Question: I don’t deny that the saints exist in heaven, but why do you petition them? Isn’t Jesus enough?
Without going into a full theological article, I will simply say that we confess that our Lord Jesus Christ alone is our Redeemer and Mediator, yet in our weakness and spiritual frailty we often feel unworthy to approach the throne of God with boldness. For this reason, we find great consolation in the communion of saints. We do not view them as distant figures of history, but as living members of the Body of Christ who now stand in His presence, encircling His throne with ceaseless praise and intercession. When we ask their prayers, we do not diminish Christ’s mediation, but rather acknowledge that those who are closest to Him in glory join their petitions to ours. The Bible itself shows the martyrs crying out before God (Revelation 6:9–10) and the elders in heaven offering up the prayers of the faithful as incense before the divine throne (Revelation 5:8).
Thus, our petitions are strengthened, not because God is deaf to us, but because the saints, perfected in holiness, intercede with confidence before Him who loves them. Their intercession is a sign of our unity in Christ, an assurance that in our moments of weakness we are not praying alone, but are upheld by the prayers of the heavenly fellowship. In this way, the invocation of the saints magnifies the grace of Christ, who has made us “fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19).
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