One of the most important things that we can do as Christians is to pray in line with our legal rights. But we often don’t do this because we misunderstand what prayer is. Prayer is not simply talking to God. Rather, prayer is asserting earthly permission for heavenly interference. Prayer is earth giving heaven authorization to intervene in the affairs of earth as heaven has previously stated that it would. That permission is granted based on your legal position and rights. That’s why it is essential to study the Word of God and to know the rights that He has granted you through His Word.

When Israel cried out to God, He remembered His covenant. God engaged the terms of His covenant because of their appeal to Him. This principle can be applied to our lives when we find ourselves caught between a rock and a hard place like Israel. We too can appeal to God. Israel’s dilemma centered around a form of bondage. Our bondage might not be the same as it was for the Hebrew slaves. But it can be any kind of stronghold that holds us captive. This might be a stronghold of addiction, food, sex, unhealthy relationship patterns, low self-esteem, materialism, elitism, or any number of things.

Egypt illegitimately held Israel in bondage. Israel cried out to be delivered from that bondage. God heard Israel’s cry and responded to them based on His covenantal agreement with them. If you are being held in bondage by an illegitimate force in your life, cry out to God. Pray to God for deliverance by appealing to Him based on your covenantal rights. There is a legal obligation that God has: to respond to you based on the fact that you have a legitimate agreement with Him found in His Word.

Go through the Scriptures and read everything that relates to your stronghold and pray it back to God. When you do that, prayer is no longer just a spiritual exercise or something to check off of your “Christian List of Things To Do.” Rather, prayer becomes a legal meeting where you and God get together in agreement on the same covenantal arrangement. Prayer becomes an act of holding God accountable, in the right sense of the word, to what He holds Himself accountable: His Word.

When God heard Israel cry out to Him, He “took notice of them” (Exodus 2:25). While He always knew what was happening, He heard their sigh and their cries and saw them from a covenantal perspective.

Tony Evans, Between a Rock and a Hard Place (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2010).

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