Entering the Courts of Heaven in Repentance

Thank you for joining us tonight as we enter the courts of Heaven through prayer and supplication, continuing our purification journey on God's divine appointments.

If you've been with us over the last few episodes, we've gone through the book I just released, *The Cross to the Crown*, covering a number of prerequisites: God's calendar, the divine appointments of the Lord, covenant theology, the devotional and purification elements of the book, the Hebrew letters, and the courts of Heaven. If you're just joining us, I'll give a quick background before we enter into prayer.

I've disabled the chat at the beginning so we can all focus on what needs to be focused on right now — the Lord. Getting into a quiet place with him through prayer, supplication, and intercession sets the tone for the new year we've just entered. As we've discussed, this is when the books are opened according to Scripture, and they will be sealed on Yom Kippur. So it's a very important time to get intimate with the Lord, draw close to him, repent, ask for forgiveness, and petition your cases before him — whatever your concerns may be. It's a great time to enter into his presence while the courts are open and the books are open.

I'll turn the chat back on at the end of the prayer so we can commune together and discuss whatever needs to be discussed around the courts of Heaven. If you have the book, the prayer is included. You can also download it at faithfulperformance.com, or email me there and I'll send it to you. The prayer is simply a template — it's the word of God arranged in an organized, courtroom manner, if you will.

I want to be clear: every prayer is heard by the Lord. No matter the length or the setting, he hears and answers prayer. But sometimes — in spiritual warfare, in intercession, when there is bondage that needs to be severed — it takes more than a two or three minute prayer. What we're entering into is deep intercession, a purification journey. We're coming before the Lord with our fig leaves off, naked before him, so that he can clothe us with his white robes. We come without any agenda other than repentance, asking him what we need to repent of so that we can obtain righteous rendered verdicts.

Here's what I mean by that. If someone has been praying for one, two, three, or four years without seeing the answer, it may be that there is an accusation by Satan in the courts of Heaven. Revelation 12 tells us that he is accusing the brethren — you and me — day and night before the throne of the Father. And God is a righteous judge, a just judge. If Satan has anything legitimate on us, the Lord cannot rule in our favor. For instance, if I haven't repented for something I've done to someone, or if I haven't forgiven them wholeheartedly, my blessings may be held up. That's just one example. We have to come before the Lord without our fig leaves, ask him what we need to repent of, and pursue purification so we can receive those righteous rendered verdicts. He is not waiting on us — we want to be waiting on his perfect timing, not the other way around.

This is so important to understand. Sometimes we go through life thinking we're cleansed, but there may be unforgiveness in our heart, or a struggle with anger, alcohol, or something else — and we've got to shut that gate. What we've been led to put together is simply the word of God, quoted in an organized manner as we enter his courts. If you are looking for something to break off of you, this will do it — if you go through the process and you are listening to the Lord. We use two or three scriptures to establish every matter we're praying about. That's crucial. Whatever your petitions are, have two or three scriptures ready to establish them in the courts of Heaven.

The whole point of this prayer is not necessarily immediate results, though things can and do fall off right away — the Holy Spirit can move tonight for any one of us, absolutely. But sometimes there is a purification journey he wants to take us on so that we develop the proper convictions once we come through that season. I'm not saying God doesn't answer other prayers, and I'm not saying this is the only template. This is simply what has worked for me, my family, and friends who have walked through it. Some things break off immediately. But some of the harder things — as Messiah says in Mark 9:29 — can only be dealt with through fasting and prayer. If you are dealing with something hard, I promise you this will help, because we are quoting the word of God in an organized manner as we enter his courts.

God wants to be intimate with you through this journey, and then he is going to deliver you and set you free. That may happen tonight, tomorrow, next week, or next year — I can't tell you that. You'll need to listen to the Lord as he communicates with you.