How do you explain Jesus talking about it in the parable of the Rich man and Lazurus. The rich man is going through Father Abraham without mentioning Father God. All told by Jesus Christ.
LUKE 16:24 (RSV) And he called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Laz'arus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.'
This is the Abraham of the Bible: long dead by that time, being asked to do something by a "rich man" (16:19, 22), traditionally known as Dives (which is simply a Latin word for "rich man"). His answer was, in effect, "no" (16:25-26). Thus failing in that request, he prays to him again for something else:
LUKE 16:27-28 And he said, 'Then I beg you, father [KJV: "I pray thee therefore, 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.'
His request is again declined (16:29). So, like any good self-respecting Jew (Moses even "negotiated" with God), he argues with Abraham (16:30). But Abraham states again that his request is futile (16:31).
This is from Dave Armstrong on his Facebook page.
IN THE BIBLE, DOES ANYONE EVER ASK [”PRAY TO”] A DEAD MAN TO INTERCEDE OR INTERVENE TO FULFILL A REQUEST?
Absolutely:
LUKE 16:24 (RSV) And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Laz’arus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.’
This is the Abraham of the Bible: long dead by that time, being asked to do something by a “rich man” (16:19, 22), traditionally known as Dives (which is simply a Latin word for “rich man”). His answer was, in effect, “no” (16:25-26). Thus failing in that request, he prays to him again for something else:
LUKE 16:27-28 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father [KJV: “I pray thee therefore, 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.’
His request is again declined (16:29). So, like any good self-respecting Jew (Moses even “negotiated” with God), he argues with Abraham (16:30). But Abraham states again that his request is futile (16:31).
So, the next time anyone tells you that you can’t “pray to” or request intercession from a dead man, or anyone but God, show him this passage and let the fun begin!
It also shows (in a fascinating way) that not only can dead saints hear our requests, they also have some measure of power to carry them out on their own. Abraham is asked to “send” a dead man to appear to Dives’ brothers, in order for them to avoid damnation (yet another [potential] instance of dead men — like the prophet Samuel to Saul — communicating to those on the earth). Abraham doesn’t deny that he is able to potentially send Lazarus to do such a thing; he only denies that it would work, or that it is necessary (by the logic of “if they don’t respond to greater factor x, nor will they to lesser factor y”).
Therefore, it is assumed in the story that Abraham could have possibly done so on his own. And this is all told, remember, by our Lord Jesus. It is disputed whether it is a parable or not (several textual factors suggest that it is not; e.g., parables do not use proper names), but even if it is, it nevertheless cannot contain things that are untrue, lest Jesus be guilty of leading people into heresy by means of false illustrations or analogies within His common teaching tool: the parable.