As you have admitted there is NO passage in the Bible that indicates the physically dead cannot intercede for us. there is more evidence that they can hear us and intercede for us then there is to suggest otherwise.
Although we both speak English, we apparently don't have a common understanding of the language. I posted I agree that the saints in heaven can be intercessers. Where we disagree is praying to them, which you keep avoiding with a passion.
Here is what you advised me:
But they can be translated to mean more then what you imply, again read them in Context.
Okay, lets put the Mark Scripture you quoted in full context:
Mark 12:18-27
18 And some Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) came to Him, and began questioning Him, saying, 19 "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, and leaves behind a wife, and leaves no child, his brother should take the wife, and raise up offspring to his brother. 20 "There were seven brothers; and the first took a wife, and died, leaving no offspring. 21 "And the second one took her, and died, leaving behind no offspring; and the third likewise; 22 and so all seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman died also. 23 "In the resurrection, when they rise again, which one's wife will she be? For all seven had her as wife." 24 Jesus said to them, "Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures, or the power of God? 25 "For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 "But regarding the fact that the dead rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? 27 "He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken." NAS
This is a discussion of the resurrection of the dead. What does this have to do with prayer?
You posted:
Matt 11:11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist...
Full context:
Matt 11:11
11 "Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. NAS
Doesn't support your thesis now does it?
You posted this:
Matt 26:13 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.
Full context:
Matt 26:10-13
10 But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why do you bother the woman? For she has done a good deed to Me. 11 "For the poor you have with you always; but you do not always have Me. 12 "For when she poured this perfume upon My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial. 13 "Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done shall also be spoken of in memory of her." NAS
The fact she annoted Him for buriel is what makes her worthy of being remembered and spoken of. However, this does not mean she should be venerated above anyother saint (believer). To believe she is requires you label Paul a bold faced liar:
Gal 3:23-29
23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. 24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. 26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. NAS
You can prove almost anything from the Bible by taking verses or partial verses out of context. The Bible says there is no God:
Ps 14:1
"There is no God." NAS
I am retiring from this thread; since it is a total waste of my time and yours. As you mentioned the JW's "interpret" Scripture their way and are considered a cult; a cult that teaches Christ has already returned only spiritually, will never return physically, that Jesus is not God, and the Trinity is a farse. BTW, they also have their own translation of the Bible that totally ignores Greek grammer. Fundamentalists believe the Bible only, Sola Scriptura, your church adds gnostic beliefs and tradition.
So on this I rest my case. You have not shown even pulling Scripture out of context where praying (an act of worship) to any saint is allowed, commanded, or even alluded to in Scripture.
PRAYER
Scriptural History. Prayer, constituting as it does the most direct expression of religious feeling and consciousness, has been, from the beginning, the principal means by which men, created in the image of God, have given expression of their attitude toward Him; and from the earliest times, ever since in the days of Enoch when "men began to call upon the name of the Lord" (Gen 4:26), it has formed an integral part of the public worship of God.
(from The New Unger's Bible Dictionary. Originally published by Moody Press of Chicago, Illinois. Copyright (c) 1988.)