Cya MD.
Incoming! ;-)
Hey, here's a thought: ( I actually have them sometimes.)
I would say that "prayer" is an equivocal word. Contemplation, meditation, and particular approaches to and experiences with Scripture are all called "prayer". And what they have in common is that we hold them to be interactions with God Himself.
But the basic meaning of the word has to do merely with making a request. In my former life as a deputy I saw the word in formal legal documents - and the only invocations of God that those inspired were usually blasphemous.
The word "bead" comes from the word "bid". And "bid" is just another word for "ask". So there is a kind of continuum or, as I say, equivocation that goes from "asking in general" through (asking folks in heaven) and (asking angels), to "asking God" and finally" communicating in other ways with God". When we "pray" to the Saints, we're USUALLY just asking them to pray for us or thanking them for their intercession. So I would venture that the knuckle of the disagreement is communication with "those who have gone before".
Where are you guys on praying to angels? I guess we're all over the concept of being surrounded with a great cloud of witnesses. We can't go up in the stands until invited, but we can call to them and hear them call to us. I think OUR side would be "Asking is asking, thanking is thanking, complimenting is complimenting whether the person has died yet and lives again or is still waiting to die." And YOUR side is, "No, it isn't, or they aren't, either. It is essentially different once the person on the other end of the phone has died (not counting Jesus)."
So now we look at why and whether there's a difference:
And my first effort is an attempt at a reductio, thus: To say that they're different is to imply a kind of gnostic breach, a metaphysical great gulf fixed between us and heaven. But heaven is where God is, and God is everywhere, therefore He is here, therefore heaven is here.
I recognize that this is not conclusive. I'm just putting it out there.
(My secret goal is to see if we can make it to 5,000)