A few weeks ago, I wrote an article simply stating one fact: it is Unbiblical to pray to Mary or to pray to Angels.
That’s it.
I did not insult Catholics or insult anyone’s faith.
I said Catholics are good people and we’re on the same team, part of the same tree, part of the larger same faith.
I simply stated a truth with regard to what the Bible teaches.
But ever since then, not a day goes by that I don’t get an email from someone wanting to argue with me about it.
And folks, I’m a little busy covering the most important election in our lifetimes, so I don’t have time any more to respond to these one on one, so I’m publishing one reply to all those who are so upset that I said you should not pray to Mary or Angels.
I will also keep this quick, because I don’t have a lot of time.
First up, almost everyone contacting me is acting on emotion, not on facts. If you’re having an emotional reaction to this rather than seeking out what the Bible says, that should be the first clue you might want to reassess why you believe what you believe.
Second, despite nearly 300 comments to my article and countless emails, not one single person has been able to produce one Bible verse saying we should pray to Mary. That’s all I’ve asked. Don’t tell me about your tradition of men, or come at me with an emotional response, just show me where in the Bible it says to do this.
Third, and I think this is the big one….Mary cannot hear your prayers.
I know, SHOCK….GASP!
Mary was “highly favored” and played one of the biggest roles in God’s story of human history. Agreed!
But….is/was human.
She is not a “god”.
She does not have godly powers.
She is not all powerful, not all knowing, and there is exactly NOTHING in the Bible to suggest that she’s now up in Heaven able to hear your prayers, especially silent prayers.
Just the pure logistics of it demonstrate its nonsensical.
Mary is a human being who has died and is now in Heaven.
She is not able to hear your prayers.
In fact, Jesus TOLD US how to pray, do you remember that?
Quite literally, it’s verbatim in the Bible, he tells you WHEN you pray, pray like this:
Matthew 6:9-13 (NIV):
“This, then, is how you should pray:
‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.'”
He very easily could have said to Pray to Mary but he did not.
Mary cannot hear prayers:
The Bible does not explicitly state that Mary can hear prayers from believers or that prayers should be directed to her. However, the practice of asking for Mary’s intercession is rooted more in theological interpretation and tradition rather than a direct biblical mandate. Here are a few points related to this topic:
- The Communion of Saints: Some Christians interpret passages like Hebrews 12:1, which refers to a “great cloud of witnesses,” as evidence that those in Heaven, including Mary, are aware of earthly matters and can intercede for us. This is part of the theological understanding in certain Christian traditions that the saints are alive in Christ and can pray for us.
- Mary’s Role in Scripture: Mary is highly honored in the Bible, particularly in the Gospels (e.g., Luke 1:28, where the angel Gabriel calls her “highly favored”). While this highlights her importance, it does not indicate that she has a role in hearing prayers from Heaven.
- Intercessory Prayer: The Bible encourages asking others to pray for us (e.g., 1 Timothy 2:1–4). Some traditions extend this to include the saints in Heaven, including Mary, based on the belief that they are part of the Church triumphant and remain spiritually connected to believers on Earth.
- The Wedding at Cana (John 2:1–11): Some point to this passage, where Mary intercedes on behalf of the wedding hosts and Jesus responds to her request, as symbolic of her intercessory role. However, this story does not directly support the idea that she hears prayers in Heaven.
Overall, while the Bible affirms Mary’s special status and role in salvation history, the concept of her hearing prayers is based more on church tradition and theological interpretations than on explicit biblical evidence.
In fact, the Bible specifically prohibits contacting the dead:
Deuteronomy 18:10-12 (NIV):
“Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord.”
Remember Saul and the Witch of Endor?
Saul was trying to contact Samuel, who had died.
Samuel was another good person from the Bible, a Godly leader.
But Saul’s attempt to contact Samuel from the dead is condemned by the Bible:
1 Samuel 28: The story of King Saul consulting the medium of Endor to summon the spirit of the prophet Samuel illustrates a negative consequence of such actions. Saul’s decision to seek guidance from a medium was condemned and led to his downfall (1 Samuel 28:16-19).
