The Communion of the Saints
There's a question I never thought to ask, but after doing some thinking and research over the past 2 years (yes, that's years), I realize I had never asked it before. Simply put: "Why do we ask other people to pray for us, when we can pray to God ourselves?" Are the prayers of others more easily heard than ours? Does God require a certain critical mass of prayers before he decides to answer? At first thought, I suspected the answer to the latter two questions was a resounding "No, of course not! God listens to all those who pray to Him." But then why do we feel this is a necessary thing.
Obviously, if one decides to pray for someone for something that the person might not realize they need, then this could be of some use. We cannot always see the way out of our troubles like someone else can. But, surely, if we know what we want from our God, then it is just as effective to ask Him ourselves, rather than entreating others to ask in our stead. This seems a logical thing to deduce.
Until one reads the scriptures.
"...praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints--and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I a an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak." (Ephesians 6:18-20)
"Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak." (Colossians 4:2-4)
"Brethren, pray for us." (1 Thessalonians 5:25)
"Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive to together with me in prayers to God for me, that I may be delivered from those in Judea who do not believe, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, that I may come to you with joy by the will of God, and may be refreshed together with you." (Romans 15:30-32)
There are others, but the fact is, Paul is asking his brothers and sisters in Christ to pray for him, for specific things for which he himself prays. He seems to consider the prayers of others more effectual than simply his own prayers.
Now, what's the point of all this? This is nothing interesting, because most people would agree to this point - praying for others is a good and right thing to do. What else is there to talk about?
Well, there is another side to this (because why else would I write a blog post about this topic?)
The question becomes blurred when we start asking not only our brothers and sisters who are alive to pray for us, but when we ask those who have died. This is where we Protestants get off the bandwagon.
In the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox world, this is practiced regularly and is second-nature. The services they conduct often include appeals to departed saints to pray to intercede to God on their behalf.
Now, Protestant claim that Catholics and Orthodox pray to saints as gods, thus being a form of idolatry. This was a divisive issue during the reformation. The problem the reformers were witnessing was the Catholic practice of treating the departed saints as gods and ascribing them power to heal and to perform miracles. There seemed to be a mystic power associated with the saints, and it was that practice that the reformers denied. However, like always, the tendency in us humans is to throw the baby out with the bath water. And so, we stopped praying to saints entirely.
The problem is, that the practice of praying to saints was never a bad thing. Like many of the Catholic practices of the middle ages, it had become twisted and distorted, and perhaps many lay people didn't understand the difference between praying to saints and praying to God, but this is a fault of the Catholic Church at the time for not educating it's followers, not the practice itself.
This has everything to do with the statement in the Apostles' Creed: "I believe in the ... communion of the saints". The understanding of the entire Church before the reformation (yes, the entire church, right down to earliest times) was that departed saints were still conscious, and able to see and hear the things going on here on the earth. In much the same way that the angels are aware of when a sinner repents, so the saints are aware of goings on down here.
The point is, that death doesn't separate a Christian from the body of Christ. Rather, the deceased saint is now in the presence of God in a much more powerful way. He's closer than we are. And if we look at the practice of praying to saints throughout Church history, it has never ascribed power to the saints beyond the power we all have as children of God, that is, to pray to God on behalf of others. Prayers to saints (or, the invocation) of saints are simply structured in the same manner that Paul asks for the prayers of the churches in the above quotes.
The amazing thing about the body of Christ is that it is not limited to this physical earth, but spans time and space. If you are part of Christ's body, you will continue to be part of His body after your death. In the same way that Paul entreated others to pray for him, we can ask Paul to pray for us.
The Protestant in me cries out that this is probably the most horrid thing one could ever think of doing. Praying to the dead? This must be some sort of witchcraft or seance-like thing. We like to think that we've freed ourselves from the wickedness of Catholicism and have rediscovered true Christianity in its purest form.
Um, no. The fact that we no longer ask departed saints to pray for us makes us completely alien to the rest of Christendom, both now and in the past. Christians have always prayed to departed saints. What makes us so sure that it's a wicked thing to do. What makes us so sure that they can't hear us?
As James says, "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." If this is true, then I want Paul, and the other apostles praying for me, if they can. Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist who lived most of her life without a child and felt the reproach and shame it brought her, was eventually given a son by God's hand. In her life she knew how hard it was to live without a child. What if she not only knew what it was like, but rather she knows what it is like. Why wouldn't I want to ask her to pray for my wife and me in that regard?
