I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide, or life is vain.
I Need Thee Every Hour
By: Annie S. Hawks, 1836-1911 (1872)
Listen to this beautiful piano version as you read, or watch the video then read. Subscribers and Free Members make certain to enjoy the video log below.
So here we are again, declaring our need of God. It is a good habit to develop and over these six weeks we are working on it. We want to make awareness of our need of God familiar as a well-worn path. We need Him at the extremes of life, and at every moment in between. Let’s tune our hearts.
Every Hour
When we begin to sing the words we know just how true they are. But between those moments it is easy to forget just how much we need God. We get moving along from one thing to the next and sometimes many hours have passed since we last realized let alone practiced how much we need God.
How do you practice your need of God?
I walked through a scenario earlier today when I knew I needed God. It was a little out of my comfort zone and a bit stressful so as I stood there waiting for it to materialize, I lifted a simple prayer to God. “I need you God. Please help me in this moment to speak words that help others realize their need for You.”
It is simple to do, yet often we forget to practice it. Doing so with regularity reframes every moment, let alone every hour. But every hour is a great start.
And we have absolute access so we can approach boldly. We can cry out to Him at any time and all the time. Mercy and grace, who does not need more of those in their life, right?
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16 ESV
Need some help preparing for that time of need? Developing this habit. Set and alarm on your phone for one hour from now, or on the next hour. When it goes off click “repeat” and offer a simple prayer like this. “I need You Lord. Help me fix my eyes on You and trust You in everything for this next hour.” That should get you started developing the habit of acknowledging your need of God in the ordinary moments of life.
This is an important habit to develop because it will prepare you to live the extraordinary moments better. Otherwise the moments of joy or pain may otherwise cause you to either doubt your need of God, or deny He cares. You want to avoid both at all costs. Coming to Him regularly will help.
Joy or Pain
The latter is easier. When we experience pain, our immediate desire is for relief. Whether it is emotional, physical, mental or spiritual, we want to be delivered from it.
The pain should remind us how much we need God, even more than deliverance. Sometimes, maybe even often, God chooses to deliver us through things than from them. The ability to persevere is a gift that serves us well in a myriad of circumstances but is not often at the top of our things to ask for in prayer. James 1:2-4 teaches the value of trials but living through such circumstances is still very difficult.
Are you facing some pain right now? Have you been praying about it? If so, has it been for it to come to an end, or for it to produce something in you? Don’t misunderstand. It is ok to pray for pain to pass, Jesus taught us that in Matthew 26:39. But in the same passage He also taught us to accept God’s will to unfold if it does not.
If you are facing some pain right now, you need God. Cry out to Him. He has a purpose for it and He loves you. Sorrow may last for the night but joy comes in the morning. (Psalms 30:5)
But even more challenging is maintaining your awareness of your need of God in the moments of joy.
Pain prompts us to cry our for relief. Joy dulls our sense of need because it is itself so satisfying.
Pain pushes us to something better. Joy masquerades as “something better”.
Pain makes us feel small. Joy makes us feel great.
I wish I could take you back to your last moment of pure joy. Was your first thought, “This is awesome” or “God You’re awesome”? Huge difference.
Joy may be otherwise defined as delight. It is the emotion evoked by well-being, success or good fortune. Joy is a truly wonderful thing, as long as we always remember the source of it all.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17 ESV
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Romans 12:12 ESV
Jesus, I need You every hour. I need you when pain is overwhelming. I need you when joy is welling up. I need you for every moment and every emotion in between those two extremes. In Jesus name. Amen.
Constant Tuning!
Keep coming back and we will work help you remove the things that may hinder your longing for His return by cultivating an awareness of God’s presence. We will help you tune your heart to live out your worship by providing resources like this to help you acknowledge the greatness of God as you become more Resonant, 7 days a week.
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Video 11.3 Transcript
Welcome to Tuesday Tunings at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s tune our hearts.
I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide, or life is vain.
A week has passed since we last declared our need of God together, but I hope it has not been more than an hour since you last found some ways of expressing that. Three weeks in and three weeks to go through this hymn, ask God again to help you develop this good habit.
So we have come to yet more experiences when our need of Jesus is very revealed, whether we are experiencing joy or pain. Crying our In pain is simpler because we long for relief. But we must learn to confess our need in joy as well, to protect ourselves from conceit. Help us Lord.
We ask God to come and dwell with us. It reflects Jesus teaching about abiding which promises we will bear fruit. We stay connected to Him and we are fruitful. The alternative is pitiful. Ask Jesus to teach you how to practice this.
Without God life tends toward vanity, fruitlessness, and fleeting satisfaction. Solomon in Ecclesiastes 12 instructs us to “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.” Ask God for the awareness of Him which protects our lives and fills them with purpose.
Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has surfaced in your heart, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then we will sing once more.
Sing
Take the awareness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond. Until next time, be Resonant.
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