this practice can be traced to the believe by catholics that the church is existing at three levels. 1. Church Triumphant - christians in heaven 2. Church Militant - christians still on the earth and 3.Church Expectant- christians in purgatory.
ReplyDeleteThe teaching is that these three are all one of the same body of christians - the church. The believe is that while I could ask my earthly brethren to pray for me, so much more will it be more powerful if those already in heaven can be asked to pray for me. Catholics do not disagree that Jesus is the only mediator between them and God. They only believe in asking for intercession of other christians or saints who are expected to carry the same request to God asking in the name of Christ. Even though we might disagree with the whole theory or the fact that "dead" saints could actually hear this requests, we should not forget that many of us do request the prayers of our pastors and fellow brethren on earth and it does not change the fact that Christ is the only mediator between God and Man.
eric
ReplyDeletei believe no one is better than the other as Christ has come to die for us and has removed all condeminations on us. as such we are all saints and have equal rights before the Lord.
How do we address the issue of christians having business relationships with the unbelievers?
ReplyDeletepastor pls pray for me I,m in South Africa with a Hopeless Situation, Ive lost my job , Got arrested , Dont kno how to pay my bills, I even tied of leaving my Email is sindi.mahlangu@gmail.com. pls help me I, don,t kno what to do anymore
ReplyDeleteJohn 16:23
ReplyDelete"And in that day you shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you. Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you."
The Bible is the manual for the Christian and it says for us to pray in Jesus' name. We should not create our own ways of praying