The God who created space and time can also let the saints hear the prayers of millions of timebound humans. But its not a problem for God to reveal this knowledge to the saints in heaven (by whatever means) anymore than it is for him to reveal to mankinds knowledge of himself as a Trinity of persons. And if by chance a Protestant does happen to use one or both of them, a Catholic will be able to show why they dont succeed. Because of this membership in Christ, under his headship, the intercession of the saints cannot be a rival to Christs mediation; it is one with the mediation of Christ, to whom and in whom the saints form one body. Psalm 66:17-20 I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue. Matthew 6:8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Contact me: openbibleinfo (at) gmail.com. Simply knowledge that God will direct a permitted evil to a greater good gives the saints reason not to be sad. God considers prayer-at-large as incensea sweet aroma to Him. The saints are alive in heaven because of the life they have received through their faith in Christ Jesus and through their eating of his body and blood. Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers that do his will! (Psalm 103:20-21, RSV, as below). You will say to them, Be gone!. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 2 Corinthians 4:17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. OpenBible.info The Saints Hear Our Prayers and Intercede for Us Can the saints, they ask, even hear our prayers? 1 John 2:2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. Catholic ones would interpret it in favor of Mary being able to hear our prayers. How to Defend the Intercession of the Saints | Catholic Answers TheBaltimore Catechismexplains the seriousness of the sin of superstition: Superstition is by its nature a mortal sin, but it may be venial either when the matter is slight or when there is a lack of full consent to the act (question 212). God's Eyes Are On You. O Additional proof that Catholics worship the saints is that they make statues of them, in violation of the next commandment: You shall not make for yourself an idol or any image which is in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters which are under the earth; you shall not bow down and serve them because I am the Lord your God (Ex. You have not lied to men but to God (v.4; emphasis added). This is the doctrine which we call the Communion of the Saints. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. God alone knows of Himself and the saints know by their vision of the Word or by any other means.. To the choirmaster. We greatly appreciate your consideration! D U 1 John 5:15 - Bible Hub Ive always taken it on faith, but how can we be assured that Mary and the saints in heaven can hear our prayers?. So whatever knowledge of prayers God gives to the created intellects in heaven is knowledge of interior thoughts, which the verbal prayers express. Much more! God's Ears Are Open To Your Prayers. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1992. http://www.catholic.com/tracts/praying-to-the-saints, If you have any issues, please call the office at 385-246-1048 or email us at, Leviticus 7:20, 1 Corinthians 11:27, and transubstantiation. Is anyone among you sick? Since the saints in heaven have perfect love, and were their friends, it follows that if they knew our requests about whats going on in our lives, they would help us in our sufferings. In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. 18:10-12), the intercession of the saints seems blasphemous to me. T These texts give us a way to understand how the saints offer our prayers for us. In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. That God knows of himself means that the knowledge God has of the interior movements of mans heart and mind belongs to him by nature. Mark 11:22-25 ESV / 4 helpful votesHelpfulNot Helpful. Only an infinite being can know the interior thoughts of men in this way. Since the Bible says that contacting in the dead is the abominable sin of necromancy (Deut. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Thomas answers this question simply: "God alone of Himself knows the thoughts of the heart: yet others know them, in so far as these are revealed to them, either by their vision of the Word or by any other means.". The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints" ( Ephesians 6:18 ). If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. The Catholic Church explicitly teaches that the Saints can hear our prayers. It claims the saints cant possibly know our prayers because if they did, they would respond to our requests for intercession, and we wouldnt have suffering in our lives. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Perhaps the saints know our prayers and its just not Gods will that we be delivered from a particular trial, at least not yet. I cannot read peoples minds, nor do I hear the prayers they give to God unless Im physically present with them, and theyre speaking out loud. He restores my soul. Then, new doctrines creep in, and with it comes a host of errors. And in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. http://www.catholic.com/Jimmy Akin explains how it is possible that the saints in heaven can hear the prayers of so many people at once.Jimmy Akin was born i. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But this Teaching is only implied in the Bible. Can the Saints Hear Our Prayers? - Jimmy Akin John 16:24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. It is a figurative context and is not explicit. "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life," Jesus said. 25 Powerful Bible Scriptures on God Hearing Our Prayers Soon after they received the commandment prohibiting the making of images for worship, the Israelites were told by the Lord to make two cherubim of beaten gold; you will make them for the two ends of the covering [of the Ark of the Covenant] (Ex. Then they will cry to the Lord, but he will not answer them; he will hide his face from them at that time, because they have made their deeds evil. From this it follows that a saint in heaven may intercede for other people because he still is a member of the Body of Christ. From this it follows that God can communicate this kind of knowledge to rational creatures. The Catholic practice of invoking the intercession of the saints assumes that the souls in heaven can know our interior thoughts. