Well, duh, since there were no persons in heaven during the OT period, and since the Apostles writing the NT books had, in the main, yet to die or be martyred, it's not a practice necessarily expected to be found in the Scriptures.
Well, duh? As said, created beings were indeed in Heaven (and lots of them) in the OT era, and later many saints and martyrs after the Lord's resurrection, yet we have zero prayers to any, either to angels in the OT or to saints in glory in the New, And which is despite prayer being a most basic practice with approx. 200 recorded prayers in Scripture.
It is simply untenable that prayer to created beings in Heaven was taking place in the light of that absence alone, unless Scripture is superfluous, while instructions on prayer to Heaven were also never taught as to created beings in Heaven, versus to the Lord.
Rather, I think the fact that intercessory prayer was practiced among the churches known to have had succession of teachers going back to their Apostolic foundation is STRONG evidence of its propriety.
No it is not, as the extraScriptural record of what they practiced is not the wholly inspired word of God, and in which there is no evidence for this common practice, but that of teaching that directly addresses the Lord. Nor is it promised to the church that errors will not arise, as in fact the opposite is promised "of your own selves." (Acts 20:30)
Well, it's good you brought up angels, as Scripture does record the intercession of angels in receiving prayers and placing them before the Lord.
Actually, what I brought up was "prayers to angels," not your goal post moving, and "Now therefore, when thou didst pray, and Sara thy daughter in law, I did bring the remembrance of your prayers before the Holy One: and when thou didst bury the dead, I was with thee likewise," (Tobit 12:12) is not praying to angels which is the issue, nor is it actually that that of an angelic postal service, that of receiving prayers arriving first to them and then brought to God, as bringing the remembrance of their prayers before the Holy One is akin to Rv. 5:8; 8:4, that of bringing prayers as a memorial. (cf. Lv. 2:2,15,16; 24:7; Num. 5:15) Neither that nor even if angels may pray is not in debate, but that of them being the object of prayer to Heaven, and able to hear all such from Heaven, a privileged an attribute only God is shown to have.
Oh, wait, I can hear it already. You don't think the church of the first centuries knew what books were Scripture either.
It is a testimony to the propaganda of Rome if you think that the canon was truly all settled early one, versus substantial scholarly doubt and disagreement about books - mainly apocrypha - continuing down thru the centuries and right into Trent, which provided the first "infallible," indisputable canon for RCS - after the death of Luther, who was at freedom to join other RC scholars in marginalizing certain books as not being Scripture proper. That is actual history.
As for Tobit, that is such a book of fables that it should not even be in the running, as it provides a spurious fantastic tale, with a a women, Sarah, who has lost seven husbands because Asmodeus, the demon of lust, and "the worst of demons," abducts and kills every man she marries on their wedding night before the marriage can be consummated!
And about a man, Tobias, who was sleeping with his eyes open while birds dropped dung into in his eyes (sound sleeper!) and blinded him. And who later is attacked by a fish leaping out of the river to devour him! But Raphael has him capture it and later he burns the fish’s liver and heart to drive away the demon Asmodeus away to Upper Egypt, enabling him and Sarah to finally consummate his marriage.
The officially RC approved NAB Bible says in its intro to Tobit that it is folklore, as if that was not obvious, and in rejecting this as SCripture, we have not followed "cunningly devised fables", thank God, and which reads like so much of the nonsense in the Talmud, "Not giving heed to Jewish fables..." (Titus 1:14)
My source is the church founded by Jesus Christ, which he commissioned to go and teach throughout the world, and which He promised the Holy Spirit to lead into all truth.
Which is simply begging the question, an argument by assertion, while the Scriptures simply do not testify to that assertion, but render the church of Rome to be largely invisible and the largest deformation of the NT church!
When that church in the world agrees that the practice of intercessory prayer is right and good, then I have a Divine source teaching me.
Which is mere propaganda, but it is actually refreshing when a RC finally forsakes attempting to argue as if Scripture actually supports prayer to created beings in Heaven, and resort to his/her real basis for assurance of Truth claims, which is faith in their church, and with her novel and unScriptural premise of ensured perpetual magisterial infallibility as per Rome (and basically in primary cults).
It's very relevant as you're trying to build your "argument from silence" off a book that then didn't then have universal recognition. Your historical illiteracy is tripping you up.
So much for your argument for the church knowing what was Scripture, and if universal recognition was needful for a source to have authority then we could not quote Christ as an authority until He realized such, but what is of God is so regardless of what men may say, and it is not surprising you try to exclude Hebrews seeing that with its emphasis on intercession and access to God and the aspects of how the new covenant prayer is better, then praying to those in Heaven should be taught, but immediate access into the holy of holies by the blood of Christ, and who is the only heavenly and all sufficient intercessor. (Heb. 2,4; 7:25; 10:19 cf. 1Tim. 2:5) And no, being rhetorically surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses is not teaching praying to them either.
Meanwhile the fact is that even the OT books which the Lord and NT church invoked as its foundational prophetic and doctrinal foundation provides not even one single supplication to anyone in Heaven but the Lord (except by pagans), even when multitudes of created beings were in Heaven to pray to, while the same Holy Spirit author also provides zero in the NT for what Caths hold to as an essential and common practice, yet Scripture also only instructs us to pray to the Lord in prayer to Heaven, not angels or ascended saints.
