I Need Thee Every Hour

The story of this hymn

Annie Sherwood Hawks, a Brooklyn homemaker, wrote these lines on a June morning in 1872 in the middle of ordinary housework, filled — she said — with a sudden sense of the nearness of God. Her pastor, Robert Lowry, added the refrain and the tune. Years later, widowed, she wrote that she finally understood her own hymn only when 'the shadow of a great loss' fell over her life — which is why it belongs at funerals.

Where it sits in the service

A hymn for the quiet middle of the service — after a reading or before the message — when the room needs to breathe; it is usually taken softly and unhurried. Its short lines sit neatly in two columns on a printed order of service, with the refrain set once after the first verse.

In the programme, list it in the order of service as “Hymn — I Need Thee Every Hour” with the leader or choir named beside it.

How it is actually sung

Plain, direct and easy to sing, with a short refrain. It suits a service for someone who was dependent on others in their last years, and families often choose it for that reason without being able to articulate why. Five verses is more than most services use — three is common.

Printing the words

Public domain. Print three verses and the refrain; the hymn is repetitive by design and the congregation will not need more.

This is practical guidance rather than legal advice. Reproduction rights vary by territory, by hymnal edition and by the licence your church holds — the church office is the right place to ask, and they answer this question often.