Catholic doctrine dictates that prayers must go through saints in heaven first, not straight to God through humans. Saints are praying for us. One may say, “those are only prayers of those on earth!” In Revelation 5, the context is heaven. At God’s side there are 24 elders in heaven. They represent the Church in heaven, since they are with the Lamb. In verses 9-10, we see that not only are they receiving prayers from those on earth, but they are vitally concerned with what is happening on the earth. The prayers of the saints are only for those on earth praying. Those who do not pray are not represented. Thus, prayers are coming from those on earth, going directly to the saints in heaven, and they in turn present prayers to God. Thus, regardless of how this passage is interpreted, this passage reflects Catholic doctrine.