Turn to Lamentations in your Bible, please. Jeremiah, and then after Jeremiah is the Lamentations of Jeremiah. And I'd like to take a text from chapter number two. Lamentations chapter two, please, for a few moments this evening. Lamentations two and verse number 19. The Word of God's always challenging us in the matter of prayer, and that's our subject for just a little while. Perhaps an unusual text, but one of many that concern this subject, Lamentations 2, and down at verse number 19, the Word of God says, Arise, cry out in the night, in the beginning of the watches, pour out thine heart like water. before the face of the Lord lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children that faint for hunger in the top of every street. The pouring out of prayer is the title of the message tonight. The pouring out of prayer. Please notice where it talks about pouring out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord, there in the middle of the verse. Here's a call to prayer, personal prayer, prevailing prayer, intercessory prayer, fervent prayer. I want to say number one, you can never pray too early because you never know how soon it'll be too late. You can never pray too early, too early in the day, too early in your life's day, the sooner the better, amen. In fact, the Bible says, pray without ceasing, which means to have an attitude of dependence and obedience unto the Lord at all times. You can't always close your eyes, especially when you're driving down the road, but you can always be listening You can always be communing with the Lord, sometimes with words, and you don't always have to have words. God can read your thoughts. Amen. But you can never pray too early. The sooner the better. How often the psalmist talked about seeking God early, early in your life. Remember the Lord in the days of thy creator. uh... in the day remember that let me start over on that remember that creator in the days of our youth ecclesiastes twelve verse one so you can never pray too early you can pray too late after you've already sinned the only prayer then is lord i've sinned i'm sorry but if you pray before you sin maybe you won't sin you can uh... you can pray too late after you've already invited chastisement in your life, you can say, Lord, okay, I'm ready for this whipping. If I'd have prayed before, maybe I'd have done the right thing and not had to get this whipping, amen. You can't pray too late. Jonah prayed, he was, but he's too late, he done, he's already in whale college, wasn't he? So how much better to pray early, isn't it? Isn't it better to pray early? Start your day with the Lord, talk to God about everything, and not just ask, I'm talking about asking tonight, but every now and then, put in a thank you, amen? Thank you, Lord, you've been good to me. So we need to learn to pray early and often. We will be heard, we will be blessed. I was trying to witness years ago to a Hindu. He said, like most Hindus do, that all religions are the same. I said, no, not really. And he said, you want to be a Christian? That's fine. He said, I have my holy man. He had a picture of his guru behind him, a man with a trunk of an elephant. I said, who is that? He said, that's the man I pray to. I said, does he hear you? And you know, he honestly admitted he did not know for sure if that fellow heard him or not. I said, all right, I got you, sir. You say all religions are the same. You don't know if you're heard when you pray. You hope you're heard. I'm a Christian. I know I'm heard when I pray. Christianity's better, amen? And for many other reasons. as well. So we need to pray early. We need to pray early. A lot of people seem to start late in their Christian life, start late in their getting serious, starting late about their praying and many other things. Start as early as you can. Amen. You'll hear people say, I wish I'd started earlier, even about getting saved, and I'll talk about that in just a moment. I've never heard anybody say, you know, I should have waited later to get saved. Oh no. No, they'll say, I wish I got saved when I was five years old. Wish I'd got saved sooner. Years ago, a church had a brand new organ and it was electric and the power went out. and they were so embarrassed and uh... but there was an electrician there and he said i can fix it i'll get it going he said just and he wrote down on a piece of paper uh... he said he said after the prayer the power will be back on And sure enough, after the prayer, the power was back on, the organ was played, and the service went on. That's true in your Christian life and mine, dear friend. After the prayer, the power will be on. Amen. But there'll be no power, there'll be no blessing, there'll be no direction, and very little joy in our lives without prayer. What do we expect? Sometimes I wonder, rush headlong into the day and don't even pause for 30 seconds and say, oh God, I need you. Keep me from evil. Make me a blessing. Help