“I was a little bit nervous… I really hope the original writer likes what I did… and so I just kind of sat nervously by the phone for about a week or so. And when I finally got that answer that it was approved—oh my goodness—I had so much joy.”

Tori Harper lives, breathes, and, if you ask her, prays worship songs into existence.

“There was this random extra closet in the hallway of our house,” she remembers. “And I just knew that that was my place to get away with the Lord.” It became her literal prayer closet—walls covered with Scripture taped up with washi tape, a CD player softly playing worship music 24-7 to sanctify the space. “It talks about in Scripture going into your secret place. And that’s where you pray and get alone with the Lord.”

Years later, that hidden place still echoes in her music. With streaming hits like “After Dark” and “Doxology” crossing 10 million plays and tracks like “Joy” and “Seasons” making radio waves, Harper has quietly become one of the most streamed and spiritually grounded young voices in Christian music. Her collaborations range from Meredith Andrews to Sanctus Real, and her heart remains the same: “I hope to spread the hope and truth of Jesus through sharing my story and the things God shows me.”

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But it’s her latest song, I Look to the Hills (I Love You Lord), that may be the most intimate yet. Not only does it bear Harper’s signature sincerity and vulnerability, it also makes history as the first-ever officially approved interpolation of the classic worship song “I Love You, Lord.”

“For me as a songwriter, honestly, I just feel really honored,” Harper says. “That song is such a beautiful and beloved classic song that means a lot to me. And I know it means a lot to a lot of other people as well. So, to be allowed to add some of my own personal lyrics to that song is just such an honor.”

She didn’t take it lightly. “I wasn’t sure. I was a little bit nervous,” she admits. “I really hope the original writer likes what I did, and I hope that they feel like it honors what they wrote.” After a nerve-wracking week waiting for approval, the call came. “When I finally got that answer that it was approved—oh my goodness. Like, I had so much joy. I just felt, like I said, just so honored.”

On the other end of that waiting was Laurie Klein, who penned I Love You, Lord nearly five decades ago in her own moment of raw faith. “Long-ago, during an intense spiritual wilderness, a song arrived,” Laurie shares. “Simple. Utterly private. A small valentine in a bruised and bruising world. Later, a gently corrective plumb line by which to shape a life.”

Laurie’s words for Tori came not just as approval, but as a blessing spanning generations: “It still surprises and heartens me. Tori’s words realign me with my twenty-something heart. Perhaps those who endure recognize one another, a kinship of praise and ache. Something about the elemental ways that waiting on God hones the soul. Yet how slowly we learn to name the trivial, seek the essential. Eugene Peterson writes ‘Become what you believe’ (Matthew 9, The Message).”

For Tori, the song wasn’t just a creative idea—it was a prayer birthed from years of personal experience, particularly in seasons of darkness.

“I was going through just some really dark times around when I was graduating high school,” Harper shares. “I felt really alone. I was homeschooled, so I didn’t have a lot of friends. And the friends I did have were very distant at the time. I was just super heartbroken and to the point where I started failing my final class.”

That season nearly led her away from her faith. “I got mad, I got angry at the Lord,” she says. “And I said, do you see me? Do you see what I’m going through right now? Do you care?”

She almost didn’t go to church that weekend. She had already started planning a break from it all. But during that Sunday morning worship set, something shifted.

“As I was standing there in worship, the person standing next to me—who I didn’t really know that well at the time—she turned to me and she looked me in the eye, and she said, ‘I just want you to know, I feel like the Lord said that he sees you.’”

Tori broke down.

“That was exactly what I had asked the Lord,” she recalls. “And she couldn’t have known that. It just goes beyond that simple statement. Because when she said that, I felt the presence of God and I knew, I knew in my heart, in my soul, that what she said was true. That the Lord saw me and he cared. And he cared enough to let me know.”

That moment changed the trajectory of her life—and it remains the heartbeat of her music.

“For a lot of my music, my mission has just been to let other people know that God sees them and that he cares, and that they’re not alone,” she says. “Now more than ever, I feel like my songs are a little bit more directed straight to the Lord, rather than just people. But my mission is still the same: Just that people would know that they are loved and seen and not abandoned by God.”

So, when I Love You, Lord kept returning to her spirit—especially the line from her childhood, “I love you, Lord, and I lift my voice”—she leaned into it.

“I found myself in quiet moments just singing it over and over again because it really was my prayer,” she says. “And I couldn’t help but sing it.”

Laurie saw her younger self reflected in that echo. “Sound-wise, the bookending simplicity of voice and guitar harks back to a first-time, mid ‘70s mom with a few quiet moments, a guitar, and a yearning to pray always—a burning more ardent today. Your words embody for all who will listen (and sing them!) the eventual cry of every heart learning to love. And you usher us in through our senses: vision, touch, taste, sound, and scent. How I need these lines: ‘\[Lord] You won’t let me slip, won’t let me fall. The hands that hold the heavens hold my heart.’ Thank you. And may God hold yours as you step into what comes next.”

The Lord brought that refrain back to Tori, not just for nostalgia, but for healing and growth. “Something you learn in your childhood that maybe you didn’t even really think that much about when you learned it… the Lord just brings it back up again when you get older to teach you more and to grow your faith. And I feel like this song was one of those things.”

For Tori Harper, that little closet may be gone, but the sacred rhythm of prayer, worship, and raw honesty hasn’t gone anywhere. It’s in every note she sings—and it’s unmistakably present in I Look to the Hills.

You can stream “I Look to the Hills” and Tori’s full discography now on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and all major platforms. Follow her journey on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube at @ToriHarperMusic.

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