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. Remember, the life which Christ gives is eternal life; therefore, every Christian who has died in Christ is forever a member of the Body of Christ. Jesus Christ is fully satisfactory as the mediator between sinners and God. 21:9). Psalm 66:17-20 I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue. Cite this page: Editor: Stephen Smith. He is never out of our reach ( Psalm 139:7-12 ). by Matt Slick | Jun 10, 2016 | Roman Catholicism. 1 John 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. Even though that dead saint is up in heaven - this person still has no power on his own to make anything happen for you. 19:31). ( John 14:6, Catholic Jerusalem Bible) Those unambiguous words harmonize with Jesus' teaching recorded at Matthew 6:9-13. I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. We can undoubtedly pray for our Christian brothers and sisters on earth and intercede for them, and we are encouraged to do so: "Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. Since the saints are all dead, no one is allowed to consult them without breaking these biblical laws. TopicalBible What Does the Bible Say About Prayers Being Heard? - OpenBible.info Gods knowledge of himself as Trinity is uncaused. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. James 5:13-15 Is anyone among you suffering? S I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. And the smoke of the incenses went up with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God.. But, this grand repentance will not happen as long as the Roman Catholic Church puts its authority and tradition above Scripture an error that has led it into many false teachings. In Revelation 5:8 John saw the Lamb, Christ Jesus, on a throne in the midst of four beasts and 24 elders. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. SAINTS AND INTERCESSORY PRAYER - Scripture Catholic How Do the Saints Hear Our Prayers? - Busted Halo Of course, knowing the thoughts of all men at the same time is something that goes beyond the natural powers of a created intellect. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4:10, 5:8, 6:9-11). Lets take a look at that verse in several translations. Thus we speak of St. Michael the Archangel, St. Gabriel, St. Raphael, etc.). Psalm 65:2 addresses God as "You who answer prayer.". The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.. But for some Protestants this is a problem because it attributes to the saints a power that the Bible says belongs to God alone. A Psalm of David. Let him sing praise. This can be seen, for example, in Revelation 5:8, where John depicts the saints in heaven offering our prayers to God under the form of golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. But if the saints in heaven are offering our prayers to God, then they must be aware of our prayers. They have gone beyond scripture. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects (James 5:16-17). What the Churchdoesallow is praying to the saints in order to ask for their intercession with the one true God. His eyes were like a flame of fire. And because God would cause this knowledge, we could still affirm that God alone knows the hearts of menthats to say, he knows them in an uncaused way. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. A) The rich man in Jesus' story (known in tradition as "Dives") asks Abraham to intercede, making two requests: a) relief from his suffering in the "bad" part of Hades / Sheol (Lk 16:24), and 2) to. Hear Prayer! And if so, then it follows God couldnt communicate this sort of knowledge to a created intellect.. No, it does not. If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!. A fourth objection is that the Bible does not instruct Christians to honor the saints, seek their intercession, or keep their relics. The Bible assures us that "Jehovah . If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. This is especially true given the saints vision of the divine essence, which provides them with an improved perspective on how God perfectly orders things to his glory. Is anyone cheerful? Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away. The saints don't hear our prayers directly, as though via some cosmic text message. If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination. Here are the 25 most powerful Bible scriptures on God hearing our prayers. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Like us, they dont know all of Gods plan, and so even their petitions are subject to what the Lord wills (James 4:15). If Catholics were to respond, perhaps I could include their responses in an updated version of this article. Peter receives this knowledge by way of infusion. This must mean that prayer for one another cannot detract from the role of Jesus Christ as our one mediator with God. Listen to the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel . For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. Catholics make statues of the saints whom they worship, thereby committing the double sin of polytheism and idolatry. First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 2:5-6). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible. Its not because the saints arent aware of our prayers. First, there is nothing contrary to reason in the idea that God can reveal his knowledge of the interior thoughts of men to those whose intellects he also created. Our prayers are like nuggets of incense. 5 Bible Verses To Reassure You That God Is Listening To Your Prayers So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Human beings, on the other hand, only know God as Trinity because God willed to reveal it to mankind. P2: If the saints knew our sufferings, then the saints would be sad. Eph. They know there are greater goods that God is bringing about through our troubles. Despoiling principalities and powers, he brought us from our longstanding slavery into the freedom of sons.. We hate SPAM and promise to keep your email address safe. The only place where spirits of perfected righteous people can dwell is heaven. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses., And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. Knowing a finite number of thoughts is not the same as knowing all that can be known about the divine essence, and thus knowing all possible ways that the divine essence can be imitated in the created order. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. Here is how St. Thomas Aquinas responded to the above challenge in his Summa Theologiae: God alone of Himself knows the thoughts of the heart: yet others know them, in so far as these are revealed to them, either by their vision of the Word or by any other means (Suppl. Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. O you who hear prayer, to you shall all flesh come. 1 Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. Even though the Church doesnt claim God ordinarily gives the saints in heaven the ability to know the thoughts of every living person, its not impossible for God to do so. How does the Church integrate this essential doctrine of the faith with the belief that we can pray to the saints? No one enters suit justly; no one goes to law honestly; they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies, they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity. If you have any issues, please call the office at 385-246-1048 or email us at [emailprotected]. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together! It begins with Genesis in the top left and concludes with Revelation in the bottom right. The prayer of the upright is a delight to God because it expresses those affections of the heart which call attention to the all-sufficiency of God. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. Z. But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. They smell sweet and good. Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Let him sing praise. It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me. They are aware of our petitions and present them to God by interceding for us.7http://www.catholic.com/tracts/praying-to-the-saints. The Catholic Church has always believed that Jesus Christ is the one mediator between God and man. Let him pray. Whoever is of God hears the words of God. Therefore, its not contrary to reason to say that God gives this created light of glory to a human or angelic intellect to know simultaneously a finite number of interior thoughts and respond to them. 89 Bible Verses about The Lord Hearing Our Prayers - OpenBible.info 16 Encouraging Bible Verses About God Hearing, God Hearing Prayer, God First, they accuse Catholics of worshipping Mary and the other saints. F 15:30-32). Unless otherwise indicated, all content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. Loving beings, whether on earth or in heaven, are concerned for other beings, and this concern is reflected spiritually through prayers for one another. Geocoding For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. I know that you hate what their illness is doing to them/me. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them., And Jesus answered them, Have faith in God. He makes me lie down in green pastures. The Church also allows one to make statues to remind a person of Christ or the saint: Further, the images of Christ, of the Virgin Mother of God, and of the other saints are to be kept with honor in places of worship especially; and to them due honor and veneration is to be paidnot because it is believed that there is any divinity or power intrinsic to them for which they are reverenced, nor because it is from them that something is sought, nor that a blind trust is to be attached to images as it once was by the Gentiles who placed their hope in idols (Ps. Where does the Bible say that people in heaven can hear our prayers? For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. This gives not the least sanction to Romes dogma of our praying to saints. For example, in Romans 8:18, Paul writes, I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Similarly, in 2 Corinthians 4:17, Paul writes, For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.. Paul wrote to the Romans: I exhort you, brothers, through our Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, to strive with me in prayers to God on my behalf, that I may be delivered from the disobedient in Judaea and that my ministry may be acceptable to the saints in Jerusalem, so that in the joy coming to you through the will of God I may rest with you (Rom. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. G In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. Knowledge of God as a Trinity is something that God alone has by nature. Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. If they can, why the focus on Mary? Since Revelation 5:8 does not tell us exactly whats going on, the Roman Catholic Church should not read into it very much at all lest they exceed what is written (1 Corinthians 4:6) and violate biblical truth. In theTome,which the Council of Chalcedon accepted as the authentic Catholic teaching on Christ, he quotes 1 Timothy 2:5 as the authentic Catholic doctrine: Hence, as was suitable for the alleviation of our distress, one and the same mediator between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus, was both mortal and immortal under different.aspects., The fifth session of the Council of Trent (1546) laid out the belief in Jesus the one true mediator as the norm of Catholic faith: [Original sin cannot be] taken away through the powers of human nature or through a remedy other than the merit of the one mediator, our Lord Jesus Christ, who reconciled us to God in his blood, having become our justice, and sanctification, and redemption., The schema of theDogmatic Constitution on the Principal Mysteries of the Faith, drafted for the First Vatican Council (1869-1870), includes the unique mediation of Jesus Christ as one of these principal mysteries: Truly, therefore, Christ Jesus is mediator between God and man, one man dying for all; he made satisfaction to the divine justice for us, and he erased the handwriting that was against us. It is a symbolic reminder that God remembers the prayers of His people. Without any biblical injunction to perform these things, a Christian risks displeasing God. When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. Is anyone cheerful? There is nothing in the Bible that says that Mary can simultaneously hear the prayers of people all over the world, in different languages, spoken, and thought, an attribute that God possesses. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. The cherubim symbolized the presence of Gods angels at the Ark of the Covenant, and the bronze serpent was Gods means of healing the people of poisonous snakebite. But this doesnt mean that he couldnt reveal this knowledge to the saints in heaven, in which case their knowledge of the interior hearts of men would be caused. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Beale, G. K. The Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek Text. If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!.

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