[Steve Myers] We had a question come in from a Beyond Today viewer. They wrote, "I grew up in a church that practiced praying to saints. Does the Bible teach that we should pray to the saints?" Now, that's a very important question. And I think to begin with, we've got to define who are saints? Who exactly are those individuals that some practice praying to?

[Darris McNeely] The saints as the Bible defines the term are really nothing more than living flesh and blood Christians, members of the Church of God. The Apostle Paul addressed the believers in Corinth as the saints (1 Corinthians 1:2).

[Steve Myers] Yeah, they were live people. They were fellow believers. They were Christians who were practicing the faith. And so over and over again, if you check your Bible, it will point to that fact that when it refers to a saint, they're referring to someone who believes.

[Darris McNeely] In the Old Testament we find King David also referred to the members of the congregation as Saints, but really, the real question is—and the matter with saint's is praying to someone who has supposedly died and now because of their good works has an exalted position with God in heaven and can make intercession for people with Jesus or with the Father. And that's not what the Bible teaches. In fact, in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 6, Christ gave specific instruction on how to pray to the Father (Matthew 6:9-13). And a believer can access the Father directly without any other individual, a saint, making intercession for them. In fact, the scripture also shows in Hebrews 7:25 that Jesus Christ is our intercessor. We pray to Christ, we can pray to the Father—Christ makes intercession for us at the throne of God. We don't need any other saint to do so. We can be sincere in this belief, but it's not held up to and supported by Scripture.

[Steve Myers] Over and over again, I think we'll find it if you look very carefully at Scripture you'll find that example is what's set. The Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 15 said, "I beg you brethren through the Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the spirit that you strive together with me in prayers to God" (Romans 15:30). And so we see very clearly, who do we pray to? We pray to the Father and we realize that our only intercessor, our only mediator, is Jesus Christ.

[Darris McNeely] That's BT Daily. Join us next time.