I’m sure the links above pointed this out – but there are books of the Bible that Protestants don’t have, precisely because they talk about saints.
First off, the holy dead aren’t really dead.
Wisdom 2:1-9 –
"But the souls of the just are in the hand of God, and the torment of death shall not touch them. In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die; and their departure was taken for misery, and their going away from us, for utter destruction. But they are in peace. And though in the sight of men they suffered torments, their hope is full of immortality.
"Afflicted in few things, in many they shall be well rewarded: because God has tried them, and found them worthy of Himself. As gold in the furnace he has tested them, and as a victim of a holocaust he has received them, and in time there shall be respect had to them.
“The just shall shine, and shall run to and fro like sparks among the reeds. They shall judge nations, and rule over peoples, and their Lord shall reign for ever. Those that trust in Him shall understand the truth, and those that are faithful in love shall rest in Him; for grace and peace is to His chosen.”
As I’ve noted elsewhere, Jeremiah says that God talks about Rachel (who’s dead and in her tomb along the road to Bethlehem) interceding for her children who are being taken out of Israel or made to flee from Jerusalem. And God answers her prayer.
Jeremiah 31:15-17 –
“A voice was heard on high of lamentation, of mourning, and weeping, of Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted for them, because they are not.”
“Let your voice cease from weeping, and your eyes from tears. For there is a reward for your work,” says the Lord, “and they shall return out of the land of the enemy. And here is hope for your last end,” says the Lord, “and the children shall return to their own borders.”
So obviously the “dead” saints can know what’s going on, and can pray and be heard.
And remember that Matthew also quoted this passage from Jeremiah (Mt. 2:17-18), so it’s not something that “went away” in New Testament times, like some varieties of Protestants are taught about OT stuff.
Isaiah 8:19 is actually a pretty interesting verse. Obviously it is about “consulting mediums is stupid,” but the details vary according to how it is translated.
Today, the usual Protestant way of translating it, is that the question is whether one should consult the dead about the living. The older translations, including the King James, take the verse as saying that one should rather consult the Living God on behalf of the dead. (The phrasing is weird, but you could even take the verse as pointing out that we living people are practically dead, in comparison to the Living God.)
So yeah, I’d say that it’s definitely not against prayer to the saints. (Unless you’re hiring a medium to do divinations disguised as prayer. That would be stupid.)
