Sabeel Wave of Prayer: Week of July 28, 2025
Last week, the Israeli Knesset overwhelmingly approved of a symbolic motion calling for the annexation of the West Bank. While the West Bank is already de-facto annexed and the motion has no legal implication, the motion indicates wide support in Israel for erasing the Palestinian people and indicates the acceleration of Israel’s complete takeover of Palestinian territory amidst its genocide in Gaza.
God of the Oppressed, we lift our hearts in sorrow and righteous anger as power is used to dispossess and erase. Strengthen those who refuse to be silenced, whose very existence is an act of resistance. In the face of deep injustice, may we not look away. May the strength of the Holy Spirit help move our prayers into action and solidarity.
Lord in your mercy…hear our prayer
100,000 Palestinian children under the age of two – including 40,000 infants under the age of one- are in danger due to the engineered absence of infant formula and nutritional supplements.
Holy God, like the Psalmist, we cry out day and night, our souls full of trouble and despair. Our prayers feel like whispers into a void, our voices hoarse from pleading. You feel distant, and the silence is unbearable. Yet even in this silence, do not let the people of Gaza go. Be near to those in Gaza whose bodies are fading from hunger, whose children waste away without milk, whose hearts break daily under the weight of survival. We pray for an end to starvation and genocide.
Lord in your mercy…hear our prayer
Western leaders, who many remained silent during Israel’s indiscriminate bombing of Gaza over the past two years and were complicit in supplying arms and criminalizing protest, are now issuing empty statements calling for aid drops, weak appeals for a two-state solution, and no meaningful action. We fear that many of these leaders are trying to cover up their complicity with gestures that will only return us to a violent and unjust status quo, rather than working towards a just peace and future for all.
God of the Oppressed, the powerful now speak of peace, but their hands are still stained with the violence they enabled. Yet we remember the song of Mary: you scatter the proud, cast down the mighty, and lift up the lowly. You fill the hungry and send the rich away empty. Let it be so in Gaza. Stir in us the courage to reject false peace and collectively demand a future rooted in truth, dignity, and liberation.
Lord in your mercy… hear our prayer
Approximately 17 families, numbering some 140 individuals, are at risk of losing their homes this week in As-Sawaneh, a neighborhood near the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem. Among the former residents of the building was Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and a prominent religious figure, who is a frequent target of political persecution.
God of the uprooted, we cry out for those facing the threat of erasure. Strengthen the community to resist despair, and strengthen all of us to resist the systems that make dispossession a policy. Let your justice take root in the soil of the land and in the hearts of those who refuse to look away.
Lord in your mercy…hear our prayer
Civilians onboard the Handala, a ship from Gaza Freedom Flotilla which was sailing with food and baby supplies to Gaza, was attacked and abducted by the Israeli military while it was en route to Gaza. Last month, a previous ship called the Madleen was also illegally intercepted, and participants including Greta Thunberg were detained in Israel. Participants on the current voyage, which include renowned activists, parliamentarians, and doctors, previously announced a hunger strike if the Israeli military illegally intercepts and abducts the crew.
Holy God, in times of despair, we are reminded of your presence through the bravery of those who hold onto humanity. We pray for the safety and return of all those who participated in the voyage. May we honor their call to concentrate our attention on Gaza and to escalate our solidarity in ways that transform and liberate.
Lord in your mercy…hear our prayer
We join the World Council of Churches in their prayers for the people of Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Rwanda.
Lord in your mercy…hear our prayer