INTERCESSORY PRAYER? by steve finnell

Intercessory is a prayer to God on behalf of another. What does the Bible tell us about prayers of intercession?

1 Timothy 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men. (NASB) Also: James 5:14-16, Ephesians 6:18-19.

Paul was telling Christians to pray for others.  

The apostle Paul was not instructing Christians to pray "to" anyone dead or alive. To pray to a person is worshiping that individual.

There is no Scripture the states men are to pray "to" anyone for a prayer of intercession.

We are not to pray "to" Michael the Archangel, "to" Moses, Abraham, the Virgin Mary, John the Baptist, the Apostles, Popes, "to" family members nor "to" any other Christians dead or alive.

The dead cannot hear your prayers and even if they could they have no power to answer them.

Prayer to anyone or anything is an act of worship.