me to be a light to some poor lost soul. Lord, I love you. You've been good to me. Amen. You don't have to pray a 20-minute prayer. Just acknowledge God. Amen. At the beginning of the day, you can never pray too early. And if you're unsaved, you need to get saved, and the sooner the better. Amen. Jesus said, let the children come, Matthew 19, 14. because after you get out of the childhood years, you become a teenager, you think you know everything, then you get so busy making money that you don't have time for God, and you get under peer pressure, and you put it off, and there's very few people saved in their 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s. Very few. I've witnessed the thousands of people down through these years, and if they're not saved at an early age, or many times when the first time they hear the gospel, some get saved later. Thank God for that. But the older you are, every statistic will show you it's less likely that you get saved. What did Paul say to Timothy? He said, from a child you've known the Holy Scriptures. You knew the Gospel. Aren't you glad many of you here tonight have known the Gospel all your life? You didn't have to get rid of some cult, some ridiculous ideas. You didn't have to renounce heresy. You just got to believe what you had heard all your life. Amen. You didn't have to throw away Mormonism. I was reading the other day the Mormons are now using John MacArthur's material because he teaches what they believe. He teaches lordship salvation. That's what they believe. Now they're using his books. I'm glad I didn't have to unlearn a bunch of trash. Amen. But I could believe the gospel that I heard all my life. Amen. The devil didn't like what I just said, but it stands, it is the truth. Amen. Anybody still with me? I'm saying you need to pray early. And if you're lost, you need to get saved as soon as possible. Amen. Because you could die and go to hell if you keep putting it off. And God's merciful, isn't he? He saved many people older than you. He saved many people more hardened and indifferent than you. So there's hope. God will save you. Number two, you can't pray too earnestly. The more fervently, the better. The effectual fervent prayer. And that's the word where we get the word energy. Energy-o is the word there. Pray with every now and then, pray with some energy. Amen? You know the difference, don't you? You've seen the difference. Pray like you mean it. Pray like everything's dependent on you. Pray like you're the only one praying. I'm helping somebody tonight. Pray like you're the only one praying, because you might be. The preacher says, pray for so-and-so, and you say, well, somebody else will do that. No, what about you? What if it all depends on you? You can never pray too early or too earnestly. Every now and then you need to pray desperately. Like that Syrophoenician woman that came to the Lord and said, my daughter's demon possessed. I need some help. and she called him son of David and as a Gentile, she had no claim upon him as son of David. So she just took her place as a lowly heathen and calling him Lord and trusting him as the God of the Gentiles. She said, I know that I don't deserve to sit at the table, but even the dogs get the crumbs that fall from the table. Lord, I'll just admit I'm a dog, and I appreciate just a few crumbs. And thank God her daughter was healed and delivered. She was desperate. She said, I can't go home and look at my daughter's face again. She's demon possessed. We need help. We ought to pray desperately, not matter-of-factly, not like it really doesn't matter, but knock and keep on knocking, and seek and keep on seeking, and ask and keep on asking. If you really wanted in a house, you'd knock more than one time. And if you really mean what you pray, you'll pray it again tomorrow. And if you really want somebody to be saved, you'll pray for them more than once or twice. You might have to pray 50 years. I prayed for a man for 40 years. Amen. He got saved too. So you can never pray too earnestly. Prayer ought to be earnest. It ought to be from the heart. If it's not from the heart, it's a waste of time, isn't it? So I read about a soldier. He went out in the woods praying. And his commanding officer saw him coming out of the woods and said, what have you been doing? And he said, I've been praying. And the commanding officer said, I don't believe that. You've been in the woods praying, I don't believe that. What are you up to? He said, sir, I have been praying. And he said, all right, then prove it right now. Drop to your knees, let me hear you pray. Amen. And when he got done, a fellow got done praying, then his commanding officer knew he was telling the truth because he could pray. Amen. I mean, sometimes you get put to the test. Amen. And let me help you right here too. And if we'll pray more privately, we won't have no trouble praying publicly. Amen. That's right. Amen, let that sink in, that'll