Living in the Image of God M05S12

Several examples from the bible convey an understanding that God assigns to the head of household the responsibility for spiritual commitment and prayer on behalf of the household and grants the prayers for members that believe. We discuss examples from Paul-Silas evangelism in Philippi, with a cloth seller Lydia and with the Philippi jailer. Additionally, we recall that Abraham accepted the covenant on behalf of himself and household, descendants, and all people on earth through the Messiah promise; Jacob accepted the renewed covenant at Bethel on behalf of himself, descendants, and all people on earth through his offspring; and Joshua led representatives of Israel to renew the covenant at Shechem, where he emphasized the responsibility of the head of household through his famous declaration: “as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Prayer by head of household is exemplified by Abraham’s prayer for his servant that travelled hundreds of miles to get a wife for Isaac. The servant believed in, and anchored his prayers on, Abraham’s prayer. God granted his prayers exactly on two occasions.

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This study begins a three-part series on household interactions and relationships. We discuss examples from the bible to understand that God assigns to the head of household the responsibility for spiritual commitment and prayer on behalf of the household and grants head-of-household prayers for members that believe the prayers. Subsequent studies in the series discuss the individual responsibilities in household interactions and relationships, anchored on Paul’s letter to Ephesians. The current study focusses on spiritual responsibilities of the head of household, beginning with examples from the evangelism of Paul and Silas in Philippi: their interactions with Lydia, a cloth seller that accepted the Gospel message from them on behalf of herself and her household; and with the Philippi jailer that was moved by Paul’s compassion to commit to Jesus on behalf of himself and his household.

Next, we discuss the covenant with Abraham as establishing the responsibility of the head of household to make spiritual commitments on behalf of the household. For the covenant, God demanded commitment from Abraham on behalf of himself, his household, and descendants. Further, we discuss renewal of the covenant with Jacob at Bethel and Joshua at Shechem, both of which underscore the responsibility of the head of household. Jacob accepted the renewed covenant on behalf of himself, his descendants, and all people on earth through his offspring. Joshua led representatives of Israel to renew the covenant, where he emphasized the responsibility of the head of household in his famous declaration of promise to serve God: “as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Prayer by head of household is exemplified by Abraham’s prayer on behalf of his servant that travelled hundreds of miles to get a wife for Abraham’s son Isaac. The servant believed in Abraham’s prayer and anchored his prayers on Abraham’s prayer. God granted his prayers exactly on two occasions. The events convey a clear message that God grants head-of-household prayers for members that believe in the prayers.

The study begins with a review of our previous discussion of the family leadership structure (M04S12, Individual Responsibility to Honor-Support Family Leadership: Shunammite Couple) to recall that the husband is the overall leader, that is, head of household. His wife is the spiritual gateway and occasional leader in specific matters, when delegated explicitly by her husband or implicitly by circumstances such as husband being unavailable. The role of a wife in family leadership is based on examples such as the Shunammite woman (previous study) and Lydia of Philippi (current study).

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