More About Prayer

    Have you ever asked someone to pray for you before? If you have done that, were you worshiping that person when you asked for his or her prayers, and why did you not go straight to God the Father through Jesus His Son? I was a Protestant many years ago. I, like a lot of Protestants, used to use these types of arguments to discourage someone from asking for the prayers of the Saints. Necromancy is what Protestants think that is. However, that is not true.
    We are supposed to have faith in God that He will answer our prayers which we pray in accordance with His will. Nevertheless, it is also possible to get some needs of our met by God through the faith of others. An example of this can be found in St. Matthew’s Gospel.
    Someone was sick and needed to be healed. He was a servant of a centurion. The centurion went to Jesus and asked for Jesus’ help.

And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto Him a centurion, beseeching Him, and saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. (Matthew 8:5,6, KJV)

Jesus offered to go to his servant and heal him.

And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. (Matthew 8:7, KJV)

The centurion told him merely to speak the word to heal him and not bother to come to his house.

The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. (Matthew 8:8,9, KJV)

Notice that the centurion is a man possessing authority over others, but before Jesus he is humble. He says that he is “not worthy.” We read further about Jesus’ statement regarding this centurion.

When Jesus heard it, He marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. (Matthew 8:10, KJV)

The centurion was not even a Jew. Jesus had not found “so great faith” in Israel. Jesus continues to talk about life after the general resurrection of the dead on the Last Day.

And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 8:11,12, KJV)

The children of the kingdom are the Jews who rejected Jesus as the Messiah and nominal Christians, that is, Christians who profess faith but do not actively follow Christ. Then we read further and see that it was because of the man’s faith that the servant was healed.

And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour. (Matthew 8:13, KJV)

The servant was healed by Jesus through the faith of his master.
    Now, let us look at some other verses of Scripture. In Baruch, it says:

O Lord Almighty, Thou God of Israel, hear now the prayers of the dead Israelites, and of their children, which have sinned before Thee, and not hearkened unto the voice of Thee their God: for the which cause these plagues cleave unto us. (Baruch 3:4, KJV)

Dead people pray. Baruch asked God to hear the prayers of the dead Israelites and their children. We can see that dead people pray in this passage from the New Testament, too.

And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? (Revelation 6:9,10, KJV)

    In some mysterious way, those who are in heaven know what happens here on earth. We can see this to be true in the following passages of Scripture. When Herod was killing the infants in Bethlehem, Jacob’s wife Rachel was weeping for them.

Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not. (Matthew 2:16-18, KJV)

Rachel was dead. (Genesis 35:19) She was aware of what was happening to the infants in Bethlehem many years later. Several Old Testament Saints are mentioned in the 11th chapter of Hebrews: Abel (Hebrews 11:4), Enoch (Hebrews 11:5), Noah (Hebrews 11:7), Abraham (Hebrews 11:8-10, 17-19), Sarah (11:11,12), Isaac (Hebrews 11:18-20), Jacob (Hebrews 11:20,21), Joseph (Hebrews 11:22), Moses (Hebrews 11:23-29), the Israelites under Joshua (Hebrews 11:30), Rahab (Hebrews 11:31), Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephtha, David, Samuel, the rest of the prophets (Hebrews 11:32), and several others (Hebrews 11:35-40). In the first two verses of the following chapter, St. Paul calls those Old Testament Saints “a great cloud of witnesses.” They compass us. In some mysterious way, they know what we are doing, but they are not omnipresent.

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1,2, KJV)

Later in the same chapter, St. Paul says that we have come to an innumerable company of angels and the spirits of just men made perfect. Although the angels and the spirits of just men are not omnipresent, we can still be in their presence through some mysterious means established by God who is omnipresent.

But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the New Covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. (Hebrews 12:22-24, KJV)

In St. Luke’s Gospel, we can see that those in heaven know what happens on earth, too.

I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. (Luke 15:7, KJV)

Those in heaven are not omnipresent. Even angels are aware of what happens on earth.

Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. (Luke 15:10, KJV)

    In some mysterious way, angels in heaven know what we are doing here on earth. They know when sinners repent. Angels are not omnipresent. Only God is omnipresent.
    So then, if we were to say something to someone in heaven, they would hear us.
    In St. Paul’s epistles, we can see that St. Paul asked others to pray for him.