Keep your eyes on Jesus, my friends.
We have ONE MEDIATOR:
1 Timothy 2:5 (NIV):
“For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.”
Mary is not the mediator.
Angels are not the mediator.
In fact, here are 10 Bible verses that make quite clear that created beings (humans, angels, even Mary) are not to be worshipped or prayed to:
- Colossians 2:18
“Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind.”
- Revelation 19:10
“At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, ‘Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.’”
- Revelation 22:8-9
“I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. But he said to me, ‘Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!’”
- Matthew 4:10
“Jesus said to him, ‘Away from me, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
- Hebrews 1:6
“And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, ‘Let all God’s angels worship him.’”
(Implying that even angels are to worship God, not be worshipped.)
- Exodus 20:3-5
“You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.”
- Psalm 103:20-21
“Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will.”
(Angels themselves worship God and carry out His will.)
- Acts 10:25-26
“As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. But Peter made him get up. ‘Stand up,’ he said, ‘I am only a man myself.’”
(Although not an angel, Peter’s reaction shows that reverence should not be directed to any created being.)
- Isaiah 42:8
“I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols.”
(Only God is worthy of worship, underscoring the exclusivity of divine worship.)
- Deuteronomy 4:19
“And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.”
Don’t fight me Catholics, I’m not insulting your faith.
Much like Martin Luther, I am simply bringing a reformation that is clearly needed if the comments and emails I am getting are any indication.
To call “praying to Mary” a sacred cow for you people would be an understatement.
Here was my original report:
MEMO TO THE CATHOLICS: Please Stop Praying To Mary and Angels
MEMO TO THE CATHOLICS: Please Stop Praying To Mary and Angels
This post may ruffle some feathers, and I am ok with that...
We have one founding Mission around here that is paramount to everything else: Print the Truth.
That's what we've done since Day 1 back in 2015 and that's what we'll do for the next 50 years as long as I remain in the Editor's chair.
Print the truth without bias....
Without censorship....
Wherever we find it, whether that's in politics, religion...anywhere!
So today I have to tackle a tough topic with the Catholics, but I do it out of love and in furtherance of our Mission.
I also want to say Catholics are good people and despite my disagreement with them on this point, they are absolutely still Christians. And they are of course always welcome here, just as everyone is, even if we disagree on something.
Ok, so with all of those disclaimers out of the way, let's jump right in....
It all started a few days ago when I posted this article:
The Catholics were NOT happy with me when I commented that as a baby Christian I don't think President Trump knows any better and his heart is in the right place, but the Catholics have had centuries to fix this and they still continue to pray to Mary and to Angels.
Well, that did not go over well....
The Catholics came out in full force in the comments section and boy did it get spicy (as I knew it would)!
What I quickly learned was that not even all of them agree, and *most* simply had an emotional reaction.
Most simply have always prayed to Mary and prayed to Angels because it's their tradition, it's what they were taught. They can't really defend it and they get very emotional when told it might be wrong.
If possible, I'd like to take as much emotion out of it and simply offer the Catholics some food for thought.
Why?
Because I do think it's very important.
I don't believe it rises to the level of a core salvation issue, you can (wrongly) pray to Mary and believe in Jesus and still end up in Heaven, but wouldn't you like to fix things now if your compass was off?
So that's the goal of this article.
I have no doubt a brand new firestorm will erupt in the comments section of this article, and I'm ok with that. But I have to publish this article.
I want to start with the most common theme I read from all the Catholics in the last article, which was basically this: "We don't really pray to Mary, we just ask her to intercede for us on our behalf. What's wrong with that? Haven't you ever asked a friend to pray for you? Same thing!"
I'd love to address that.
The first thing that's wrong with that is it's in direct conflict with 1 Timothy 2:5 which says the following:
"For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus." (NIV)
It's almost as if God knew some people would try to pray to Mary or pray to Angels and so he put this verse in the Bible as a caution.
