Some new friends I’ve begun spending time with recently are all religious people. Two or three times now, one of the girls has offered to pray before we eat. I have absolutely no idea how to handle that properly. I know I’m responsible for doing or saying something, but I don’t know when or how.<\/p>\n\t
I’ve run into it before, though it has been rarer of late. Somehow people expect a preacher to lead prayers in a gathering, so I usually end up being asked to lead a prayer.<\/p>\n
There have been times when some woman announces that she is going to pray. When that happens, I don’t participate. I’m respectfully silent, but I don’t bow my head with the others. People pick up on that, and will sometimes ask. That becomes an opening to discuss I Timothy 2:11-12.<\/p>\n
If a woman asks if I mind, I’ll typically say “yes.” I’m old enough now to realize that it is quite alright to speak my mind — especially when I’m asked. How she responds to that then determines where I go from there.<\/p>\n
When I don’t participate in a prayer, I do say my own silently afterward. Who knows, it might lead to a discussion about why.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Some new friends I’ve begun spending time with recently are all religious people. Two or three times now, one of the girls has offered to pray before we eat. I have absolutely no idea how to handle that properly. I know I’m responsible for doing or saying something, but I don’t know when or…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[1510,82],"class_list":["post-30881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-prayers","tag-womens-roles"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":53461,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-for-your-mom-or-sister-to-lead-prayers-at-home\/","url_meta":{"origin":30881,"position":0},"title":"Is it wrong for your mom or sister to lead prayers at home?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 14, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I know I Timothy 2:11-12 says that women cannot exercise leadership over a man nor teach him, but I'm a little confused. I've heard that this only applies in church or in schools, so some clarification on the wording would be very helpful. I ask this because my sister\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54703,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-bow-during-a-prayer-offered-by-someone-who-does-not-live-a-christian-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":30881,"position":1},"title":"Is it wrong to bow during a prayer offered by someone who does not live a Christian life?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 1, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My brother often leads prayer at family gatherings. I have a problem with this. He drinks alcohol daily, often is intoxicated, and lives a sexually immoral life. When he says, \"Let's pray,\" everyone bows their heads. My husband is always present and sometimes he does lead the prayer.\u00a0 My\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41615,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-the-husband-lead-bible-discussions-and-prayers-when-the-family-is-gathered-together\/","url_meta":{"origin":30881,"position":2},"title":"Should the husband lead Bible discussions and prayers when the family is gathered together?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 18, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, If God were to bless me with a wife and kids, I would like for the family to have Bible study sessions as a family. Would it be proper for my wife to lead the discussions at times? Or to pray? Or it should always be the husband?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":95452,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-woman-lead-a-prayer-in-a-virtual-meeting-where-men-are-present\/","url_meta":{"origin":30881,"position":3},"title":"Can a woman lead a prayer in a virtual meeting where men are present?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 9, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day, minister. I really enjoy going through the questions and answers on your website. May God continue to increase you in every way. Amen! I've gone through some materials regarding women praying in gatherings and even at home, especially when men are present. I'm sorry if I'm being\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92254,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/dont-hide-behind-your-prayers\/","url_meta":{"origin":30881,"position":4},"title":"Don\u2019t Hide Behind Your Prayers","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 19, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Clay Gentry We're called to be people of prayer. Jesus Himself taught that we \"ought always to pray and not lose heart\" (Luke 18:1). However, if we are honest, sometimes our prayers are merely a pious way of being inactive. It is easy to hide behind the sincerity of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":68110,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-there-inappropriate-times-to-sing-or-pray\/","url_meta":{"origin":30881,"position":5},"title":"Are there inappropriate times to sing or pray?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 17, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Are there times it would be inappropriate to pray or sing hymns? I've often wondered if you should pray or sing while taking a shower, for example, when you're quite literally wholly exposed. Is it wrong to approach God in prayer like that or to worship Him in a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30881\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}