Praying to Mary and Saints
Why don't we ask Mary (the mother of Jesus) and dead Saints to pray for us as well as praying to Jesus? Is there somewhere in the Bible that says we shouldn't or that somehow Jesus' mother is not an important person?
The fact that a person is important has nothing to do with whether we are to pray to that one. People living on earth can do things to help us, but only God can answer prayer. The first commandment forbids us to worship and pray to anyone except God. To pray to any person as we pray to God is idolatry.
The dead in heaven cannot hear us. They are removed from the earth, so it does no good to pray to them. Also, there is no need to pray to them. We can pray directly to God as Jesus taught us in the Lord’s Prayer. When we can pray to God himself, why would we want to pray to a man or woman?
Jesus is God. The dead saints are just that—dead saints. Why would we pray to dead saints (even those in heaven) when we can pray to the living God who invites our prayer and promises to hear us (Psalm 50:15)?