In the early Church The early Christians continued to practice intercessory prayer on behalf of others after Jesus' death.
Ignatius of Antioch was one man who exhorted Christians to continue to pray for others, and especially for those who became
Docetists or held other
heretical beliefs. In his
letter to the churches of Smyrna, St. Ignatius exhorts the Christians there to pray for other people: "only you must pray to God for them, if by any means they may be brought to repentance, which, however, will be very difficult. Yet Jesus Christ, who is our true life, has the power of [effecting] this". Throughout all of Ignatius's letters, the word for prayers of intercession appears nineteen times, and Ignatius asks for prayer "for himself (eight times), for the Christian church in
Syria (seven times), for persecutors, heretics, and all people generally (once each)". St. Ignatius and the other church fathers, such as
Paul the Apostle, who were keen on intercessory prayer based this practice on Jesus' own teachings which required that one pray for others, especially one's enemies: According to Lionel Swain, of
St. Edmund's College, Ware, St. Paul believed intercession to be one of the most important aspects of faith and praying life, as praying for others is a recurring theme in his works. For St. Paul, prayer serves as a means to acknowledge God's power. Intercessory prayer also acts as a way for the Apostle to "share in... the Father's redemptive love". Paul believed that prayer transformed the person doing the praying, as much as the one being prayed for, which creates a stronger bond between him and God. This gift of healing is specifically mentioned, among the other charismata, as a sign of being a true Christian by
Irenaeus of Lyons in his text,
Against Heresies. A very powerful intercessory prayer scripture in the Bible is Bible Verse: "Pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective" (James 5:16).
Saints Intercession of the saints is a
doctrine held by the
Eastern Orthodox,
Oriental Orthodox,
Roman Catholic,
Lutheran and
Anglican churches that teaches that
saints intercede (or
pray) for the Church. The doctrine of requesting intercession from saints, known as the
invocation of saints, can be found in Christian writings from the 3rd century AD, such as from
Origen and
Clement of Alexandria. The invocation of the saints is practiced by the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, though not by the Lutheran and Anglican churches (apart from those of
Evangelical Catholic or
Anglo-Catholic churchmanship, respectively). The
comprecation of saints is the practice in which Christians ask God directly for a share in the prayers offered by the saints; the comprecation of the saints is done by Orthodox, Catholics, Lutherans and Anglicans. Christian traditions differ on the necessity of intercession. Some Christian traditions have insisted on the intercessory roles of Mary and other saints. Protestants largely reject saintly intercession.
The dead In addition to praying for those still living, early Christians would pray for those who had died. There is no unequivocal evidence that Christians began to pray for the dead before the third century AD. G. F. Hamilton argues that the earliest example of Church prayer on behalf of dead Christians is found in the
Sacramentary of Serapion of Thmuis (350 AD). Rather than pray for the departed in regular church services on Sunday, these early Christians would hold special commemorative occasions during the week. There was a sharp distinction drawn between remembering and praying on behalf of the dead, and those who were the faithfully' departed", where Christians would only pray for those who had died as believers. The
First Epistle of Clement (95 AD) contains a prayer which, while mainly for protection for the living, also includes the dead. In contrast, the "
Apology of Aristides" shows how those who were not Christians were grieved for, while the dead faithful were rejoiced over.
Theological perspective In an article in
Theological Studies, Catholic theologian Patricia A. Sullivan warns that saints should not be depended upon in a way that devalues God. Saint
Augustine had famously said that we pray not to instruct God but to get our will in line with God's. Sullivan cautions using synonyms of "intercession" like “intervention, mediation, arbitration, negotiation”, as they imply that God is inaccessible due to a hostile or unfriendly nature, and thus someone whom we need to manipulate to get what we need. Such is not the meaning of the
hapax legomenon in the New Testament of the word for intercession. Sullivan goes on: When we ask a saint to intercede for us, what is happening at a deeper level is that we are taking refuge in the all-enfolding community of the redeemed, approaching God thru saintly symbols of Christ's victory and of our hope. Saints want always what God wants, what is best for us whether we pray for it or not. They are in a perpetual attitude of praise for God’s love and care, to which we join ourselves, praying, more precisely,
with them rather than to them. The value of our petitions is that they turn us in confidence toward the God who loves us, allowing God’s work to be more effective in us, and thru us in others. It would be anathema to ask God to try any harder to do good. By invocation of a saint "we take refuge in faith in the all-enfolding community of all the redeemed," where "each is responsible for all". They are "creative models of holiness". ==Islam==