help you. If you be much with God in private, then everything else will be a breeze. Amen. When you've met with God and everything's right and He's spoken to you, you can march out your door with the whole armor of God. Amen. And God can use you, but when it's not right between you and Him, just you and Him, you'll be a football and the devil will kick you around all day long because you're not what you need to be in private. Is that right? Sure, you know that's right from your personal experience. So, we can never pray too desperately or earnestly. I was reading again today about Elijah praying. Remember, he's praying for rain and he said to his servant, go look out over the sea and see if there's any storm clouds, any rain clouds. And his servant came back and said, nothing. Elijah prayed again, didn't he? They were right there at the Mediterranean Sea. I've stood there. And he said to his servant again, go look and see if there's any signs of rain. Nothing after prayer number two. Nothing after prayer number three. And Elijah said, I quit. No, but that's what a lot of Christians do. We don't get what we pray for after two or three times. Finally, after prayer number seven, the servant said, I see a cloud about the size of a man's hand. And he had done, Elijah had told the king it's gonna rain. It hadn't rained in three and a half years, but it rained, I'm telling you. And the heaven was black and God answered prayer because he prayed and he kept on praying. And he prayed seven times till the answer came. If God puts a burden on your heart, keep on asking till it happens or until God takes the burden away. Amen. And the best part of praying is when God tells you what to pray, and that way you're just praying, and praying in the Holy Ghost, God is going to answer the prayer request He puts on your own. Isn't it wonderful when God can tell you what to pray for? Amen. And you're just the channel, so you can never pray too earnestly. I was thinking about Hannah, how she prayed for her son. She never lost hope, she never gave up. Let me hurry, you can never pray too much. You might not pray enough, but you'll never pray too much. Daniel prayed three times a day, didn't he? That's a good example. You ought to pray at mealtime, you ought to thank the Lord for your food, amen? Sure, you ought to do that. Start your day with the Lord, pray over your food, and talk to God about anything, and turn your worry list into a prayer list. The Bible says, here, pour out your heart like water. Amen. Just pour it out. Can you imagine a bucket and pouring out all the contents? God said, do that in your praying. Whatever's in your heart, pour it all out. Tell me everything till all the contents have been emptied. Whatever you need, if you need wisdom, grace, direction, power, help, whatever you need, Ask until you're done asking. Till you have confessed everything you need to confess. Till you've requested everything you need to request. Pour out your heart. Don't we use that phrase a lot and tell people that they can pour out their heart? They came to the altar and they poured out their heart. That means when they got up, there was nothing else left in their heart. Nothing kept back, no secrets. They gave it to God and said, Lord, Thy will be done. We need to learn to pour out our hearts like water. But we'll come to the altar, pour out a little bit, and stand up with the same burden, and go set down no better off than when we went. Yeah, we do that sometimes, and we do that every day. And there ain't much faith in that, is there? There ain't much faith in that. Pour out your heart, the Bible says, withhold nothing. Ask for everything you need. You say, I don't know who to pray for. Well, it says in this text here, pray for the children. Amen. Pray for the children. Who else do you pray for? Who's on your prayer list? I mean, you don't have to pray the same thing, and you really shouldn't. Every day, exactly word for word, but surely you know somebody that's sick, somebody that's lost. Surely you know our leaders need prayer, and the Bible commands us to pray for them. Missionaries need prayer, don't they? They ask for prayer. The Apostle Paul was a missionary. He was always asking for prayer, wasn't he? Young Christians need prayer. That used to be you that was a young Christian stumbling all over the place. They need encouragement, they need prayer. And on and on. If you look, you'll find somebody to pray for except yourself. And it's not wrong to pray for you, but it is wrong to pray for you and nobody else. And in the Lord, not the Lord's prayer, the disciples' prayer, all those pronouns, they're plural, aren't they? Our, that's more than one. Give us, us, that's more than one. Lead us, that's more than one. Amen. It's wrong to pray just for you. There's a whole lot more people to pray for. The work on your prayer life, it'll be just exactly what you make it. You can never pray too early, too earnestly, or