Hey, if they want to pray for me that’s great! I welcome all the prayers I can get. However, I will address my petitions directly to the throne of God, as the author of Hebrews instructs.
I may generally ask fellow believers to pray with me. But that is a far cry from formal petition to a particular departed saint as though they were some good luck charm exercising greater ability in one area of need than others.
If indeed they hear our prayers and can pray with us, then I safely assume they do so of their own compassion, and I need not petition them. However, Christ teaches me I ought always to pray and seek the Father. So, I do. I pray directly to the triune God himself, through the merit and name of Christ.
Well now, I did not say any use of a prayer in any degree of repetition was vain. However, if to pray a prayer as assigned, and in specific quantities specified, is not vain repetition then it’s pretty near close enough that I can’t tell the difference. I would rather avoid it, than err in the use of it.
I have not condemned your use of it. However, I was asked why I did not use it. These are my answers, for what they are worth.
Good luck charm? Of all the ignorant slanderous things to say. If you had a medical problem would you not consult a doctor who you knew had plenty of experience with your particular problem in preference to others who perhaps didn’t?
Saints are usually designated patrons of particular causes because of events in their lives that suggest a connection with the cause. St Peregrine is patron of cancer sufferers, for example, because he suffered from cancer himself, being miraculously cured the night before he was due to be operated on. Why wouldn’t a cancer sufferer prefer to seek the intercession of this saint who suffered just as they do?
St Joan of Arc fought to free France from English rule, and so she was designated patron of France - and who better to seek intercession from on behalf of her beloved country? These patron saints are like the doctor with the expert knowledge of your particular problem. It’s not mandatory to go to such a doctor but if you knew one you’d be an utter fool not to.
The same author of Hebrews INSTRUCTS us also, both by example and by direct command, to ask (“pray to”, if you know anything about the English language) other people, requesting them to pray for and with us. Nowhere does Paul say we must reserve prayers (requests) for God alone. On the contrary. Likewise with James.
And I beg to differ, if you ask a specific person to pray for you (your pastor? your parent? your best friend?) then you are doing EXACTLY the same as we do.
More than that, we are commanded by Jesus to pray for each other in the form of the ‘Our Father’, are we not? Is that not an assigned prayer, that most Christians feel at least some obligation to pray, very often to pray frequently? Certainly it would be foolhardy to ignore Our Lord’s words on the matter.
Altogether Christ’s words and those of Paul make it mandatory for us to seek intercession in our needs, not optional. How can you call yourself a member of the Body of Christ if you ignore the greater part of those who are alive in Him - make no mistake, those in heaven are alive, as Jesus Himself proclaimed Abraham, Issac and Jacob to be living.
What kind of a body do you think Christ has if one half of it cannot or need not communicate with the other half? A body, natural or supernatural, simply cannot function in such a way. You have some truly bizarre notions about how Christ does things!
