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
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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.
Hear ye Him
58-0324 §23
And now to you holiness people: Pentecostal, Free Methodist, Nazarenes, Pilgrim Holiness. I remember the time when it was wrong for you women to cut your hair. What happened? Do you know the Bible gives a man a right to get a divorce from his wife when she cuts her hair? The Bible said that a woman that cuts her hair dishonors her husband. That's the truth. And you get out here with these little old, dirty, nasty, filthy clothes on, called shorts, to mow the grass in the back yard, and call yourself a Christian? Ho...
Questions and Answers, Part 4
64-0830E §72
If a woman has got real thin hair, and she wants to wear one of those "rats" or ever what you call it, I think that's... My wife wears it. It's a... She says her hair's thin, and she's got some kind of a thing about that big around, looks like a great big, oversized biscuit. And she wraps her hair around that and pins the pins in it. And now, as far as I'm concerned, that don't bother anything as long as your hair is long. A minister said his wife was condemned, because she had a tint in her hair. And I found out f...
Hear ye Him
57-0125 §72
Here it is. It's a little lady sitting to my right. She's wearing a white hat. She's praying, "Lord, let it be me." She's sitting right here by the side of a woman that's crippled or something, on the end of the row. Do you believe, lady, that you've made a contact with God? You do? You believe me to be His prophet, His servant? If God will tell me what you're praying for, will you believe it's the same Christ who could tell the woman at the well where her trouble was? You would believe it? You're wanting Christ to...
Questions and Answers, Part 4
64-0830E §73
And now, men... This person said this morning taking off their hair, putting it back on. Now, this kind of got here too, about a haircut, see. Now, if a man doesn't have hair, and his wife ... I've heard women say, "Well, if I could just get John ... I think he'd look better if he wore a hair piece. What do you think about it, Brother Branham? Is it wrong for him to do it?" No, sir! No, indeedy, it is not wrong, not at all. If he wants to wear it, that's fine, no more than wearing false teeth or whatever that come...
Has the Lord spoken only to Moses?
53-1130 §21
And she said... Just so, like, just dressed like a man and you know the Bible says that a woman that'll put on a garment that looks like a man's is an abomination to God. You know the Scripture says that. It's the truth. And look, young ladies, if you'll just leave all that there stuff off, you'll look a lot prettier. That's right. Just take a little James 5:14 and mix in a little John 3:16, and add it all together and stir it up; that's the best makeup you'll ever have. Is that right? It's true. Let me tell you so...