In a recent episode of “The Deep End” podcast with Taylor Welch, guest Bishop Reverend Robert Henderson discussed his book, Operating in the Courts of Heaven. As in the book’s title, the discussion on the show focused on God’s legal system and how we can operate within it for personal freedom.
Henderson is an expert in the legal court systems of heaven. He says that a key indication that a person has an active legal case against them in the courts of Heaven is experiencing a prolonged battle in which their prayers and efforts do not seem to yield any breakthrough. In the ensuing discussion between Welch and Henderson, the podcast provides a clear roadmap for entering the heavenly courts and pleading our cases.
Discovery through desperation
Henderson discovered this concept during a season of intense hardship, facing unexplainable family and financial struggles. Though he prayed every day and for up to 4 hours at a time, he was unaware of the legal accusations against him in this courtroom and continued to have limited success in his life. It was only after he learned about this heavenly space that he could close off open contracts on his life, and things began to improve for him. Similar to the Book of Job (although I do not remember Henderson talking about Job in the podcast), Henderson also learned that Satan and his demons had some footing against him and his family despite his godly lifestyle and trust in the Lord. The legal rights that Satan can hold against us and our family are often established through covenants made in the bloodline, which can afflict multiple generations.
Understanding the enemy’s legal rights
In the podcast, Henderson described several methods the enemy used to gain a legal foothold against us. The enemy can only make a contract against us in the heavenly courtrooms once they have gained enough materials against us. Henderson outlined the two primary methods the enemy uses to establish a legal contract:
- Covenants: These are formed through “trades” and can grant the enemy ownership or a legal right to claim something in a person’s life. An example of this would be joining a workers’ union or forming a covenant by joining a secret society.
- Iniquity (Generational Sin): Negative choices made by ancestors, such as stealing, can legally impact subsequent generations. Henderson explains that individuals can repent for previous generations to revoke the enemy’s legal right to use these actions against them.
In the podcast, Henderson stressed the importance of understanding how the devil gains access to our lives and how he can negatively influence us so that we can learn to undo these entanglements. Although it is valuable and essential for salvation to confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, as it states in Romans 10:9, it is similarly necessary to cancel all contracts or weapons formed against us while in this life. This is not automatically applied to us at the time of our salvation, but we gain access to the courtroom with the Blood of Jesus, and we are pretty much assured victory through this process.
Who is the adversary, and how can we know it is he who has a case against us?
In the heavenly courtrooms, if an accuser (the adversary, i.e., the devil or one of his associates) is present there, we typically sense it. Or at least this is what Henderson says in the podcast. One of the earmarking ways that we know he is there in the courtroom and has a case against us is because we feel oppression and sadness in our minds. And, this is a tell-tell sign that we need to repent and ask for the Blood of Jesus to speak over us and silence the accuser. This concept, of silencing the accuser, is based on Hebrews 12:24, which states, “to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” After the accuser (the devil or one of his demons speaking on his behalf) is silenced, we can ask for our requests to be granted, provided they align with God’s will. As someone who has victory in Christ Jesus, all I can say is that I agree with Rev. Henderson’s synopsis: we always have a favorable “high ground” in the courtrooms because Jesus represents us.
Accessing the Heavenly Courts
Reverend Henderson teaches that accessing the Courts of Heaven is relatively straightforward through prayer and operating in faith that the blood of Jesus serves as the entrance key to the Heavenly courtroom. Once access is gained to this heavenly legal room, a pathway to greater independence is offered.
As previously stated, entering the Courts requires faith. To access these courtrooms, we are to tell God we are entering them because of the blood of Jesus. Using His blood, we are legally allowed to step into that realm to present our cases against us. Other steps we can take to activate the courtroom further are to visualize stepping into a courtroom, seeing two huge doors open, and walking over a threshold. This visualization process, while praying, can help with the atmospheric change and awareness of the cloud of witnesses in the courtroom, which further delivers a non-guilty verdict in this courtroom. (I will elaborate on the cloud of witnesses in a moment.)
Once we are in the heavenly courtroom, to present our case, we must have our book open. We can gain access to our book through worship, tears of intercession, or apostolic decrees. Since the book of an individual’s destiny can be easily taken captive by the enemy due to sins in their bloodline or sins they have committed, repenting for those sins quickly restores justice in this courtroom because the Blood of Jesus is so powerful.
When in the heavenly courtroom, as mentioned above, the cloud of witnesses is also present. These can be some of the people whom we knew on earth, and they have gone to Heaven. These people can provide judicial testimony and agree with the person presenting their case. In this bible, this is found in Hebrews 12:1, and the verse reads, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.”
Henderson believes that the person presenting their case can see two tables: God the judge on one side, and the enemy, the accuser, on the other. The process involves presenting oneself as a living sacrifice, worshiping, and presenting the case, while being aware of potential accusations from the enemy.
The role of Jesus’ Blood now
Henderson stresses that while Jesus’ Blood is powerful enough to save us from hell and legally break the curse, the complete breaking of the curse will occur only at Christ’s triumphant return (as referenced in Revelation 22). For the present, believers must apply His Blood in a legal sense to petition the Courts of Heaven, thus actively breaking the curses they face in this lifetime. According to Henderson, God provides this mechanism—operating under Jesus’ authority and Blood in the Courts of Heaven—rather than simply overriding their legal standing.
Powerful takeaways from the podcast: Watching our words
There were many great concepts discussed in this episode. Specifically, having a legal document in the courts of Heaven working against us can severely hinder our progress and our lives. Following Henderson’s advice, the biggest takeaway I took from the episode was to watch my words. It is easy to forget that words have tremendous power. James 3:4 says that our tongue is tiny but powerful enough to steer a large ship. Similarly, the words we speak actually can move Heaven, angels, and the spirit world, both positively and negatively. It’s essential to be mindful of what we say to avoid bringing into our lives things that don’t need to be there and to ensure we’re not undoing what God has said. The power of words is seen in Daniel 9 and 10, where the angel appears after 21 days of prayer and says that God heard the prayer from the first day, and that the angel came because of the words spoken. Since the enemy takes people’s words and uses them to build cases against them in the court of Heaven, it is essential to be mindful of the words we speak against ourselves, our friends, and our family – or anyone, for that matter.
