About praying to saints, which is common in Catholicism and Orthodoxy, it's just a form of intercessory prayer. It's like asking for people to pray for you - except the people are not with us anymore but with God. The prayer of a saint is strong and also some people might feel close to a particular saint so addressing them feels natural. They fully know their prayer is ultimately heard by and answered by God. It is as much idolatry as asking for a friend to pray for you is.
I answered an ask very similar to yours once before so I’m going to provide the link for you here:
http://strawberry-milktea.tumblr.com/post/157203899063/praying-isnt-worship-its-communication-when-a
And this is an ask I answered regarding common Catholic prayers to saints that are very spiritually concerning because they are heavily saturated with idolatrous elements:
http://strawberry-milktea.tumblr.com/post/166126475338/what-are-some-specific-catholic-prayers-that-sound
Biblically speaking, every Christian is a saint. By you saying “the prayer of a saint is powerful” tells me that you likely only view individuals deemed by the Catholic Church as canonized saints as saints instead of every follower of Christ, or at least elevate them to a different level than other Christians. The understanding I’m also getting (correct me if I’m wrong) is that you believe these individuals’ prayers have more power than other Christians since you made a point to say “the prayer of a saint is strong”. Neither of these viewpoints I’m seeing presented in your message are supported by scripture.
It’s very different from asking a living person to pray for us. Like I mentioned in one of the links above, we are never encouraged in the Word to communicate or ask favors of the dead. There’s no reason for us to believe they can even hear our prayers. To believe so would be to assign these individuals omnipresence, which only God has. Instead, every account of trying to communicate with the deceased is portrayed in a negative light and in the context of necromancy. Conversely, scripture does encourage the living to pray for one another.
Using myself as an example, a dear brother in Christ I was good friends with passed away unexpectedly recently. I felt close to this person, but that doesn’t mean it feels natural to me to address him in a way that only God is worthy of. I truly admired his spiritual strength and dedication to Christ, but that does not mean I would seek the counsel of this deceased person or ask him to pray for me. Why would I need to? Christ made it possible for everyone who believes in Him to have the privilege of direct communication with the Father.
I hope this helps clarify my point of view for you. If you want to discuss this further, feel free to let me know.
