CONTACT WITH THE SPIRIT REALM

ALMIGHTY GOD has entrusted certain responsibilities to other spirit creatures. He has, for example, placed rulership of the earth in the hands of Jesus Christ, and he has appointed faithful angels to help direct the declaring of the good news. (Revelation 14:6) Prayers, though, are different. He has not delegated the hearing of prayers. Our prayers are rightly directed only to God himself.

Jehovah is the “Hearer of prayer.” (Psalm 65:2) He listens to our prayers, and he answers them. Regarding prayer, the apostle John wrote to fellow servants of Jehovah: “No matter what it is that we ask according to his will, [God] hears us. Further, if we know he hears us respecting whatever we are asking, we know we are to have the things asked since we have asked them of him.”—1 John 5:14, 15.

The faithful angels do not want us to call upon or pray to them. They understand and cooperate with God’s arrangement for prayer, which sometimes directly involves them. In what way? Well, when the prophet Daniel prayed to Jehovah about the desolation of Jerusalem, God answered Daniel’s prayer by sending the angel Gabriel with an encouraging message.—Daniel 9:3, 20-22.

Messages From the Dead?

Should we try to contact those who have died? Many stories tell of conversations people supposedly have had with spirits of the dead. For example, a woman in Ireland was contacted by a spirit medium who said that the night before, she had a conversation with Fred, the woman’s husband. Yet, Fred had died a few weeks earlier. The medium went on to relate what “Fred” had said, matters that his wife believed were known only to her. How easy it would have been for her to conclude that Fred was alive in the spirit world and was trying to make contact through the stranger. That conclusion, however, would contradict what the Bible clearly says about the condition of the dead.—See box “Fact and Fiction.”

How, then, can stories like this be explained? One tool of deception that the demons employ is that of impersonating the dead, in this case, Fred. The motive? To turn people away from what the Bible teaches and to weaken faith and trust in Jehovah. Unquestionably, Satan and the demons mislead people “with every powerful work and lying signs and portents and with every unrighteous deception for those who are perishing.”—2 Thessalonians 2:9, 10.

Knowing that we can pray to the Supreme One, who loves and cares for us, why would we want to pray to anyone else?

To be sure, there are spirit mediums and those who are associated with them who truly believe that they are contacting people who have died. In reality, if they are contacting anyone, they are contacting spirits who are in opposition to Jehovah. Similarly, there are those who believe that they are worshipping God but who are mistaken. The apostle Paul was inspired to pen this sober warning: “The things which the nations sacrifice they sacrifice to demons, and not to God.”—1 Corinthians 10:20, 21.

Knowing that we can pray to the Supreme One, who loves and cares for us, why would we want to pray to anyone else? After all, the Bible gives this assurance: “As regards Jehovah, his eyes are roving about through all the earth to show his strength in behalf of those whose heart is complete toward him.”—2 Chronicles 16:9.