If we limit the power of the body of Christ to those who are only alive here on this earth, we do a disservice to our selves spiritually, by not recognizing the full body of Christ. In the same manner that we need our brothers and sisters in this life, we need also our brothers and sisters who have gone before us. Who else can "the cloud of witnesses" be, but those who have gone before us. They surround us, and pray for us - and are part of us. We are in them, and they in us.
Obviously, if one decides to pray for someone for something that the person might not realize they need, then this could be of some use. We cannot always see the way out of our troubles like someone else can. But, surely, if we know what we want from our God, then it is just as effective to ask Him ourselves, rather than entreating others to ask in our stead. This seems a logical thing to deduce.
Until one reads the scriptures.
"...praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints--and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I a an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak." (Ephesians 6:18-20)"Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak." (Colossians 4:2-4)
"Brethren, pray for us." (1 Thessalonians 5:25)
"Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive to together with me in prayers to God for me, that I may be delivered from those in Judea who do not believe, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, that I may come to you with joy by the will of God, and may be refreshed together with you." (Romans 15:30-32)
There are others, but the fact is, Paul is asking his brothers and sisters in Christ to pray for him, for specific things for which he himself prays. He seems to consider the prayers of others more effectual than simply his own prayers.
Now, what's the point of all this? This is nothing interesting, because most people would agree to this point - praying for others is a good and right thing to do. What else is there to talk about?
Well, there is another side to this (because why else would I write a blog post about this topic?)
The question becomes blurred when we start asking not only our brothers and sisters who are alive to pray for us, but when we ask those who have died. This is where we Protestants get off the bandwagon.
In the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox world, this is practiced regularly and is second-nature. The services they conduct often include appeals to departed saints to pray to intercede to God on their behalf.
Now, Protestant claim that Catholics and Orthodox pray to saints as gods, thus being a form of idolatry. This was a divisive issue during the reformation. The problem the reformers were witnessing was the Catholic practice of treating the departed saints as gods and ascribing them power to heal and to perform miracles. There seemed to be a mystic power associated with the saints, and it was that practice that the reformers denied. However, like always, the tendency in us humans is to throw the baby out with the bath water. And so, we stopped praying to saints entirely.
The problem is, that the practice of praying to saints was never a bad thing. Like many of the Catholic practices of the middle ages, it had become twisted and distorted, and perhaps many lay people didn't understand the difference between praying to saints and praying to God, but this is a fault of the Catholic Church at the time for not educating it's followers, not the practice itself.
This has everything to do with the statement in the Apostles' Creed: "I believe in the ... communion of the saints". The understanding of the entire Church before the reformation (yes, the entire church, right down to earliest times) was that departed saints were still conscious, and able to see and hear the things going on here on the earth. In much the same way that the angels are aware of when a sinner repents, so the saints are aware of goings on down here.
The point is, that death doesn't separate a Christian from the body of Christ. Rather, the deceased saint is now in the presence of God in a much more powerful way. He's closer than we are. And if we look at the practice of praying to saints throughout Church history, it has never ascribed power to the saints beyond the power we all have as children of God, that is, to pray to God on behalf of others. Prayers to saints (or, the invocation) of saints are simply structured in the same manner that Paul asks for the prayers of the churches in the above quotes.
The amazing thing about the body of Christ is that it is not limited to this physical earth, but spans time and space. If you are part of Christ's body, you will continue to be part of His body after your death. In the same way that Paul entreated others to pray for him, we can ask Paul to pray for us.
The Protestant in me cries out that this is probably the most horrid thing one could ever think of doing. Praying to the dead? This must be some sort of witchcraft or seance-like thing. We like to think that we've freed ourselves from the wickedness of Catholicism and have rediscovered true Christianity in its purest form.
Um, no. The fact that we no longer ask departed saints to pray for us makes us completely alien to the rest of Christendom, both now and in the past. Christians have always prayed to departed saints. What makes us so sure that it's a wicked thing to do. What makes us so sure that they can't hear us?
If we limit the power of the body of Christ to those who are only alive here on this earth, we do a disservice to our selves spiritually, by not recognizing the full body of Christ. In the same manner that we need our brothers and sisters in this life, we need also our brothers and sisters who have gone before us. Who else can "the cloud of witnesses" be, but those who have gone before us. They surround us, and pray for us - and are part of us. We are in them, and they in us.