You may also download our newsletter in PDF format! (Adobe Reader required) 

Three Secrets for effective prayer when we come into the Courts of Heaven

By Robert Henderson

Granting God the Legal Right to Fulfill His Passion and Answer Our Prayers.

Most people do not know how to pray to get results every time! They have been told that prayer is an activity that takes place on a spiritual battlefield. Yet it may surprise you to learn that when Jesus taught on prayer, He never put prayer on a battlefield. He did picture prayer as being a conflict. But it was a conflict in a courtroom and not on a battlefield.  

We see this in Jesus’ teaching in Luke 18:1-8. In this story, Jesus tells of a widow seeking to convince an unjust judge to render a verdict on her behalf. At first, the judge ignores her pleas, but finally he decides to give her the request she desires. Her continual coming before his court presses him to render a verdict of justice for her. The moral of the story from this parable is that if a widow, with no political clout, no means to bribe and no influence in society, can get a verdict from an unjust judge, how much more will God the Righteous Judge render a verdict for us His elect! 

In this story of coming before God as Judge, we can see at least three principles, or secrets, for effective prayer. First, when we pray we are stepping into the judicial system of God. To understand this, we must know that all activity in the spirit realm is based on what is “legal.” When Jesus died on the cross, it was the greatest legal transaction of history. This is why Jesus declared from the cross, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). He was in effect saying, “Every legal mandate necessary for the redeeming of the whole of creation is now complete.” Jesus has legally overthrown the powers of darkness. 

When we pray, we draw on the legal victory established at the cross to see it become reality in the earth. In other words, we are executing into place the verdicts from the finished work of the cross until everything lines up with the will of God.

A second secret revealed in this story is the woman never spoke to her adversary, she only spoke to the judge. She understood that if the judge ruled in her favor, her adversary was of no consequence. She saw that the conflict was in a courtroom and not on a battlefield. Revelation 19:11 says when Jesus comes back with the armies of heaven, it is to “judge” and to make war. The order is very important. “Judge” speaks of judicial activity. In other words, we take away the devil/adversary’s legal right, then we march to the battlefield. This is imperative to success.

When I speak of dealing with an adversary, I am not talking about something or someone in the natural, but about the devil and his forces in the spirit realm. We all know what it is like to pray prayers that are in agreement with God’s will but still not receive the answer. Eventually, we may even conclude that God doesn’t seem to care enough to respond. Yet, the real reason we don’t get our breakthrough is that we have an adversary who is resisting us “legally” in the spirit realm. We must know how to approach God as Judge and deal with this “legal” issue in the spirit.

To understand this there are two words in the Greek we need to recognize. The first word is “adversary,” which is found in the story in Luke 18:1-8. This is the Greek word antidikos, which means “one who brings a lawsuit.” It speaks of a legal position.

First Peter 5:8 says that this adversary is the devil who is seeking to devour us. This is the Greek word antidikos as well. So the devil looks for a legal reason to devour us. He can only do it when he discovers something legal in the spirit realm he can use against us. As the antidikos, he is seeking to build a legal case against us that grants him the right to devour and destroy.  

The word antidikos comes from two words: anti, which means against, and dikos, which means rights. So the purpose of the adversary, or antidikos, is to bring a lawsuit against us that denies us what is rightfully ours. This is why we sometimes pray prayers in agreement with God’s will and Word and yet don’t receive answers. There is a case against us in the spirit realm that is denying God the legal right to answer our prayers.

      Add to this understanding the other word I want to point out and we can perhaps get a new perspective of the operation of the spirit realm. Revelation 12:10 says there is an accuser of the brethren that accuses us day and night. The word accuser in the Greek is katagoros. This word means “a complainant at law.” The accuser is one who is bringing a complaint against us in a judicial system.  The result of this is not seeing a breakthrough or not receiving answers to our prayers. If we are to see answers come from the Lord we must silence the antidikos and the katagoros who are one in the same. Both terms reflect the devil’s work to create a legal case against us to deny us what is rightfully ours!

