Should We Pray to “Saints”?

The Bible does not say that the early Christians prayed to “saints.” It does not tell us that we need them as “intercessors,” or that they will intercede with God in our behalf. The Scriptures give no examples of God’s faithful servants praying to any dead persons, or of their trying to get such ones to do favors for them.a In fact, the Bible indicates that dead “saints” could not do so, for it says that the dead “are conscious of nothing at all.” According to the Bible, the dead are unconscious, in their graves, awaiting the resurrection.​—Eccl. 9:5, 10; John 5:28, 29; 11:24.

So, rather than telling us to pray to saints, the Bible says: “In everything by prayer and supplication along with thanksgiving let your petitions be made known to God.” (Phil. 4:6) Thus, the popular French expression, “better do business with the good Lord than with his saints,” is far truer than many persons who say it may have imagined.

Praying to God is not like approaching some European kings of ancient times under whose reign those “whom you knew at court” may have been more important than the justice of your case. The first Christians, whose actions are recorded in the Bible, felt no need to go through anyone in heaven except Jesus Christ, in whose name they addressed their prayers to God. Jesus himself said: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” and he spoke of ‘asking in his name.’​—John 14:6, 14.

The New Catholic Encyclopedia admits that early Christians prayed to God, not to saints, when it says: “Usually in the N[ew] T[estament], all prayer, private as well as public liturgical prayer, is addressed to God the Father through Christ.” It also states: “Prayer should be an expression of one’s friendship with God.”​—Volume XI, pp. 670, 673.

Having “friendship with God” eliminates the need of having someone else speak for you​—even if that were possible. Christians do not need to go through “saints” because they are afraid to address God directly. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, showed that we do not need such intercessors with God, for we have “freeness of speech” in addressing him through Jesus. Paul counseled: “Let us, therefore, approach with freeness of speech to the throne of undeserved kindness, that we may obtain mercy and find undeserved kindness for help at the right time.” (Heb. 4:14-16) If we have such “freeness of speech” in our prayers, other intercessors are not needed.