Brethren, pray for us. (I Thessalonians 5:25, KJV)

Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you: and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith. (II Thessalonians 3:1,2, KJV)

Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly. (Hebrews 13:18, KJV)

Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6) St. Paul said that there is “one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.” (I Timothy 2:5, NKJV) So, if these things are true, was St. Paul trying to get to God the Father by bypassing Jesus? Was St. Paul worshiping those people when he asked for their prayers?

    Of course not. Those passages of Scripture do not forbid anyone for praying for someone else. St. Paul even told people to pray for others.

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. (I Timothy 2:1,2, KJV)

Jesus is the only Mediator between God and men because He is both God and Man. As Man, He can sympathize with us. He knows what it is like to be tired, hungry, and thirsty. He knows what it is like to suffer and experience death. As God, He knows what it is like to be hated by one’s own creatures.
    As for going to the Father through Jesus, that is how we approach the Father. However, it is possible for someone to go to the Father through the Son in prayer and not even be aware that that is how his prayers reach the Father. An example of such an instance is Cornelius before his conversion. In Acts it says:

There was a certain man in Cæsarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, a devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway. He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. (Acts 10:1-4, KJV)

Cornelius was not even tacking on the words, “in Jesus’ name,” to his prayers and they were being answered. He was not even praying “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” His prayers had gone up for a memorial before God. Later in this same chapter we read that Cornelius and his household were converted to Christianity and were baptized. (Acts 10:25-48)
    So then, someone could be praying to the Father through the Son, be heard by God, and not be familiar with the theology of prayer.
    God is omniscient. Each Person of the Trinity is omniscient. So, if someone who is not a Christian prays, is God unaware of that person’s prayer? Of course not. God’s mercy extends even to those who live in ignorance, but if they are exposed to the truth, then they must respond appropriately by accepting the truth and amending their lives in accordance with their new insight into what God wants them to do.
    You can see now, I hope, how people misinterpret those verses (John 14:6 and I Timothy 2:5).
    Now, I am will resume my discourse on the intercession of the Saints. In St. James’ Epistle it says:

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias [Elijah] was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. (James 5:16-18, KJV)

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. If that is the case, then the prayers of all of those righteous men and women in heaven should be quite effective in getting one’s requests from God. If it is something good and in accordance with God’s will, there should be no problem getting one’s prayers answered through such effective intercessors.
    The intercession of the Saints is effective. I leave you all with this one caveat. If you do not get what you ask, maybe you are asking for the wrong things or with the wrong motives. If you ask God for billions of dollars, then are you really serving God or money? (Matthew 6:24) God does not help people sin. Also, if you do not get your petitions filled, maybe God in His infinite wisdom sees something better for you in the bigger picture. Problems and difficulties are part of the lives of believers.

For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen [are] temporal; but the things which are not seen [are] eternal. (II Corinthians 4:16-18, KJV)

These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33, KJV)

Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. (II Timothy 3:12, KJV)

Not everyone will prevented from dying through the prayers of the Saints. It is God’s will for everyone to die someday.

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. (Hebrews 9:27, KJV)

People can postpone death, but no one can completely avoid it. When it is God’s time for someone to die, that person is going to die.
    It is perfectly acceptable to ask someone else to pray for you. When you do that, you are not bypassing Jesus to get to God the Father. If that were true, St. Paul would not have asked others to pray for him and his colleagues, but St. Paul did request prayers from the churches to whom he wrote. He acknowledged that Jesus is the Mediator between God and men. That means that, as God and Man, Jesus is the only Person who can adequately fill that role. People can obtain answers to prayers without understanding the theology of prayer like Cornelius did before his conversion. The Saints are, in some mysterious way, aware of what we do here on earth. Therefore, it is possible to ask for their prayers. Asking for their prayers is not bypassing Jesus to get to God the Father, nor does it constitute worshiping the Saints. It is possible to obtain help from God through someone else’s faith — including the faith of a Saint. “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” (James 5:16) Try asking for the help of the Saints when you pray. “God is wondrous in His Saints.”