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"As we celebrate with our festive gatherings the birthday of this great man, the Lord's forerunner, the blessed John, let us ask for the help of his prayers.Because he is the friend of the bridegroom you see, he can also obtain for us that we can belong to the bridegroom, that we may be thought worthy to obtain his grace."
Intercession or intercessory prayer is the act of praying on behalf of others, or asking a saint in heaven to pray on behalf of oneself or for others. [ 1 ] The Apostle Paul 's exhortation to Timothy specified that intercession prayers should be made for all people.
In post-exilic Judaism, the Host of Heaven are possibly re-classed as angels, cf. Nehemiah 9:6 "the host of heaven worships you", but worship of the Host of Heaven has ceased. In Intertestamental Judaism, worship of angels is not found, but a developed angelology, angelic hierarchies, and the invocation of angels is found.
Incense was also used in the Bible to worship God and symbolize prayer, in both the Old Testament and New Testament; one of the three Magi offered Christ frankincense, and in the Book of Revelation, angels and saints appear in Heaven offering incense to God, thus setting a precedent for Christian use of incense in worship.
The Bible typically describes the Heavenly host as being made up of angels, and gives several descriptions of angels in military terms, such as their encampment (Genesis 32:1–2), command structure (Psalms 91:11–12; Matt.13:41; Rev.7:2), and participation in combat (Job 19:12; Rev.12:7).
Revelation 5:8 presents the saints in Heaven as linked by prayer with their fellow Christians on earth. The communion of saints (Latin: commūniō sānctōrum, Ancient Greek: κοινωνίᾱ τῶν Ἁγῐ́ων, romanized: koinōníā tôn Hagíōn), when referred to persons, is the spiritual union of the members of the Christian Church, living and the dead, but excluding the damned. [1]
These traditions and prayers continue across the world to date, e.g. in May 2008 the arch-priest of St. George's Basilica, Malta, called on all parishioners to pray to Saint George every day. [63] St. Mary's Orthodox Cathedral, New Delhi, India, holds prayers of intercession to Saint George every week. [64]
In Matthew 18:10 Jesus warns not to despise children because "their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven." Luke 20:34–36 affirms that, like the angels, "those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they can no longer die."
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