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Can We Pray to Saints? YES! Luke 16 Proves It

Can We Pray to Saints? YES! Luke 16 Proves It

Last updated on: June 13, 2026 at 1:10 pm by Dave Armstrong

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Can We Pray to Saints? YES! Luke 16 Proves It 2026-06-13T13:10:27-04:00 Dave Armstrong

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This is the transcript of the initial presentation portion of the video, “Can Catholics Pray to Saints? YES! This Bible Passage Proves It!” (Catholic Bible Highlights, with Kenny Burchard, 2-6-26).

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Patrick O’Brien, a very active Protestant anti-Catholic apologist, on his Facebook page, The Bible in Context (66,000 followers) stated the following about halfway through his video (they’re called “reels” on Facebook) called, “This is Why Catholics Are Deceived: Praying to Saints”:

Nowhere in the New Testament do we see the apostles instructing or encouraging the Church to ask saints who aren’t physically present here on earth to intercede for us. We don’t see that language at all. . . . Prayer in the New Testament is always ever directed towards God alone.

Earlier in this reel, Patrick made the other common Protestant claim about the invocation of saints:

If you’re praying to Mary to intercede for you, you are putting your trust in communicating to a spirit that is not physically present here on earth, which the Bible would define as necromancy: somebody who is dead, meaning that they are physically separated from us here.

In another reel, called, “It Keeps Catholics in the Catholic Cult” Patrick says this:

If Catholic doctrine is biblical, then it should be defendable by Scripture.

Some parts of the New Testament fit into the Protestant outlook only with great difficulty. Here’s one of many:

Luke 16:22-25, 27-31 (RSV) The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried; [23] and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom. [24] And he called out, `Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.’ [25] But Abraham said, `Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. . . . [27] And he said, `Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house, [28] for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ [29] But Abraham said, `They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ [30] And he said, `No, father Abraham; but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ [31] He said to him, `If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead.'”

This is a story — right from the lips of Jesus — about someone praying or making an intercessory request of someone other than God. The rich man makes a petition to Abraham but he says no, just as God will say no to a prayer not according to His will. It’s not that Abraham couldn’t intercede (if that were true, he would have said so and Jesus would have made it clear), but that he wouldn’t intercede in this instance (i.e., he refused to answer the request). The rich man asks Abraham again, begging, and Abraham refuses again. But he persists with a third petition, and Abraham refuses a third time.

If we were not supposed to ask saints to pray for us, Abraham would simply have said, “you shouldn’t be asking me for anything; ask God!” In the same way, angels refuse worship when it is offered, because only God can be worshiped. We see that in Revelation 19:9-10 and 22:8-9. St. Peter did the same thing with Cornelius (Acts 10:25-26). So did St Paul and Barnabas (Acts 14:11-15).

Jesus couldn’t possibly have taught a false principle. Abraham doesn’t deny that he is able to potentially send Lazarus to do what was requested; he only denies that it would work (by the logic of “if they don’t respond to greater factor x, nor will they respond to lesser factor y”). It’s also assumed in the story that Abraham had the ability and authority to “answer” prayers, as God’s representative. He’s not the ultimate answerer of prayer – God is always that – but God has clearly delegated to the authority to Abraham to accept and either grant or deny prayer requests.

Herein lies the dilemma. It matters not if both men are dead, or where they are (Hades, in this case: Luke 16:23); the rich man still couldn’t do what he did, according to Protestantism, because it holds that no one can make a prayer request to anyone but God. But God is never mentioned in the entire story. The rich man asks for supernatural aid from one who has left the earthly life and has attained sainthood and perfection, with God.

So why did Jesus teach that the rich man asked Abraham to do things that Protestant theology would hold that only God can do? And why is the whole story about him asking Abraham for requests, rather than going directly to God and asking Him? This just isn’t how it’s supposed to be, from a Protestant perspective. All the emphases are wrong, and there are serious theological errors, committed by Jesus Himself (i.e., from the erroneous Protestant perspective). Praying to a saint is expressly taught by Our Lord Jesus.

One common but futile retort is to say that this is “only a parable,” and hence, supposedly can be dismissed as irrelevant. We reply that:

Parables — like anything else Jesus says – could not contain falsehoods. Jesus couldn’t and wouldn’t teach error, including in His parables.

I contend that the story about the rich man, Lazarus, and Abraham is not a parable in the first place, since parables don’t include proper names, let alone names of known historical figures. Jesus isn’t telling fairy tales, but recounting historical events.

It isn’t introduced as a parable, which is the standard biblical “protocol”. In the same book, the phrase, “he told them a parable” occurs five times (5:36; 6:39; 12:16; 18:1; 21:29). But in Luke 16 it doesn’t. Jesus starts out, “There was a rich man . . .” (16:19).

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Related Web Page

Saints, Purgatory, & Penance

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PayPal donations are the easiest: just send to my email address: [email protected]. Here’s also a second page to get to PayPal. You’ll see the term “Catholic Used Book Service”, which is my old side-business. To learn about the different methods of contributing (including Zelle and 100% tax-deductible donations if desired), see my page: About Catholic Apologist Dave Armstrong / Donation Information.

You can support my work a great deal in non-financial ways, if you prefer; by subscribing to, commenting on, liking, and sharing videos from my two YouTube channels, Catholic Bible Highlights and Lux Veritatis, in partnership with Kenny Burchard (see my own videos), and/or by signing up to receive notice for new articles on this blog. Just type your email address on the sidebar to the right (scroll down quite a bit), where you see, “Sign Me Up!” Thanks a million!

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Summary: Protestant apologist Patrick O’Brien says prayer to saints is necromancy & never appears in Scripture. But Jesus Himself teaches petitionary prayer to saints in Luke 16:19-31.

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