I Need Thee Every Hour

I Need Thee Every Hour

Managing life can be difficult, especially when you are a mother of three. So much time is required in so many areas of each day. What form does a relationship with God take when you are doing household chores, mothering children, and living for Him all at the same time?

Annie Hawks was a devoted mother and a faithful Christian woman. Her pastor knew she had been published as a poet and offered her a challenge. Dr. Robert Lowry, a well-known hymn writer and composer, told her that if she would write a hymn, he would put it to music.

In 1872, while Annie was going about her daily routine, the realization came to her that she needed God continually—not just occasionally. She took her pen and began to write. In her own words:

“One day, as a young wife and mother at thirty-seven years of age, I was busy with my regular household tasks during a bright June morning. Suddenly, I became so filled with the sense of nearness to the Master that, wondering how one could live without Him—either in joy or pain—these words were ushered into my mind, the thought at once taking full possession of me: ‘I need Thee every hour.’”

She took the completed hymn to her pastor, who composed the music that gives it such beauty and power. The hymn was an immediate success and was soon popularized by Ira Sankey, the most famous gospel singer of his day, who sang it at the National Baptist Sunday School Association Convention that same year.

For more than a century and a half, “I Need Thee Every Hour” has pressed home the believer’s continual need for God. The phrase “I need Thee” appears twenty times throughout the hymn, reinforcing the truth that we need Him—not just on Sundays, and not only in times of distress—but every hour and in every part of our lives.

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 (NASB 1995)

“Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” https://youtu.be/T3wSbLa2uGg?si=LZln0yFx1TJyTNsr

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I Need Thee Every Hour

Verse 1

I need Thee every hour,

Most gracious Lord;

No tender voice like Thy voice

Can peace afford.

Refrain

I need Thee, oh, I need Thee;

Every hour I need Thee.

Oh, bless me now, my Savior—

I come to Thee.

Verse 2

I need Thee every hour;

Stay Thou nearby.

Temptations lose their power

When Thou art nigh.

(Refrain)

Verse 3

I need Thee every hour,

Most Holy One;

Oh, make me Thine indeed,

Thou blessed Son.

(Refrain)