Anytime, Anywhere
#1012 Hymns—For Home and ChurchLyrics
The Story Behind “Anytime, Anywhere”
Ten lines written by a young mother of three — the shortest song Angie Killian ever wrote, and the one the hymnbook chose.
Songs Born on Sleepless Nights
Angie Killian started writing gospel songs for children in 2016, after the birth of her daughter and through a season of postpartum depression, when a melody came to her during a sleepless night and she resolved to write music that would teach her children about Jesus. Her YouTube Primary songs — most famously 'My Own Sacred Grove' — went on to reach millions of families worldwide.
In 2019, raising children ages two, four, and six, she read a line in a Primary booklet: 'I can pray to Heavenly Father anytime, anywhere.' That sentence became a song — the shortest she has ever written. Ten lines. She calls it the 'nursery version' of her best-known song.
Two Verses, Two Directions
The song's design carries its doctrine: verse one is about talking to God, and verse two is about listening — because, as Killian puts it, prayer is two-way. 'If we only ever push send and never read the replies, that's not communication.'
She submitted it to the Church's open hymnbook call in July 2019 with low expectations, assuming her longer submissions had better chances. In the summer of 2023, the Church called about this one.
Small but Mighty
'Anytime, Anywhere' was released on September 12, 2024, as hymn #1012, in the same batch as 'Amazing Grace' — a ten-line nursery song beside a 250-year-old classic, which is rather the point of the new hymnbook.
'The words are tiny but truthful,' Killian says, 'the message is small but mighty.' Her prayer for the song: 'that this beautiful truth will be planted in the hearts of children everywhere.'
Did You Know?
- At ten lines, it's the shortest song Angie Killian has ever written — she calls it the 'nursery version' of 'My Own Sacred Grove.'
- The lyric began as a sentence in a Primary booklet: 'I can pray to Heavenly Father anytime, anywhere.'
- Killian submitted it with low expectations — she thought her longer songs were more likely to be chosen.
- Verse one is about talking to God; verse two is about listening — because prayer is two-way.
- Killian began writing children's gospel songs during sleepless nights with a new baby, through postpartum depression.
Scripture Connections
- Alma 33:4–11 — Zenos was heard in the wilderness, the field, the house, and the closet — 'anytime, anywhere,' in Book of Mormon form.
- 2 Nephi 32:5 — The Holy Ghost 'will show unto you all things what ye should do' — the listening half of prayer.
- Moroni 10:4–5 — Ask with real intent — and the answer comes 'by the power of the Holy Ghost.'
Talk About It
Questions to spark a conversation with your family or Primary class:
- The song has only ten lines. Why do you think small, simple truths can be the most powerful?
- When you pray, do you leave quiet time to listen? What might you hear if you did?
- Angie Killian wrote songs during hard, sleepless nights. How can creating something help when life is heavy?
- Where is somewhere surprising you could pray this week — anytime, anywhere?
Teaching Resources
Categories
Attribution
Music by: Angie Killian, 2019
Text by: Angie Killian, 2019
Audio files from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints