"And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. In this manner, therefore, pray:

““Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.”

In our serving God, we must seek to serve him according to his will and not the way we think is right. This includes the way we live our lives, pray to and worship God. In the first of our twin websites, http://www.ags-tav.org, we discussed serving God according to his will. In the current page of this website, we build on that discussion as it relates to the practice of praying to saints. Our desire is not to enter into a debate from man’s perspective but to review this practice in light of God’s requirements as documented in the Holy Bible. AGS exists for one thing  - glorifying God, Our Father and Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

To Whom Does God Want Us to Pray? 

God is the Creator and as such, it is He, and only He, who must tell us the right way to worship him - not a religion, denomination, pope, or anyone else. Let’s all remember that God does not share the worship that is due him with another, be it idols, false gods, popes, Virgin Mary, saints, or angels. The scriptures tell us, as indicated in the graphic presented herein, that no one can come to the Father except through Jesus Christ, His only begotten son. The scriptures further tell us that everything has been delivered to him, as it is written in Matthew 11:27:

“All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”

Jesus Christ specifically indicates that we ought to pray to God. The Bible is very specific about to whom we should pray - we ought to pray to God and to Him alone. The Bible is also specific about to whom we should not pray - everyone else which includes angels, saints or the Virgin Mary. We must always remember that God does not share the worship that is due to Him with anyone!  Jesus Christ and the angels who have seen the Almighty God are acutely aware of this requirement. Consider the following:

When tempted by Satan, Jesus Christ tells Satan, as written in Matthew 4: 9-10

“And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me."  Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.'"

Whenever angels came to Earth and people bowed in obeisance to them, these angels always promptly corrected those who bowed to them reminding them that God alone should be worshipped, as it is written in Revelation 19: 9-10:

“Then he said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!' " And he said to me, "These are the true sayings of God." And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, "See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus.  Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

Believers must worship (includes prayers) according to God’s will. God is the Creator, He and only He is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscience. God is the one who has the power to hear a multitude of prayers simultaneously with Jesus Christ serving as our High Priest. Neither angels nor dead saints

“O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name."

Who Can Pray for Us?

We ought to pray for ourselves as indicated in Matthew 6: 5-13.

"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

"This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.' For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

The Holy Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit prays for us, as is written in Romans 8: 26-27:

“Likewise the (Holy) Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us  with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”

We can also ask other living believers to pray for us as is written in Hebrews 13: 18-21:

Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way. I particularly urge you to pray so that I may be restored to you soon. May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen

Is Praying to Dead Saints Biblical? 

In the Bible, there is only the one instance of consulting the dead and that is when Saul summoned the prophet Samuel through the witch of Endor (1 Samuel 28:3-25). This practice was condemned by the Law and the prophets. It is noteworthy that King Saul sought to speak to a prophet of God after he had died just as believers seek to pray to dead saints. Was what Saul did an evil action only because he sought to speak to the dead through a witch? Or was it an evil act in its entirety? Why must one pray to the dead? Isn’t God’s way enough? Is not God the one and the only one to stipulate how we should pray to him? Where in the scriptures does Jesus Christ or the apostles pray to the dead? To whom  should we be obedient -  God or man?

We should pray according to God's will and His will for us is documented in the Holy Bible. Pray to the Father according to His will and we would have the confidence as written in 1 John 5: 14-15:

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”