And JP2 graciously accepted a Qur'an to kiss, and to this day RCs criticize him for so doing.
"The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful. " James 5:16. Even if that person is in heaven.
Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. (James 5:17)
Go find even one prayer in Scripture by anyone but pagans that was addressed to anyone in Heaven but the Lord. Or even where they can hear all such (elders and angels offering up incense in memorial at the end is not it). Its right after the verse that says Ishmael was the child of promise, as Islam teaches . The difference in both heresies is in the matter of degrees.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1607763/posts?page=12#12
2. I don't understand your comment about Elias, as referenced in the Epistle of James. It seems unrelated to the discussion, as I don't think it has to do with the intercession of members of the Body of Christ, but perhaps you will explain.
3. The entire NT doctrine about the Body of Christ emphasizes that we are continually sharing spiritual goods with each other, continually praying for each other, continually bearing each others' burdens --- and that we all need each other. Jesus Christ clearly also teaches that the faithful who have gone on before us are not dead, because certainly they are all alive unto God. Therefore they are a part of this continual intercession.
It is this awareness that the Body of Christ really IS alive in the sense of His Church's continual giving and receiving of love in Him, which has inspired His Church from the beginning to pray for each other.
It appears to me that many don't quite see the church as the pillar and foundation of the truth, though the church is His Body and His Bride.