On What Scriptural Basis Is a Man Praying with a Hat on Frowned Upon If a Woman Praying with a Hat on as a Covering Is Considered Unscriptural?
1) Direct answer
It’s Scripture. A man must not pray with his head covered; a woman must be covered—but God defined her covering as her long hair, not a hat. So a man praying with a hat on dishonors his Head, and a woman using a hat as a “substitute covering” is unscriptural. Her hair is the covering God appointed.
2) Scriptural explanation
- 1 Corinthians 11:4,7: “Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head… For a man indeed ought not to cover his head; forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God.”
- 1 Corinthians 11:5–6: A woman praying or prophesying uncovered dishonors her head; if she won’t be covered, “let her also be shorn,” showing that uncoveredness and shorn/shaven go together.
- 1 Corinthians 11:13–15: “Judge in yourselves… if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her… for her hair is given her for a covering.”
3) Simple clarifying logic
- For the man: The Bible says he must not cover his head when praying. A hat on a praying man is a covered head; therefore it dishonors Christ his Head.
- For the woman: The Bible itself identifies the covering—her hair is given to her for a covering. That means:
- Long hair = covered.
- Shorn/shaven = uncovered.
- No hat can replace hair, and no hat is required to fulfill the command.
So a woman thinking a hat “makes her covered” while she cuts her hair is still uncovered by Scripture. And a woman with long hair is covered even without a hat.
4) Reinforcing statement
Now notice: it’s not about church customs but God’s order. Men pray uncovered; women are covered by the hair God gave. That keeps the headship honor exactly as the Bible sets it. Final biblical conclusion: A man should remove his hat to pray (1 Corinthians 11:4,7). A woman’s scriptural covering is her long hair (1 Corinthians 11:15); a hat does not make or replace that covering.
Existing Follow-Up Answers
- If a Woman Willfully Cuts or Shaves Off Her Hair but Wears a Scarf or Hat to Pray, Is She Covered?
1) Direct answer No. If a woman willfully cuts or shaves her hair and then puts on a scarf or hat to pray, she is still uncovered before God. The - So What If a Woman by Accident, Age or Health Condition Has Short or No Hair, How Should She Be Covered If Hats and Scarfs Are Not a Covering?
1) Direct answer If a woman loses hair by accident, age, or sickness, she is not made “uncovered” in guilt before God. The Bible’s covering is he - What Determines If a Woman's Head Is Covered? Is It the Scalp Visibility or the Uncut Hair? Does It Matter If the Hair Is Matted in Cornrows or Plait?
1) Direct answer A woman’s head is covered when her hair is uncut and allowed to grow. It is not about hiding the scalp with fabric, and it’s not
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
Presuming
62-0117 §100
And you women that hasn't the common decency to let your hair grow out, like God told you to... That's right. The Bible says that a woman that will bob her hair dishonors her head, and that dishonors her husband. And you that will wear these little old garments like the rest of the world wears, the Bible says that he that ... "a woman that'll put on a garment that pertains to a man is an abomination," filthy in the sight of God. And then you claim to have the Holy Ghost? You're presuming you've got it. But when you...
Presuming
62-0117 §58
Achan. Why, when he took that little wedge, and that Babylonian garment, why, he thought ... he presumed it'd never be seen. "Well, what's that? It's just a little old garment. I'll stick it under here, and probably my family will long enjoy this. I got a wedge. If we ever get into a tight place, so I got a wedge of gold. Nobody will see it. Just wrap the thing together and put it under my coat, and go on." He presumed that it was all right. Presuming. But God's commandment was, "Take nothing out of that cursed cit...
But it wasn't so from the beginning
61-0411 §62
It used to be that Pentecostal women didn't do that. But I don't know what happened. It used to be wrong for Pentecostal women to bob their hair. That's right. The Bible says any woman that bobs her hair, her husband has the right to put her away, of divorce, because she is a dishonorable woman. The Bible said that. It sure did. Certainly did. Now what? There you are. What we need is gospel from the pulpits. Straighten up, all the way from the pulpit to the janitor. That's right. We need the old-fashioned St. Paul'...
Questions and Answers, Part 2
64-0823E §39
QUESTION: Also, Brother Branham, I believe a woman should be subject to her husband. But if a Christian woman has a sinner husband who does not even to one of your services---come to one of your services and won't---and wants his wife to be doing things, cutting her hair, wearing shorts, and going to ungodly places, is this woman supposed to be subject to this man in this way? Please explain this more clearly, as this is a question that is asked often. No, Sister, you are not subject to such a person. No indeedy. F...
Christ is the mystery of God revealed
63-0728 §190
Look it. Having the revelation of this secret made known to them by His grace. Look, when this great revelation---revealed mystery is made known to you, then you denounce all the things of the world. Now, I'm going to come back once again. I might as well say it; I'm pointing to it---the tape's say it. And those that are going across... This tape goes across the world, see. You women that claim you've got the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and not the audacity to let your hair grow out when the Bible condemns it and sa...