I agree with you.
Asking the Saints to pray for us is really no different from asking the living to pray for us.
It is quite different.
The living communicate with each other freely on a MUTUAL basis, talk to each other as they go through their daily lives and pray for each other as needs arise in their weakness.
We can have no such communication with those who have passed on.
>>Asking the Saints to pray for us is really no different from asking the living to pray for us.<<
That is a bit redundant, since the Bible clearly teaches that all believers are saints. A better way to word your sentence, and this is strictly my opinion, is “Asking dead Saints to pray for us is really no different from asking the living saints to pray for us.”
And to demonstrate how protestants see the lunacy of such a statement is to use one that is analogous: “Asking a dead mechanic to fix your car is no different than asking a live mechanic to fix your car.”
I’m not saying you will agree with this. I am saying that gives a rough perspective of how protestants see this.