But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God<\/em>” (I Corinthians 11:3). When one link in that chain is not acting in accordance to the will of those above, then those below must still continue to follow the higher authority.<\/p>\nFor example, all governments exist by the will of God. “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves<\/em>” (Romans 13:1-2). As citizens of a government, we are required by God to give obedience to our government. But when that government steps out of its God-given authority and orders its citizens to act against God’s laws, God comes first. We see this when the highest court in Israel ordered the apostles to cease teaching about Jesus. “And they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard”<\/em>” (Acts 4:18-20). When they were hauled into court a second time, “And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them, saying, “Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us!” But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men”<\/em>” (Acts 5:27-29).<\/p>\nThe same holds true in a family. The husband ought to be the one teaching his children the ways of God. “And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord<\/em>” (Ephesians 6:4). But since he is not yet a follower of Christ, and thus unable to do this, the teaching of the children cannot be discarded. A wife will have to do the best she can in less than ideal circumstances. In this case, she is not usurping her husband’s authority but filling in for a husband who hasn’t yet stepped up to his duties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Question: My husband is not a Christian. If\u00a0a woman is not to lead prayer at home\u00a0when her husband is present, then how are my children to learn to thank God for their food? What are my options? Answer: Where\u00a0the prior answer assumed that both the husband and wife are Christians, your question deals with a…<\/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_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1510,82],"class_list":["post-9492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-prayers","tag-womens-roles"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11799,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/must-a-christian-wife-obey-her-non-christian-husband\/","url_meta":{"origin":9492,"position":0},"title":"Must a Christian wife obey her non-Christian husband?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 25, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: The Bible states that a woman should obey her husband, but what if he is not a Christian husband? He believes in Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit, but he does not set forth a Christian lifestyle. I know a woman can still be religious on her own and\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":9335,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-woman-lead-prayers-at-home-when-her-husband-is-present\/","url_meta":{"origin":9492,"position":1},"title":"Can a woman lead prayers at home when her husband is present?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 6, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I understand why men lead prayer in public and not women (I Timothy 2:11-12; I Corinthians 14:34). But what about my wife and I praying together in private, is it wrong for her to lead us in prayer? Answer: The passage in I Corinthians 14 deals with the worship\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":9492,"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":9875,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-a-husband-and-wife-be-equal-when-the-husband-has-the-rule-over-the-wife\/","url_meta":{"origin":9492,"position":3},"title":"How can a husband and wife be equal when the husband has the rule over the wife?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 20, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I read your\u00a0article and I thought it was good. While I agree with most of it I find it hard to believe it all. Eve fell for the lies of Satan and ate the forbidden fruit. She sinned against God and gave Adam the same fruit and he also\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":49776,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-a-woman-cant-lead-prayer-then-she-shouldnt-discipline-or-deal-with-finances\/","url_meta":{"origin":9492,"position":4},"title":"If a woman can’t lead prayer then she shouldn’t discipline or deal with finances","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am currently in a discussion with my brother about women praying with their husbands. I agree with your view of the matter and what the Bible says regarding a woman leading her husband in prayer. My brother takes the opposing view and states that if that were the\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":2948,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-a-wife-be-her-husbands-companion-when-he-is-the-head-of-the-household\/","url_meta":{"origin":9492,"position":5},"title":"How can a wife be her husband’s companion when he is the head of the household?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 14, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was reading through some of the questions and came across the one which says, \"Does a husband have the right to spank a wife?\" While I do agree that there is no evidence or instruction regarding this subject in the Bible, I do have a problem with the\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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9492","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=9492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9492\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}