There is nothing in that passage of Scripture to indicate that the saints who are praying are in Heaven. It says that the beasts, the elders and the angels are in Heaven, and are offering the prayers of the saints... There is nothing I can find in Scripture to indicate that we can hear requests from others to pray for them when we are dead.
The saints in Rev chapter 8 verse 4 are the same ones in chapter 7 (cf Rev 7:14-16), who are the martyred saints who “...are before the throne of God” (verse 15) and they shall “ no longer hunger nor thirst: neither shall the sun fall on them, nor any heat.” (Verse 16). So they are in heaven.
Prediction: you are going to say that the people in 7:14-15 are not the same saints in 8:4 (or elsewhere) because:
1. It doesn’t say they were “saints” in verse 7:14 or...
2. It’s “another chapter” or..
3. The word “heaven” isn’t used in chapter 7, so John isn’t describing heaven until chapter 8 (this would be particularly desperate on your part if you choose this “argument”, because it would ignore the context of Rev 4:1-2) or...
4. Some other made up reason that refuses to see the plain description depicted in the Scripture.
I don’t care what reason you (will) invent to disagree with what I have posted. I absolutely don’t care about any Protestant’s/anti-Catholic’s OPINION of Scripture anymore. So don’t waste your time responding if you disagree.
It will be ignored, because I don’t have time anymore to play the “my opinion of Scripture meaning is better than yours” game all the critics of the Church constantly sucker other hapless Catholics here into playing.
I posted this for the benefit of any reasonable lurker who may be deceived by the claim “there is no evidence the prayers in [Rev 8:4] are the prayers of the saints in heaven.”
And verse 6:11 proves the martyrs in verse 7:14 were the martyrs during St. John’s time not future martyrs before Jesus’ return in glory.
In addition to posts 110 and 112, even if you don’t accept any of what was said there, in Rev 8:3 it says the incense is the prayers of “all saints” in virtually every translation I’ve found. So even if one says, “the believers in God who are Christians are ‘saints’ on earth, and these are the saints in verse 4”, this distinction is not made in Rev 8:3.
So Rev 8:4 can be reasonably interpreted (even given the Protenstant insistence we are “saints” here on earth), if even that is conceded, then STILL we have “ALL saints’” (prayers) offered up to God in verse 4, which then includes (obviously) the saints in heaven. Since the saints in heaven are some of the group known as “all saints” in verse 3.
Unless one will foolishly assert that the saved believers in heaven aren’t saints!
The persons in heaven are properly called saints. If one at least agrees with that then...
...since the saints in heaven are at least part of the group of people known as “all saints” and since the saints in heaven have nothing to pray for other than other people, and the only other people they would need to pray for would be those on earth, Rev 8:3-4 still shows that at least SOME of the prayers of the saints (in verse 4) are of those saints in heaven for other people here on earth.
Q.E.D.