And those in heaven who offer to God our prayers arent just angels, but humans as well. John sees that the twenty-four elders [the leaders of the people of God in heaven] fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints (Rev. 5:8).
Both of those references are Post Rapture, when the saints will be in Heaven in their changed bodies.
Neither of them can be used as a justification for the present saints praying to the deceased brethren.
“Both of those references are Post Rapture,”
Really? Says who, Pope editor-surveyor I and his lonely little internet flock?
Sorry, but 2,000 years of mainstream Christian scholarship make your claim a laughable twaddle.