Claiming Your Legal Rights

God is just, and so is His Word, because His Word is His standard. Dr. Tony Evans says when that standard becomes our standard, God's power becomes our power. When you're on the right side of His Word, you're on the right side of answered prayer. This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. When we pray, God has the right to say yes, no, or wait. But in this classic sermon, Dr. Evans explains that we have rights too, and we often get them all wrong.

Let's listen in as he gets started. We're talking about what we've called kingdom prayer. We've defined kingdom prayer as the divinely authorized methodology to access heavenly authority for earthly intervention.

Through kingdom prayer, we want to draw heaven into history, eternity into time. Jesus tells a story in Luke 18. He begins by saying in verse 1 to His followers, men should always pray and not faint. Faint means to quit, give up, throw in the towel.

It means to let discouragement rule you. In chapter 17, the last verse, He answered and said to him, Where the body is, there is also the vultures will be gathered. Where the body is, the vultures will be gathered.

Now men ought to always pray and not faint. What does praying and not fainting have to do with dead bodies and vultures? When you've watched television and you've seen somebody die in a tepid place, you've seen somebody lose their lives, the vultures gather around death. They can smell death. And when they smell death, they descend upon the deceased carcass of a person or of an animal because that is their realm. They are in the realm of death. Where there is death, Jesus says, you will attract vultures.

So let me put it in everyday language. Where there is the absence of God, demons take up the space. Where there is the absence of God, vultures come in. The demonic realm descends because that's their world. Their world is the world of death. And so if you're living in the realm of death in your personal life, you don't have to go find demons, they can sniff it out. In our culture, what you're seeing happening in our culture today are vultures descending on a dying society because they can smell it. They can detect it. And so where death is, vultures accumulate.

So this is becoming very important. He says, because you and I live in the realm of death and therefore in the realm of the demonic, the vultures, men ought to always pray and not faint. He now tells a story to define what he means by pray.

And he throws a concept in this story that's different than most of our prayers. There is a widow in the Bible. The widow and the orphan were the lowest on the social ladder.

They were typically poor, defenseless, and alone. We have a widow. She comes to a judge for him to use the law to deliver her from somebody who is attacking her. So she goes to this judge. Now we're told this judge had no regard for God and no regard for man. He didn't care about heaven and he didn't care about earth. He cared about money. So this desperate widow comes in the name of the law to a person who's supposed to uphold the law and say, please give me legal protection.

Keep me from the attack that is coming against me by my opponent. Because she couldn't resolve it herself, so she went to the law to rectify her problem. That's the scenario. So the judge now says, even though I do not fear God and I don't respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, because this woman is getting on my nerves, nagging me. That's the point. This woman is driving me nuts. She's going to ruin my reputation. And since I care about me and my reputation, for that sake, he says, I am going to give her, verse 5, legal protection. Now that's the story.

That's the situation. Jesus then enters into the story and says in verse 6, hear what the unrighteous judge said. Not what the woman said. Hear what the unrighteous judge said. In other words, he's talking to his followers, y'all better pay attention to that judge. You better listen carefully to that judge.

What do you want us to learn from that judge? He tells you in verse 7 and 8. Now will not God bring about justice for his elect who cry to him day and night, and will he delay long over them? I tell you that he will bring about justice for them quickly.

However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? Here's the word you want to catch. The word legal and the word justice. Legal and the word justice. The woman didn't go to the judge and just say help me out. She went to the judge and said help me out according to the law. She wanted legal protection.

She wasn't just coming like somebody to a friend. She's saying the law is on my side. You represent the law. And even though you are an unjust judge, I want justice. Even though you don't like God, you don't like people, you do like the law. So, however you feel about me, look at your law book. Because however you feel about me, you are obligated to what the law book says.

And based on the judge being nagged, the judge's reputation, and based on the law, the judge gave her legal protection. Jesus takes the story and then spins it. If an unrighteous judge who doesn't care about God or people is that concerned about his rep, how much do you think God is concerned about his reputation?

Let me explain something. God is intricately concerned with his reputation. That's why the Bible says whatever you do in word or deed, do all to the glory of God. God's reputation is called his glory.

It is the manifestation of who he is. So when you pray, pray with God's reputation in mind. In other words, in fact, I'm going to give you a prayer secret. Here's a prayer secret.

Shh, don't tell nobody I told you this. When you pray and you ask God for something you want him to do for you, after you make that request, tell him what he will get out of it. Because God exists for his own glory. And when God sees what you want for you will also rebound to greater glory for him, he's much more interested in your request because he's concerned about his reputation. So the bigger he benefits, the more involved he is in your prayer. So you want to be in your prayers under the right part of his character because his character will adjust even though his character will never change. And so God is concerned with his own glory.

