Every Hour I Need Thee

As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God!

The moment I wake up, my mind floods with thoughts. My chest tightens with concerns about the day ahead, plans for what needs to be done, and lingering to-dos left from yesterday’s list. I’m a recovering perfectionist, still learning how to loosen my white-knuckled grip on the plans I make and hand them to the Lord. My worries try to convince me I am self-sufficient and capable of holding the world together, but they actually reveal that I am incredibly needy.

Hymn writer Annie Sherwood Hawks was a wife and mother to three young children in the late 1800s. With a busy family and home life, Annie was regularly reminded of her need for God’s help. Instead of relying on systems, life hacks, and perfectly planned schedules, she relied on the presence of the Lord to fuel her days and guide her steps.

One day, as she was going about her tasks, she became utterly “filled with the sense of nearness to the Master” and wondered “how one could live without Him.”^a She penned these lines in response:

I need thee every hour,

most gracious Lord;

no tender voice like thine

can peace afford.

I need thee, O I need thee;

every hour I need thee;

O bless me now, my Savior,

I come to thee.

In the middle of her ordinary day, God lifted the veil from her eyes, and she was overcome with her great need for him. This pivotal moment sparked a worship service in her heart that reverberates throughout churches centuries later.

When my mind is bombarded with the needs and demands around me or when my heart looks at the tasks before me with disdain, her lyrics echo in my ears. God beckons me to pray, plead, and sing, “I need thee, O I need thee; every hour I need thee.”

It is a sheer gift when God opens our eyes to our neediness. When we live as if we hold the world together, we miss the joy of knowing the one who actually does. The truth is, we need God every hour, every minute, every millisecond.

We need him to open our eyes to behold his grace when all is going well, and we need him to hold us together when everything is falling apart. We need him to keep us levelheaded when our dreams are fulfilled, and we need him to sustain us when our worst nightmare comes true.

Blessed is the woman who recognizes her desperate need for God. She will scrub dishes, run errands, complete her projects, and do the one-millionth load of laundry with a keen awareness that God is with her, and her heart will be filled with joy.

Word before World It is a good thing to be needy for God.

Grow in Grace The next time you feel overwhelmed, sing this simple prayer of surrender: “I need thee every hour.”