The finished work of Jesus is sufficient, you don't need to add anything to it!
You don't need Jesus + Mary.
As I told one person, I very good rule of thumb for anything theological, is any time you find yourself doing the formula of needing "Jesus + _____" you're probably in dangerous territory.
Jesus alone is sufficient.
In the Old Testament, man needed a mediator with God.
After the death and resurrection of Jesus, 1 Timothy 2:5 tells us now there is only ONE mediator between God and mankind, and it doesn't involve Mary as the relay rally assistant. Do not cheapen the finished work of Jesus Christ.
It reminds of that classic "What would you say you DO here" scene from Office Space -- where the one guy's job is completely unnecessary:
Funny clip to prove a point -- you don't need an intermediary just like "Initech" didn't need that employee.
Ok, moving on....
Next up, let's talk basic logistics.
For the people who say they just ask Mary to pray for them and it's just like asking a friend to pray for you, let's talk about that.
Mary is a human who lived, died and by all accounts is now in Heaven. On that we agree, right?
While she played an incredibly special role in the Bible and in human history, there is absolutely nothing at all in the Bible to suggest she had any "super human" abilities or that she is "Godlike" in Heaven.
In other words, there is absolutely no evidence of any kind to suggest Mary can hear your prayers in the first place! She is one human being who is not omniscient, omnipresent or omni-powerful. There is ZERO evidence of any kind, certainly nothing in the Bible, to suggest now that Mary is up in Heaven with the ability to hear millions of Catholic prayers all day long.
Don't you think that's a bit silly?
My dead Grandfather cannot hear my prayers.
Neither can Mary.
So to answer the question "how is it different from asking my friend to pray for me?" -- the answer is very simple: they can hear me and respond.
In addition, Deuteronomy 18:10-12 specifically prohibits "consulting with the dead":
“Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you.” (Deuteronomy 18:10-12, NIV)
We typically think of that as talking to mediums or diving spirits, but thinking you are are sending messages to Mary is also "consulting with the dead." Mary lived 2000 years ago. Her human body is currently dead. Depending on what you believe about when we go to Heaven, she is either in Heaven right now or will be. But the Bible makes clear you are not to be consulting with her.
Ok moving on....
You know what would be really nice and could quickly settle this thing?
If Jesus in the Bible ever gave us a template for praying.
That would really clear things up!
I sure do wish.....OH! Wait a minute! He did!
Oh wait a minute, oh gee this is embarrassing....it appears I am completely off base. I must apologize to the Catholics. I am consulting with the LORD's Prayer and I clearly see now that it starts off with "Hail Mary, full of grace"....
Oh wait, no it doesn't!
It actually goes like this, doesn't it?
"Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one."
(Matthew 6:9-13, NIV)
Folks, Jesus taught us the format for how to pray and it did not include praying to Mary or to Angels.
Now let's talk about Angels for a minute.
Are we to pray to them?
The Bible makes clear in multiple places that we are not to Worship Angels:
- Revelation 19:9-10
Then the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!" And he added, "These are the true words of God." At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, "Don't do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God!"
Here, the angel explicitly tells John not to worship him, redirecting John's worship to God. - Revelation 22:8-9
I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. But he said to me, "Don't do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!"
Once again, John attempts to worship an angel, but the angel immediately tells him to stop and directs him to worship God alone.
And I know they Catholics say "we don't worship them, we just ask them for their help."
As with Mary, there is exactly ZERO evidence of any kind, certainly none in the Bible, to suggest that Angels can "hear prayers".
Beyond that, the verses above make it very clear that we are not to worship or pray to these beings -- while they are powerful and special beings God created, the Angels themselves constantly say "I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers and sisters." You do not pray to fellow servants. Sorry, you just don't.
To wrap things up, I thought it might be fun to turn to one of my favorite Biblical authorities, Dr. Michael Heiser.