So the more glory he can get out of it, the more he's interested in answering prayer because he's concerned about his reputation. Now let me tell you something else he's concerned about, justice. He says, will not God bring about justice for his elect? Justice is the right thing.

Will he not do the right thing? Now, justice has to have a standard. You can't have justice unless you have a standard of right and wrong, okay?

Without a standard, it's just whatever you want it to be. A standard gives you a measure by which to measure justice. Now, justice is tied to a law because it's tied to a standard. So if you don't know the law, then you can't appeal for justice. Or if you rebel against the law, then you're on the wrong side of justice. When you come under the law, then you're on the right side of justice. The lady, the widow, wanted legal protection.

She wanted justice. The judge was not just, but the law was. God is just and so is his word because his word is his standard. When you're on the right side of his word, you're on the right side of answered prayer. When you're on the wrong side of his word, you're on the wrong side of answered prayer.

So where you are in relationship to God's standard or God's law will have a lot to say about whether you hear an answer to your prayer. Dr. Evans revealed a second secret of successful prayer, and we'll hear all about it when we continue in a moment with more of this lesson from his timeless biblical series, Igniting Kingdom Prayer. This two-volume, 12-message collection shows how to take your prayer life to the next level so you can experience more of the intimate connection and two-way communication God intended for it. We'd like to send you a copy of this powerful series as our gift so you can review it on your own or share it with your family, small group, or Bible study class. All we ask is that you make a contribution to help us keep the alternative broadcast coming to this station.

And when you do, we'll include an added bonus for you. It's called Kingdom Prayer, a powerful book that goes hand in hand with the message we've been hearing today. In it, you'll discover practical strategies for transforming your prayer life to gain a deeper understanding of the power and impact of a prayer aligned with God's will. Just visit tonyevans.org to make the arrangements. That's tonyevans.org. Or call our 24-hour resource request line at 1-800-800-3222 to let one of our helpful team members assist with your request.

That's 1-800-800-3222 any time of the day or night. Well, right now, let's get back to our teaching. God is obligated to His Word, so I'm going to give you another secret. First secret was pray for His glory.

What's God going to get out of it if He answers your prayer? But the second thing is throw God's Word up in His face. Hold God hostage to His Word, Psalm 138, verse 2. God has exalted His Word above His name.

So when you go to His standard, which is His Word, and you give that Word... Now, if you don't know what word to use, you can't use it. That's why we pray general sometimes. Lord, bless me. Watch over me.

Now I lay me down to sleep. Because we don't know how to use His Word to Him. Do you have people in your life and you say, but you said? When you tell a person, but you said, guess what you just did? You held them hostage to what they said.

Well, I got good news for you. God's character can back up anything that came out of His mouth. But He invites you to throw His Word back at Him. You can literally go to God and say, but you said, and I'm holding you to your Word. Because He is faithful, that promise, the Scripture says. So when you are praying regularly for God's glory based on the justice of His Word, He gives a staggering promise.

His promise is that He will not delay long over them, and He will bring about justice quickly. Quickly. That is unexpected. Out of nowhere.

Where did that come from? Last minute. Because I don't particularly like this, but God loves to do things at the last minute. No, if He just did a little bit here, and a little bit there, and a little bit there, a little bit there.

You know, this we got a little something something. But sometimes He leaves it blank until the last second. And the reason He often leaves answered prayer blank until the last second is so there's no question mark about where this came from. Now, that leads to a second lady. Turn back a few pages to chapter 13, verse 10.

And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And there was a woman who for 18 years had a sickness caused by a spirit, and she was bent double and could not straighten up at all. She had to do what many of us do, settle. Well, I guess I've been bent. Ray's bent. My mama was bent. I got a bent life. So I'll just take my bentness to church. And at least I can clap while I'm bent. I can pray while I'm bent. In other words, bentness had become a lifestyle. Anybody in here with something you can't straighten up over?

Maybe it's an addiction. Maybe it's a situation. But you can't straighten up. You in church? She was in church, but she bent over.

Okay, what happened? Watch this now. When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, woman, you are freed from your sickness. He laid His hands on her and, uh oh, here's His word, quickly, immediately.

She was made erect again and began glorifying God. Wait a minute now. You mean to tell me 18 years was fixed in a minute? That's what it means by being addressed quickly. But what addressed it? It wasn't a preacher. It wasn't a sermon.

It was a quiet. It was a touch from Jesus. Jesus called her.

So what did she do? She came to Jesus. She didn't just go to church. Second thing, when she came to Jesus, she got a touch from Jesus. And when she got a touch from Jesus, she stood up straight. All of a sudden, 18 years was overridden in a day. Because when God moves, it don't take that long. When God moves, immediately, supernaturally, it doesn't take that long.

