I like Sarah Palin too.
The Roman Catholic Church does NOT teach that ‘deceased’ people are asked for prayers. Catholics believe all people have souls that will live for all eternity. The Catholic Church teaches that we ALL have the opportunity to be made alive in Jesus Christ & live with him.
Many Protestants will have a ‘prayer chain’ & ask people in that church to pray. Catholics believe there is only ONE church & it includes all the Saints in Heaven & all the people on Earth who are in God’s Grace. When Catholics pray, we also ask the >living Saints in Heaven to pray too.
In Revelation 5: 8> ‘Each of the elders held...gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones.’ Those are our prayers. The Saints in Heaven are presenting our prayers to God as part of a ‘Prayer-Chain’ that includes the entire Church.
Bless you for reading the Bible. BUT, hopefully, you’ll notice,> Jesus did NOT walk around the Holy Lands with a sack of Bibles handing the Bibles out to people saying, ‘Here read this & argue about it until I return at the End of Days.’ Jesus walked the Holy Lands building a Church & out of that Church came the Bible. I recommend you look for the Church established by Jesus Christ as Scripture promises the Gates of Hell will not prevail against that Church.
Peace! I didn’t respond to your comment to quarrel. I just like = ‘draft Palin.’ I felt I should explain the Catholic position that Catholics do NOT pray to deceased people but to those Saints in Heaven who have been made ‘Alive through Jesus Christ’ & will live forever with God in Heaven.
I don't disagree that those who die in Christ are not truly dead.
Many Protestants will have a ‘prayer chain’ & ask people in that church to pray. Catholics believe there is only ONE church & it includes all the Saints in Heaven & all the people on Earth who are in God’s Grace. When Catholics pray, we also ask the >living Saints in Heaven to pray too.
When “saints” is used in the new testament, it always means believers. Is this what you mean? Can Catholics pray to their deceased relatives who died as believers? Would it be ok to make a statue of your own mother, bow down and pray to her if she had died as a believer?
How do you know that deceased Christians can even hear your prayers? If you bow down to a statue of the Pope and pray to him to pray for you, will he hear you? If prayers to the saints is truly the same as a prayer chain, how can they hear you unless they are omnipresent?