Sadly, Dr. Heiser died a few years ago, and while he was a prolific publisher in written form and video/podcast, I wasn't able to find a teaching he did on this topic.
So I did something really fun, and honestly it completely boggles my mind that we live in a world where we can do this -- but we can.
I went to ChatGPT and I asked for it to give me a teaching in the voice, style and beliefs of Dr. Michael Heiser on whether or not we should pray to Mary or to Angels. And what it gave me is INCREDIBLE!
If you are familiar with Dr. Heiser's teachings and know his "voice" you'll see ChatGPT captured this perfectly. I can literally hear him speaking as I read this.
So I leave you with this, from a virtual "Dr. Heiser".
A man a bit kinder and a lot smarter than me to really take this home:
"Alright, folks, today we're going to talk about a topic that often stirs up a lot of questions in Christian circles: the practice of praying to Mary and to angels. This is something that many Catholics do, and it’s worth looking at this through the lens of Scripture.
Now, let me just start by saying that Mary is incredibly important in the biblical story. She is, after all, the mother of Jesus—the Messiah. But we need to make a distinction here. What does the Bible actually say about Mary’s role, and is there any biblical precedent for praying to her?
When we go to the text, we see that Mary is honored as someone who is blessed among women, and she is called the "Mother of my Lord" by Elizabeth in Luke 1. That’s high praise, and it's deserved. But here's the key thing: there’s no place in the New Testament where we are told to pray to Mary. In fact, prayer is always directed to God.
The Bible is really clear on who our mediator is. Paul, in his letter to Timothy, says that there is one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5). That’s a pretty strong statement—one mediator. Not two, not three. Just one. So when we’re talking about prayer, biblically, it’s supposed to go directly to God, through Jesus Christ. That’s the pattern we’re given.
Now, let’s talk about angels for a moment. Angels are real—there’s no debate there. I’ve spent much of my career studying the unseen realm and the spiritual beings that populate the Bible. Angels are part of God’s divine council. They serve as messengers, as warriors, and sometimes they carry out God’s will in the material world. They are important figures in the spiritual realm, no doubt about it.
But, again, what does the Bible say about praying to angels? You won’t find a passage that instructs believers to pray to angels. The Bible is quite clear that angels are God’s servants. They are powerful, yes, but they aren’t supposed to be the recipients of our prayers. In fact, when John, in the book of Revelation, tries to bow down to an angel, the angel tells him to stop, saying, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus” (Revelation 19:10). So angels themselves reject that kind of veneration.
Prayer is something that is reserved for God alone. Prayer is a form of worship, and worship is supposed to be directed toward the Creator, not the creation. Angels are part of creation, just like us, though they are in the spiritual realm. And while they may assist us, they don’t have the power to answer prayers. That’s God’s job.
I understand that some of these practices come from long-standing traditions, especially within Catholicism. And I’m not here to pick a fight with Catholic theology—I think it’s important to understand where these traditions come from. But as someone who is committed to the authority of Scripture, I have to ask: are these practices supported by the biblical text? And the answer is no, they aren’t.
What we see in the New Testament is that Jesus is our mediator. He’s the one who intercedes for us before the Father. Hebrews 4:16 says we can approach the throne of grace with confidence because of Jesus, and it’s through Him that we receive help in our time of need. Jesus doesn’t need help to mediate for us. He doesn’t need a co-mediator. That’s not how it’s set up in the New Testament.
So, to wrap this up, while it’s clear that Mary and the angels have their roles in God’s divine plan, when it comes to prayer, we need to be focused on God. God is the one who hears and answers our prayers, and that’s something that’s made possible through Jesus, who is our mediator and high priest. Praying to anyone else—whether it’s Mary, angels, or any other spiritual being—just isn’t supported by the Bible.
And that’s really the heart of the issue. We want to stay faithful to what Scripture teaches, and when it comes to prayer, the Bible directs us to God and God alone. Thanks for listening."
I'll see you down in the comments section!
Noah out.
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