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Your statement "A prayer is a request." implies just that.I didn't say it was always a request. But sometimes it is, and when it is, it does not have to be to God alone.
God explicitly forbids attempts to contact DEAD PEOPLE. You can deny that all you want; that doesn't change the truth.
It is perfectly legitimate to ask A LIVE PERSON that you can TALK TO to pray for you. It is completely different to ATTEMPT TO CONTACT DEAD PEOPLE. Get it straight.Can I ask YOU to pray for me? I am sure you would say "Yes". There is nothing wrong with me asking somone else to pray for me. That is a "request". So when we pray to the Saints, we request that they pray for us. Its that simple.
Twist it all that you want. That is simply nonsense.Now I already know what is buzzing in your brain: "Yes, but you are not praying to me when you ask me to pray for you." Was I right?
Okay, this goes back to what I said earlier. When we say we pray "to" the saints, it is the archaic Old English form of the word we are using.
Once again, God strictly forbids ATTEMPTS TO CONTACT DEAD PEOPLE. The penalty was death by stoning.In Old English, the phrase "Pray thee", or its contraction "Prithee" was often used the way we might say "Would you please......". For example, we might say "Please open your door", whereas in Old English they might say, "Prithee open thy door", or "Pray thee, open thy door". Therefore, when we "pray" to saints we are making a request to them, which is: Please pray for us. We are asking them to pray for us.