So which is it? Do we pray to them or do we ask them to help us? You seemed to have mentioned both and don't really know where your going with this.

"And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints." Revelation 5:8

This verse is mainly why we ask for intercession. You don't have to believe us, but you also don't have to act like an idiot when it comes to trying to explain us.