In this blog we’ll look at a host of additional prayer
issues, beyond stained glass, paintings, statues and icons. These range from
praying to dead people (saints and others), to praying directly to God, to
confusion about the direction and object (the “to whom”) of our prayers. Odds
are there are ways of praying that we all misunderstand and misjudge. We’ll
look at four key areas.
1. Praying to Saints
for Their Personal Assistance
In some Christian traditions, people believe each saint has
specific areas of interest and power, and can respond to prayer to them by
acting on our behalf. Other traditions find this incomprehensible and wrong.
But before we reject this outright, let’s consider some of the testimony of
Scripture that seems to support this concept.
Angels
Angels are not humans, nor are they humans who have died and
been sent to earth by God on special missions (as TV and many movies would have
us think). They are another order of creation altogether, and they carry out
God’s will, including communicating with people, performing supernatural acts
and fighting battles, both against other supernatural beings and on behalf of
humans. While we may think of God always being the One who acts—since He is
omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent—Scripture regularly shows His actions as
flowing through others, who themselves have free will and choose to act as He
has instructed, or not. Angels are a prime example of this.
Prophets, Disciples and Apostles
We also see God using people in this way. Recall Moses and
the plagues against the Egyptian Pharaoh, Elijah calling down fire from heaven,
Paul healing a man crippled from birth and Jesus sending out 70 disciples with
the authority to heal, or the Twelve to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers,
raise the dead and cast out demons.
Believers
God also uses believers – that is, people we wouldn’t
normally think of as “saints,” but who are followers of Jesus, who can and do
act on God’s behalf. There are many places in Scripture where power of God
flowing through people is demonstrated, but probably one of the most obvious is
in 1 Corinthians 12. Here it lists the gifts of the Spirit, the ways that God
works through believers to both build up the Body of Christ (that is, the
Church) and to reach out to the world. These gifts include supernatural wisdom
and knowledge, prophecy, healing and miracles. That is, supernatural things
happen through people.
Animals and Thing
God acts and touches people supernaturally even through
animals, inanimate objects and, well, other weird stuff. A dove brought an
olive branch to Noah to signify the end of the Flood, a bush burned in front of
Moses without being consumed and God’s voice spoke out of it, a pillar of fire
and a cloud of smoke led the Israelites through the wilderness, Balaam’s donkey
spoke, and fingers appeared out of thin air and wrote on a wall. Peter’s shadow
healed people, as did pieces of cloth that Paul had touched.
2. Praying to a Saint
as an Intermediary to God
This is a slightly different idea than praying to a saint
for their assistance (believing they each have areas of special power). Here
the idea is that a given saint will more or less be the conduit to God through
which our prayers flow, and through which then flows the power of God back to
us, to help us in our time of need. The saints are, in effect, agents or
messengers of God, much like angels, and act to carry our needs to Him, and
then act to carry out His will. That, at least, is the idea.
3. Praying to Ask a
Saint to Be an Intercessor
This is probably the least-known concept for Western
Protestants, and yet perhaps the most common understanding of the role of
saints for believers in the Orthodox Church: The dead saints of the Church can
pray with you or pray for you. They can intercede. Does this make any sense at
all?
As a 21st-century Protestant, if I am sick, or out of work,
or worried about something, I believe it is perfectly fine to turn to a friend
and say, “Joe, would you pray for me? Would you intercede about something?”
Does anyone, Protestant, Orthodox or Roman Catholic, think
this is wrong? No, we think it is perfectly legitimate. We encourage such
prayerful intercession for each other!
Here’s the thing: Roman Catholic and Orthodox tradition sees
heaven as only a tiny distance away, separated by a thin veil. They believe
that those who have died and gone into God’s presence are still fully aware of
us, though we can’t see them. They know what we are doing and can hear us just
as easily as if they were here, standing nearby.
Hence these traditions believe it makes perfect sense to ask
a family member who has died, a saint, or even Mary the mother of Jesus, to
pray for us. It is simply intercession. That is how it is understood, and up until
recent centuries was the normative understanding of the Church. And still is,
for most Christians worldwide.
4. PRAYING DIRECTLY
TO GOD HIMSELF
Well, then, do we need to go indirectly, through saints, or
Mary, or sweet Uncle Harry? Or can we go directly to God Himself? We might
think this is simple—we go to God, of course! Why not?!
Remember, Moses saw God face-to-face in some (apparently)
limited way, but in a later encounter he only saw God’s back, because to see
Him directly, in all His glory, would have killed him. God said so to him.
Uzzah died just by touching the Ark of the Covenant. The high priest, going
into the Holy of Holies once per year, would die in God’s presence there if he
had not first been purified. Yeow!
Maybe this indirect prayer, through the intercession of
someone in heaven, isn’t such a bad idea! At the very least, it is
understandable. But is it necessary to be indirect in our prayer to God?
What Hebrews says is that each and every one of us, because
of Jesus’ sacrifice of on the cross, has permission to go into the Holy of
Holies—where previously only the great High Priest could go, and only after he
had been purified. The curtain that divided the Holy of Holies from the common
people has been split in half, and now we have the right to go into to the very
presence of God. Jesus gave us direct access.
What Scripture tells us is that we don’t have to be afraid
of talking directly to the Father, directly to the Son, or directly to the Holy
Spirit. Jesus did that for us. That was a gift He gave us by His sacrifice on
the cross.
Conclusion
Asking a friend for intercession, or praying to saints,
shouldn’t be used as a replacement for talking to God directly yourself. The
most important person who can pray for you is … you! You can have every person
on Earth praying for you, or for someone you care about, but if you’re not
doing any praying yourself, something’s wrong. It’s basically asking everyone
else to go to bat for you but never bothering to join in.
Isn’t this why we have prayer—because it's an opportunity to
talk with our Creator? It’s the means to build an intimate, two-way personal
relationship.
Consider God's view—what would He rather have? You, coming
personally to talk, or you, always “sending a messenger” in your place? The
choice should be obvious! Pray to God.
In Christ,
Pastor George
No comments:
Post a Comment