I Need Thee Every Hour

lyrics by annie s. hawks, music by robert lowry

I Need Thee Every Hour Lyrics

 

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.

 

I need Thee every hour, stay Thou nearby;

Temptations lose their power when Thou art nigh.

 

I need Thee, O I need Thee; Every hour I need Thee;

O bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee.

 

I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain;

Come quickly and abide, or life is in vain.

 

I need Thee, O I need Thee; Every hour I need Thee;

O bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee.

 

I need Thee every hour; teach me Thy will;

And Thy rich promises in me fulfill.

 

I need Thee, O I need Thee; Every hour I need Thee;

O bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee.

 

I need Thee every hour, most Holy One;

O make me Thine indeed, Thou bless�d Son.

 

I need Thee, O I need Thee; Every hour I need Thee;

O bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee.

 

 

I Need Thee Every Hour Guitar Chords

 

  D               D7         G        D               

I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord;

   A7                D     Bm  A     E A                  

No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.

  D          Dsus4 D      A7                      D         

I need Thee, O     I need Thee; Every hour I need Thee;

D7 G               D  Bm   A D    A  D                     

O bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee.

 

Scripture References

  • John 15:4,5 - Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

  • Psalm 86:1 - Hear me, Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.

  • Hebrews 4:16 - Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

The Story

 

Annie Sherwood Hawks was born in 1835. From a young age she had a talent for writing poetry. At age 24, she got married and moved to Brooklyn, NY. She and her husband were members of the church in Brooklyn whose pastor happened to be Robert S. Lowry, famed hymn writer who composed many of the hymns we still sing today, including "Nothing But the Blood", "Low in the Grave He Lay", "Shall We Gather at the River", and "We're Marching to Zion".

 

Dr. Lowry saw Annie's talent right away and encouraged her to keep writing. He even issued a challenge to her: "If you'll write the words, I'll write the music"

 

Surely enough, in 1872 at the age of 37, Annie wrote the lyrics to "I Need Thee Every Hour". Toward the end of her like, she would describe the circumstances under which she wrote the hymn:

 

It was a bright June day, and I became so filled with the sense of the nearness of my Master that I began to wonder how anyone could live without Him, in either joy or pain. Suddenly, the words "I need Thee every hour" flashed into my mind and very quickly the thought had full possession of me.

 

Seating myself by the open windows, I caught up my pencil and committed the words to paper--almost as they are today. A few months later Dr. Robert Lowry composed the tune for my hymn, and also added the refrain.

 

For myself, the hymn at its writing was prophetic rather than expressive of my own experiences, for it was wafted out to the world on the wings of love and joy, instead of under the stress of great personal sorrow, with which it has often been assocated.

 

At first I did not understand why the hymn so greatly touched the throbbing heart of humanity. Years later, however, under the shadow of a great loss I came to understand something of the comforting power of the words I had been permitted to give out to others in my hours of sweet serenity and peace.

 

The hymn was first performed in November 1872 at the National Sunday School Convention in Cincinatti, Ohio. It was adopted by the evangelistic team of Dwight L. Moody and Ira D. Sankey, and from there it found worldwide popularity. It was even featured at the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 and has been translated into many languages.

 

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