Question: What about praying for those who have died? 1. God has made promises in His word as to what He will and what He will not do. a. There are examples where children of God have referred to those promises as they prayed unto God, knowing that it is impossible for God to lie, asking with boldness and confidence that God would fulfill His word (Ex. 32:9-12). 2. It is right to pray in harmony with the scriptures; to pray that God would fulfill His word. a. God has promised that those who die in the Lord are blessed (Rev. 14:13; Lk. 16). To be thankful for that, to refer to that in prayer, cannot be wrong. cf. 1 Thes. 4: Comfort one another with these words. 3. But having said that, some words of caution are in order: a. First, one must recognize that nothing can be done to alter the state/condition of one who is dead. This is taught in many passages. Lk. 16: etc. 1) Salvation is individual in nature. 4. A Publication called Christian History (XII:1;31) contained an article entitled "Praying to the 'Dead'." "Praying to the saints began with the practice of praying for them. Any Christian who died was remembered in prayer, and services took place on the 3rd, 7th, 9th, 13th and 14th day after death. For martyrs, annual remembrances of their death were celebrated... "Soon churches drew up lists of martyrs, believing that prayer for martyrs was of 'great benefit to those for whom it is offered' (Cyril of Jerusalem [ca. mid 300's A.D.)." "Gradually, the church believed that martyrs, having made the ultimate sacrifice, already lived fully in God's presence. They didn't need the church's prayers as much as the church needed theirs. 'Only God can pardon, though we see that the merits of the martyrs have great weight before his tribunal' (Cyprian of Carthage [ca. mid 200's A.D.)."... "Despite fears of idolatry, the practice of praying to saints was affirmed by later church leaders, such as Augustine and Aquinas."--Mark Galli