“I do both. Do you not ask others to pray for you? If so, why not just pray directly to God?”
You shouldn’t pray to the dead because the Lord GOD says not to consult the dead on behalf of the living.
Isaiah 9:18
When they say to you, “Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?
The following verses explains how you and your fallen church have been deceived and Revelation 2:21-22 explains why the Lord GOD cursed your false religion.
Isaiah 19:3
“Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be demoralized within them; And I will confound their strategy, So that they will resort to idols and ghosts of the dead And to mediums and spiritists.
Revelation 2:21-22
21‘I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality. 22‘Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds.
I believe that would be called necromancy.