Truly it is you who must argue from profound, inexplicable silence, and the burden of proof is on you to provide it. You might as well argue that NT Christians also kneeled or prostrated themselves before a statue in praising the entity it represented in the unseen world, beseeching such for Heavenly help, and giving glory and titles and ascribing attributes to such which are never given in Scripture to created beings (except to false gods). But then i would be describing Catholicism and common "veneration" given to the fabricated Queen of Heaven of it.
Which manner of adulation would constitute worship in Scripture, yet Catholics imagine that by playing word games then they can avoid crossing the invisible line between mere "veneration" and worship.
Moses, put down those rocks! I was only engaging in hyper dulia, not adoring her. Can't you tell the difference?
Here is the clearest example of such in Scripture:
As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee. But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes... (Jeremiah 44:16-17)
Great. So then we know that when it came to intercessory prayer they either 1) found Scriptural sanction directly (e.g., Tobit) or indirectly (e.g., the teaching on the Body of Christ) or 2) founded it on oral tradition passed on from the Apostles. I'm good either way. :)
Error proceeding from error. 1) They found NO Scriptural sanction directly or indirectly for praying to created beings in Heaven (Tobit included), as shown.
or indirectly (e.g., the teaching on the Body of Christ)
Which is also desperate extrapolation, as it presumes a correspondence btwn earthly communications btwn created beings and that which is btwn both realms, but which can only be presumed contrary to the evidence. For examples of communications btwn created beings from earth and Heaven was never that of the latter hearing individual or corporate prayers addressed to them in Heaven, but communications btwn both parties was personal, visible, and required both to somehow be in the same realm. Only God is said and shown to be addressed in prayer and who can hear all prayer from Heaven. Which testifies to a boundary btwn realms and a limitation of power and privilege as regards created beings.
or 2) founded it on oral tradition passed on from the Apostles. I'm good either way. :)
Which is also invalid, for it simply does not follow that since some of what Scripture teaches may have first passed down orally then whatever Rome says is apostolic tradition must be so. Which includes her own claim to be able to do so. What was orally preached was subject to testing by Scripture, and not vice versa. The Lord did not quote oral tradition to the devil, (Mt. 4) or in refuting the religious authorities, and their errors, (Mt. 22) nor in teaching the disciples the prophetic basis for His mission, and opening their minds to understand it. (Lk. 24:27,44,45)
You can invoke such text as 2 Thes. 2;15 if care to, but which does not teach what Catholic tradition claims for itself. Obedience can be enjoined to oral preaching of Scriptural truths by SS preachers, even without having a Bible (and the whole church "preached the word"), but which is subject to it. Yet apostolic wholly inspired of God preaching could include new revelation, neither of which does Rome claim her own words are.
What we do know is this generation of Christians -- upon whose determinations we rely as to the scope of the NT canon (including you, whether you admit it or not) -- found the practice salutary and unobjectionable.
As they did other errors, while retaining enough basic truths that a remnant of souls could find Christ amidst her increasing trappings.
Here's where your argument collapses, as it is very much the argument from silence I've been calling it. The Apostles lived within the NT communities for years at a time. Yet, Scripture records virtually nothing of their prayer life or how they lived and reacted within those communities. Much of the NT (esp. Paul's letters) were written AFTER he had moved on in order to address various issues that had arisen since his departure. You're noting that the NT books don't explicitly record an illustration of intercessory prayer, but they don't much record the private prayer of ANYONE.
Which argument is so much nonsense, an appeal to silence that can only presume that the desperately needed missing evidence exists despite the abundant examples of prayer, multitudes of personal prayers in Scripture, and even with instruction on it, while the burden of proof rests on you to provide the evidence that you can only presume exists.
Moreover, there is not reason to exclude the OT, for again, there were/are multitudes of powerful created beings in Heaven to pry to, and in the NT, even and apart from the prayers Christ, while there are fewer records or descriptions of the actual corporate and personal prayers in the NT, where they are then none are said or described as addressed as being to anyone but the Lord, except in the case of the lost.
Apart from Jesus's words in Gethsemene, we lack much of a description of the words and actions used in private prayer.
Really? What is such a lack of description that you can read prayer being addressed to someone else in Heaven? "Apart from Jesus's words in Gethsemene?"
Luke 11:2 And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
Mat. 11:25-27 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth..
Jn.11:41-42 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. 42 And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.
Jn.17:1-26 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
Lk. 23:34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.
Mat. 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Lk. 23:46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
Acts 1:24-25 And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen,
And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. 24 And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is:.. - Acts 4:23,24
And they stoned Stephen, calling upon, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. (Acts 7:59)
Acts 9:6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ... - Eph. 3:14
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless.. - 1Thes. 5:23,24
And general descriptions exhorting people to pray "to God" don't provide an answer for you, as intercessory prayer is still "to God" as the object of receipt.
But the Holy Spirit provides both instruction and multitudes of examples of who is to be addressed in prayer to Heaven, even where mention of praying to created beings would be expected, and with God alone shown able to hear all such, and to whom believers have immediate access to, and only presenting Christ as heavenly intercessor (souls also when God will judge the world is not that of making intercession, nor bringing prayers as a memorial before the final judgments), and with the aforementioned evidence of restrictions in communication btwn created beings in their respective realms.
Therefore you are left with the veracity of your substantially invisible (in the NT) church with its accretion of errors as the basis for belief, which is not more Scriptural then her distinctive class of sacerdotal clergy distinctive called "priests," whose primary active ordained function is offering the Lord's supper as a sacrifice to sin, contrary to the NT description. Which also was a post-apostolic development of error.