Isn't the Church a family? Don't we ask other believers, particular righteous and mature ones, to pray to God for us? Why can't we ask our older brothers and sisters, who are now free of sin, to pray to God for us? Put that way, there does not seem to be much wrong with it, and indeed I don't think God is furiously angry with individual Christians in these churches who engage in this practice. It is not idolatry. The question rather, is whether this practice is biblical, and whether it is healthy for the life of the people. The answer is that there are no Biblical grounds for this practice and thus that it is unhealthy. The development of the cult of the saints is understandable. When those we love die, we hold their memory precious. We keep as relics some of their possessions, a lock of their hair, or a photo of their smile. Perhaps we might even imagine ourselves telling them we're sorry for not being a better son or daughter. These are understandable human reactions, and it is understandable also that early missionaries who brought sinners into the Kingdom of Light were much loved and their relic much prized. When these human emotions are transmuted into acts of veneration toward the dead, and/or into the belief that the dead are to be consulted, then we have stepped over the line. If you want to tell your mother that you wish you had been a better son, tell it to Jesus and He'll pass it on.
-James Jordan, The Liturgy Trap
A new friend on a discord server posted this, and it really helped me understand this practice.
Biblically only Jesus and The Holy Spirit intercedes our prayers, no one else. And seeing the emotions guiding these things, I can now understand and feel less troubled by it now, however is still urge those in these secs of Christianity who practice it to seek God and open your hearts to His voice, and to His truth, through His Word. I say this with love and concern.
“Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.“ -Romans 8:34
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. -Romans 8:8:26-27