So I put this in as a parenthesis. When you come to church, look for Jesus, not the pastor. When you come to church, look for Jesus, not the choir. You hunting for Jesus, because only He can straighten folk up. They've been shook up, tore up from the floor up for 18 years. For 18 years, she's bent over. But it's not a medical condition.

It says Satan has her bent over for 18 years. It showed up medically, but it wasn't caused medically. It was caused spiritually, but it affected her posture, her medical condition. See, one of the reasons that we can't shake things that are wrong in our lives is we haven't figured out what the real cause is. So the doctor can't fix it. The budget people can't fix it.

The counselors can't fix it. And we're bent over with this problem that we can't shake, even though we go to church, not realizing it was caused by the devil and kept by the devil and can only be cured spiritually. So we look for everything but the supernatural and the spiritual to fix what the devil has caused.

And trust me, if the devil caused it, only Jesus can fix it. You say, I got an alcohol problem. Well, you may not have an alcohol problem. What you may have is alcohol being infused by the devil, creating a stronghold that you call an addiction. That's the difference between an addiction and a stronghold.

An addiction means that I am being held hostage by a certain habit. A stronghold is I am held hostage by a certain habit that is now under satanic influence and control. A stronghold is where the spiritual enters into the thing, where the vulture descends and lands on the problem. When a demon descends and lands on the issue, the issue has now become a spiritual stronghold that cannot be fixed by normal activity. It can't be fixed by sermons, it can't be fixed by singing, it can't be fixed by professionals, because if they don't know how to get to the infection of the vulture that's demonic, they can't solve the problem that you perceive is the real deal. He says, now the reason we could free this lady up is because she a daughter of Abraham.

The head of the officials went legal. She shouldn't be healed on the Sabbath. The Sabbath is in the law. Keep the Sabbath holy. Jesus says, oh, but she's a daughter of Abraham. He one-upped him because Abraham trumps Moses.

The Mosaic law had legislation, but the Abrahamic covenant had a promise. You got a right to be delivered. You got a right to overcome. It's your right to tell the devil he's not going to control you anymore. It's your right to tell Satan who's been messing with you for 5 years, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, you can't rule me no more.

Why? Because I'm in Christ. Christ is connected to Abraham. That's the Abrahamic covenant.

I am a son or daughter of that regime, so you have no right to me. See, Satan has lied to us so long that we believe he has rights to us. We talk, well, it ain't nothing but the devil. Oh, the devil's doing it. Oh, if I could just get rid of the devil.

You're giving the devil too much power. You are a son or daughter of Abraham, and that means you got a right to be free. You got a right to be victorious. You got a right to be delivered. You don't have to limit yourself to what people say, circumstances say, what situations say, because you're tied to Abraham, because he's tied to Jesus, and you're in Christ. Jesus, you got a right to victory.

So you need to start talking. I got a problem, but Jesus. I got an addiction, but Jesus. I got a circumstance, but Jesus. I got a fear, but Jesus.

When you bring the covenant of Abraham in, God can wipe out 18 years in a day, because that's how good he is when you come to him. So you keep praying. You keep trusting. You keep before him.

You say, I'm not going to let you go. If you contact us right away, we'll even include the companion book, Kingdom Prayer, to go along with the audio messages. Just give us a call at 1-800-800-3222, or visit TonyEvans.org, or you can browse through our huge collection of helpful books and other biblical resources.

That's TonyEvans.org, or by phone at 1-800-800-3222. Having access to God's power is one thing. Putting it to work in our lives is another. Tomorrow, we'll discover some surprising ways to utilize spiritual authority. Right now, though, let's listen to this final story to wrap up today's message.

I'll tell you this in closing. As an old lady, she was on her last dime. She went to the Lord and said, Lord, you said in your word that you would meet all my needs according to your riches in Christ Jesus. And so, based on your word, and I'm going to praise you when you answer it.

I'm going to tell everybody that you're my way maker and you're my supplier. So, based on your word, I believe you're going to feed me. She had a neighbor next door. He was an old man. And the old man was an atheist and always made fun of her faith. He came by her open window and heard her praying. He said, I'm going to show that old woman something.

There is no God. So, the old man went to the store and bought a couple of bags of groceries. He went and he laid it at the old woman's door.

He knocked on the door and went and hid on the side. The lady came to the door, saw the groceries, and said, thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. The old man came from around and said, I told you there was no God because Jesus didn't get that for you. I got that for you. And I don't believe in God. The old lady said, oh, no, that's not what happened. Jesus got it for me. He just let the devil pay for it.