Every Hour I Need Thee

August 8, 2012

It has been a rough week or so. It seems my children have forgotten everything we’ve been working so hard to teach them. Fighting, whining, crying, screaming, bullying, not listening, lying, disobeying, and the list goes on. I just couldn’t figure out what was happening. We have troubles here and there with each of the areas listed above; God knows my children are not angels. But all of them, every day, for days on end?!?

Our trip to the creamery for our weekly milk run put the final nail in the coffin so to speak. It was a disastrous trip that ended with me taking all three children to the van, buckling them in, and locking the doors so I could go in and finish purchasing the milk. Normally, we get these really tasty raspberry fig bars as a treat but that certainly did not happen this trip. I returned to van two minutes later and we were on our way home. An annoyed lecture took up a portion of the 20 minute trip home, and silence took up the other portion. The question I still had to answer was, Why? I knew we had been really busy lately and Daddy hasn’t been home much, but we have gone through moments like this before and did not have this level of…whatever this was. So what changed?

Today I was determined to get us back on track. The morning did not start off as usual but by 8:30 am I had us back on our normal daily routine. When lunch time rolled around and we did not have any nastiness I knew it had to have something to do with our routine. What changed in our routine over the past couple of weeks that could have caused such a breakdown in civility? Prayer and devotions! For the past couple of weeks I have been neglecting our daily devotion and prayer time for the sake of moving on to the next thing on our busy schedules. And we were finally paying the price.

Lessoned learned? I hope so!

PRA'YER, n. In a general sense, the act of asking for a favor, and particularly with earnestness.

1. In worship, a solemn address to the Supreme Being, consisting of adoration, or an expression of our sense of God's glorious perfections, confession of our sins, supplication for mercy and forgiveness, intercession for blessings on others, and thanksgiving, or an expression of gratitude to God for his mercies and benefits. A prayer however may consist of a single petition, and it may be extemporaneous, written or printed.

2. A formula of church service, or of worship, public or private.

3. Practice of supplication.

As he is famed for mildness, peace and prayer.

4. That part of a memorial or petition to a public body, which specifies the request or thing desired to be done or granted, as distinct from the recital of facts or reasons for the grant. We say, the prayer of the petition is that the petitioner may be discharged from arrest.

I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord; No tender voice like Thine can peace afford. I need Thee every hour, stay Thou nearby; Temptations lose their pow’r when Thou art nigh. I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain; Come quickly and abide, or life is vain. I need Thee every hour; teach me Thy will; And Thy rich promises in me fulfill. I need Thee every hour, most Holy One; Oh, make me Thine indeed, Thou blessed Son.

I need Thee, oh, I need Thee; Every hour I need Thee; Oh, bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee.