letters to surfers
Question : Does the Bible allow prayers to the Saints?
by Robert Brow (www.brow.on.ca)
For centuries arguments have been given on both sides of that question,
but I prefer to begin with God. "We love because he first loved us" (1
John 4:19). And God loved the world before the world ever knew his
name (John 3:16). When a child is born into a loving family, the
mother might be addressed as "moo, " the grandmother as "nounou, " and
the dog as "woowoo." But what counts is not the correctness of the names
the child uses, but the love of the parents who understand the meaning
of even a wordless cry.
That suggests there is no problem if some find it helpful to think of
the Saints, or those they have loved, being interested in their personal
struggles and needs. But it is always wrong to imagine we can use created
beings to bypass the loving wisdom of God. It is God the Father, God the
Son, and God the Holy Spirit who in their total oneness love us totally.
As Paul said "to him who is able to accomplish abundantly far more than
we can ask or imagine, to him (not some created being) be the glory in
the church and in Christ Jesus to all generation, forever and for ever.
Amen.
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