I see your point, but I guess it is also not unreasonable to believe that those are not prayers from people on Earth to people in heaven. That is what makes it hard for me. I appreciate your help though, I learned some new things here.
True, that passage in Revelation does not specify exactly whos prayers are being presented before God. But here is something to think about: In that scene, you have the twenty-four elders and the four winged creatures along with the seven spirits of God and they are all before the throne of God in this scene, presenting “the prayers of the saints” in the form of bowls of incense.
Now go to the book of Tobit in the Catholic bible. In Tobit, we see the angel Raphael who confesses to Tobit and his son Tobias (who are both alive on earth), that every time Tobit and Tobias prayed, Raphael took their prayers himself and presented them before the throne of God. Then Raphael introduces himself as one of the seven spirits of God, who stands before the Throne.
So now go back to Revelation, where you see the seven spirits, the four winged creatures and the twenty-four elders. They are before the Throne, presenting the prayers of “the saints” or “God’s people”, depending on the translation. See how these two books connect? The twenty-four elders are presenting prayers to God, just like Raphael did with Tobit’s prayers. The angel and saints are all doing the same thing before the throne, presenting prayers, most likely our (the living) prayers. Apostolic churches have always maintained that these are the prayers of the living that are being presented here.
In any rate, just the sheer number of miraculous healings that have been obtained after praying to a saint should tell us that the saints in heaven somehow hear us.