too much. And you're never so high as when on your knees. And Jesus said, men ought always to pray and not to faint. Last of all, be specific. When you pray, be very specific. If you're not specific, how will you ever know if your prayer got answered? Yeah. A man got saved, and the Lord brought to his mind immediately that he owed somebody $18.75. He went to that man and said, I'm going to pay you. I know I owe you. I got saved, and I'm making restitution. And by this certain day, I'll pay you $18.75. Well, that day came. He still didn't have the money. He's walking down the street to go to talk to the man and say, I don't know what's going to happen here. I'm saved. I'm trusting God. Somehow or another, God's going to provide this. The man was walking down the street and a shopkeeper stepped out on the sidewalk and said, excuse me, sir, I need to tell you something. I've been troubled for three days that when I saw you again, I was to give you $18.75 for some strange reason. That man said, thank you very much. That's an answer to prayer. I was on the way to the man that I owe it to. So that fellow took the money and he went and he paid what he owed, told that fellow the testimony. That fellow got saved, the shopkeeper did too. Amen. If you need $18.75, don't you think God can count to $18.75? Amen? Be specific. If you want somebody to be saved, call out their name. Somebody's back slid, call out their name. Some sin bothering you, name it. Amen. Some politician need to be saved, name him. Amen. Be specific. when you pray. Prayer is the privilege of every child of God. We can go to the throne of grace 24-7 and we're welcome and it's a blood-bought privilege. We can do what nobody in the Old Testament can do. We can go into the presence of God by virtue of the blood of Jesus with no human mediator No priest except Jesus. Let us come boldly, not with presumption, but confidence to the throne of grace. Amen. But we'd rather worry about it instead of pray about it most of the time. It's a sin of omission not to pray. You say, I don't pray much. Well, that's as bad as cussing. That's as bad as lying. One's a sin of commission, other's a sin of omission. They're both sins. That's right. To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it's a sin. James 4, sin of omission. When you know to do something, you don't do it. So don't be prayerless. How can you read the Bible and not want to pray? I mean, it commands you to pray, invites you to pray, gives you all these prayer checks. Call unto me, I'll answer thee. All things whatsoever, you would have Matthew 21, 22, asking prayer. If you ask anything in my name, John 14, 14. That's like a check. Endorse it. Personalize it. Take it to the bank. Let God cash it for you. Amen. You've heard of the lady Hatton. She got a check in the mail and she just pinned it to the wall. It didn't do her any good. Folks, the prayer promises in the Bible, God meant for you to look at that and say, Lord, you're talking to me. And go to God's bank and say, Lord, you said you'd provide all my needs. Lord, I'm trusting you. I need you to endorse this check for me right now. Amen. Lord, you said, you promised in the Bible that I could do all things through Christ. Lord, by faith I'm endorsing that and help me to live the Christian life and be what I need to be. That honors God. Faith honors God. God honors faith. Amen. Take God at His word. Is that not what faith is anyway, taking God at His word? Cash your checks. Cash your checks. George Mueller was on a ship and the captain said, I believe you're a man of prayer, aren't you Mr. Mueller? He said, you need to pray that your God changes the direction of the wind or else we're gonna have a catastrophe. We're headed toward the rocks. George Mueller went to his little cabin. That man had prayed in all those millions of dollars to support those orphans. And he talked to God and said, Lord, show this captain you're real. Show everybody on this boat you're real. You're the God of the storm. You can change the direction of the wind. Before he got done praying, there was a knock on the door and the captain said, Mr. Mueller, your God answered your prayer and sent the wind, and now it's blowing another direction. In fact, it's blowing so hard, would you tell your God, not so much wind, right? If you please. God can do that. Sure he can. Give him a chance. Didn't he say, give me a chance? Prove me now. You've heard me say this, Psalm 81 10, at least one time in your life, you ought to pray for something so big, only God could do it and say, Lord, when you do it, I'm going to give you the credit for it. God said, open your mouth wide and I'll fill it. Amen. Pour out your heart like water. Tell him all, pray early, pray much, pray earnestly. It's a sin not to pray. You know, if we'd pray more and grumble less, if we'd pray more and doubt less, if we'd pray more, we'd sin less. Sure we would. Sure we would. Let's stand tonight all over