"In many Protestant churches, the word "saint" is used more generally to refer to anyone who is a Christian. This is similar in usage to Paul's numerous references in the New Testament of the Bible. In this sense, anyone who is within the Body of Christ (i.e., a professing Christian) is a 'saint' because of their relationship with Christ Jesus. Because of this, many Protestants consider prayers to the saints to be idolatry or even necromancy. Dead Christians are awaiting resurrection, and are not able to do anything for the living saint."
Within some Protestant traditions, "saint" is also used to refer to any born-again Christian. Many emphasis the traditional New Testament meaning of the word, preferring to write "saint" to refer to any believer, in continuity with the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers.
The books that Luther stripped from the Bible, Books and Scripture that were present, in the Jewish Temples, at the time of Jesus, the Books of Maccabees, clearly did support the practice of praying for the dead, as well as the practice of asking the dead to pray for the living.