The third secret from this parable is found in Luke 18:7-8. Jesus teaches us that coming before God as Judge and dealing with legal issues in the spirit will allow our prayers to be answered quickly. I have seen this in my own life. When I began to learn how to navigate the Courts of Heaven, what never happened before, happened immediately. 

Prayer that is in agreement with God will go unanswered for only two reasons. One is that it is a timing issue in God. Timing is very important in receiving from God. The other reason we do not receive an answer is because something legal is resisting us in the spirit realm. 

Operating through prayer before the Courts of Heaven, we are able by the Blood of Jesus to remove these legal issues. Once these legal issues of sin, transgression, iniquity, forgiveness, negative words and other things are dealt with by His Blood, the devil can no longer block answers from coming to us. These issues and others are what we deal with in persistent prayer. 

      Sometimes we think persistent prayer means saying the same prayer over and over. But before the Judge, persistent prayer can be removing the legal hindrances the devil is using to stop the answers from coming. As we present ourselves before the Lord, He will help us pray as we ought. Romans 8:26 says that the Holy Spirit “helps us in our weaknesses” to pray effectively. This can include removing every legal issue, over time, in the spirit realm, by the Blood of Jesus that our adversary is using to stop our prayers from being answered. Once any legal issues against us are revoked, God is free as Judge to fulfill His Father’s passion and we see prayers answered and breakthroughs come. 

Download our newsletter in pdf format

Robert Henderson is at the forefront of the apostolic reformation and is recognized for his passion to bring apostolic alignment to the church and business world. Robert and his wife Mary live in Midlothian, Texas.

Dear Mishpochah

By Sid Roth

The church that sponsored my Jewish evangelistic outreach in Ukraine late last year contacted me and said they could use my personal testimony book There Must Be Something More! for evangelism. I wrote this book back in the 1970s shortly after I was saved. But over the years, it kind of got lost as I went on to write several more books. Our contact in Ukraine felt it would be a powerful evangelistic tool for Jews and Gentiles. So we planted a seed, and translated and printed 5,000 books as a gift. Then, based on his enthusiasm, I updated and reprinted the book in English. 

Our first fruits seed is bearing amazing results in the war zone in Ukraine. We have just given 500 copies out to Ukrainian soldiers. Thirty-nine soldiers repented and accepted Jesus as soon as they understood the purpose of the book. After the book distribution, one of the new believers prominently displayed a cross and a sign outside of his bunker. The sign written in Ukrainian says, “Believe in the name of the Lord Jesus and you and all your household will be saved.” Look at the amazing photograph below!

The nation of Ukraine is under an open heaven. That is why nearly 1,000 Jewish people boldly stood up and proclaimed Jesus as Lord at my recent outreach in Odessa. That is why the devil is stirring up Russia to try to conquer Ukraine and abort the revival. But God is up to something big in Ukraine! I believe we will see over 5,000 Ukrainians come to Jesus as the remaining copies of my books are given away! Then we will distribute more!

  I see the same move of God about ready to hit all nations. So many believers are in fear over what they see on the news. So many feel hopeless. But one minute with God will change everything. America and all countries are about to have their one minute with God. Isaiah prophesied this amazing turnabout! 

Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising (Isaiah 60:1-3).

      Looking back to the first Purim, it was dark spiritually for the Jewish people in Persia. Their situation looked hopeless because of the King’s legal decree against them. But one minute with God spared the Jews and released a Gentile revival throughout the land (Esther 8:17).

Things looked hopeless for the disciples right after Jesus died. But one minute with God and Jesus rose from the dead and became the devil’s worst nightmare! 

God is about to release His Glory on His people. Now is the time to seek His face like never before. One minute with God will breathe life into every hopeless situation. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled. Shortly, the Glory will be so strong that multitudes will be drawn to the light of God upon you. 

Between Purim and Resurrection Sunday I have another Jewish outreach outside the United States. Pray for many miracles that will result in large numbers of Jewish salvations! And consider a special “thank you” offering to Jesus for Jewish evangelism. We can’t ever thank Him enough for what He did on Resurrection Day!