Wives and Daughters Praying

If a Christian man is to be the spiritual leader of his household (Eph. 5:22-24; 6:4), what about others in the family (incl. females) leading prayers at mealtime, bedtime, or in family devotionals?

With biblical directives concerning male spiritual leadership understood,¹ it might be helpful to note the distinction between corporate worship (e.g., 1 Cor. 14:26), worship training (e.g., Luke 11:1-4), and “worship” activities outside the corporate assembly (e.g., Acts 27:35). There are certain things regarded as unacceptable in a mixed worship assembly yet appropriate outside the assembly, particularly in the home (e.g.,  1 Cor. 11:22; 14:35). 

Training our children in the way of the Lord is a long-established divinely-enjoined duty (Deut. 6:5-7; Prov. 22:6; Eph. 6:1-4).²  Christian women are not exempt from being “teachers of good things” (Tit. 2:3) and engaging “in supplications and prayers night and day” (1 Tim. 5:5). In order for a mother’s children to “rise up and call her blessed” (Prov. 31:8), it would seem they need to witness her engaged in spiritual activities. 

While the Bible lays out general guidelines, it does not reveal specifics about how to train children for spiritual service. They learn by observation, instruction, and doing. Here is where we start getting into matters of personal judgment. Conservative Christians would object to a woman taking leadership in a corporate worship assembly, but in the home each family must decide how to implement biblical principles without neglecting or violating the Lord’s expectations.

In my family, I lead the prayers when we pray together. Everyone understands my leadership role. However, when my girls were little and wanted to say a prayer before a meal or at bedtime, we allowed them to talk to God as an innocent child and as part of their spiritual training, then I would follow with a prayer on behalf of the family. Not everyone would agree with this (some stricter, others more lenient), but I consider it a judgment call each family has to make. I would not be comfortable with a woman leading a family prayer instead of her husband when he is present, although this seems different than a husband and wife praying together. 

Obviously we don’t want to send the wrong message or leave the wrong impression, but neither do we want to establish regulations for God that he has not dictated. This is one of those areas where we genuinely seek to be pleasing to God and try to avoid unnecessary extremes. 

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes:

     ¹ 1 Cor. 11:3; 14:33-35; Eph. 5:22–6:4; Col. 3:18-21; 1 Tim. 2:8-15. See K. L. Moore, “A Woman’s Service in the Church,” Moore Perspective (27 December 2014), <Link>.

     2 See K. L. Moore, “Train Up a Child,” Moore Perspective (7 Oct. 2015), <Link>.

Related Posts: The Bible's Radical View on Women, Questions Concerning the Role of Women, Jesus Couldn't Be a Priest 

 

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Endurance of Hope

The Thessalonian Christians are commended for their “endurance” or “steadfastness” of “hope” (1 Thess. 1:3). In the New Testament ἐλπίς (“hope”),¹ particularly with reference to what lies ahead for the faithful child of God, is an earnest expectation, something eagerly anticipated. It “consists of a great longing and a positive certainty.”² The term in the Greek New Testament is much stronger than what the English typically conveys and “is Paul’s primary way of speaking about the certainty of the future.”³

 

Embracing the stability of God’s promises, hope is the sure and steadfast anchor of the soul (Heb. 6:18-19); it is to the Christian what a steady anchor is to a ship. It supports, braces, secures, and gives confidence to the believer during life’s storms. Without hope, we drift aimlessly and have no security in this turbulent world. 

Hope engenders, drives, and sustains ὑπομονή,⁴ “steadfastness,” “perseverance,” “endurance,” “fortitude,” which “is not a quiet, passive resignation, but an active constancy in the face of difficulties.”⁵ Both the noun and verb forms are used throughout the New Testament in connection with the inevitable afflictions encountered by followers of Jesus.⁶

 

In Christ alone, my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm ...⁷

 

Thank you Lord for the endurance of hope, your gracious gift that takes us home.

--Kevin L. Moore

 

Endnotes:

     ¹ Cf. Acts 2:26; 16:19; 23:6; 24:15; 26:6, 7; 27:20; 28:20; Rom. 4:18; 5:2, 4, 5; 8:20, 24; 12:12; 15:4, 13; 1 Cor. 9:10; 13:13; 2 Cor. 1:7; 3:12; 10:15; Gal. 5:5; Eph. 1:18; 2:12; 4:4; Phil. 1:20; Col. 1:5, 23, 27; 1 Thess. 1:3; 2:19; 4:13; 5:8; 2 Thess. 2:16; 1 Tim. 1:1; Tit. 1:2; 2:13; 3:7; Heb. 3:6; 6:11, 18; 7:19; 10:23; 1 Pet. 1:3, 21; 3:15; 1 John 3:3.

     ² H. N. Ridderbos, Epistle to Galatia 189-90.

     ³ G. D. Fee, Thessalonians 108, emp. in the text.

     ⁴ This is a compound word, comprised of ὑπό (“under”) + μένω (“remain”). The verb form ὑπομένω appears in Matt. 10:22; 24:13; Mark 13:13; Luke 2:43; Acts 17:14; Rom. 12:12; 1 Cor. 13:7; 2 Tim. 2:10, 12; Heb. 10:32; 12:2, 3, 7; Jas. 1:12; 5:11; 1 Pet. 2:20.

     ⁵ L. Morris, Thessalonians 42.

     ⁶ Cf. Luke 8:15; 21:19; Rom. 2:7; 5:3, 4; 8:25; 15:4, 5; 2 Cor. 1:6; 6:4; 12:12; Col. 1:11; 1 Thess. 1:3; 2 Thess. 1:4; 3:5; 1 Tim. 6:11; 2 Tim. 3:10; Tit. 2:2; Heb. 10:36; 12:1; Jas. 1:3, 4; 5:11; 2 Pet. 1:6; Rev. 1:9; 2:2, 3, 19; 3:10; 13:10; 14:12.

     ⁷ Lyrics by Keith Getty and Stuart Townsend, © Thankyou Music Ltd.

Related Posts: Obligation of Love & Power of Hope 

 

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