Sabeel Wave of Prayer: Week of July 7, 2025
Last week, the British Medical Association cut ties with the Israeli Medical Association and expressed that it will work to get the Israeli Medical Association removed from international forums over Israel’s crimes against the Gaza health system and its medical staff. The BMA also urged the UK government to back international courts in holding war criminals accountable, including Israeli doctors involved in the torture of Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
God of justice, we thank you for the courage of those who speak out against oppression. We especially pray for the families of all healthcare workers slain in Gaza while serving others, and we ask your Spirit to be present with those still serving amidst destruction and violence. May the examples of the healthcare workers serving illuminate for us what it means to be instruments of your love and compassion.
Lord in your mercy…hear our prayer
Last week, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese released a report titled “From economy of occupation to economy of genocide,” which names more than 60 companies who are sustaining Israeli expansion on occupied land and enabling the surveillance and killing of Palestinians. The report could potentially be used by prosecutors looking to hold companies accountable as well as for consumers around the world, looking to bring commercial pressure on companies implicated.
Holy God, the gospel warns us that “for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains” (1 Timothy 6:10). With this report, help empower us to resist the idols of greed and empire and build a new world in their place.
Lord in your mercy…hear our prayer
Last week, at least 50 Palestinian families from the Arab Mleihat Bedouin community near Jericho had to flee their homes, following repeated assaults and harassment from Israeli settlers under the protection of Israeli forces. Before the forced displacement, the community was home to 85 families, numbering about 500 people. Many families were forced to flee to the Aqbat Jabr refugee camp after being threatened at gunpoint.
God of the uprooted, we decry the many chapters of this ongoing Nakba. We pray for the Mleihat Bedouin community and all who have been stripped from their homes. Shelter them in their exile, give them strength, and hold those who harm accountable. Redeem what has been taken, and by Your Spirit, transform our deepest despair and sorrow into steadfastness against relentless occupation.
Lord in your mercy…hear our prayer
News of a 60-day truce proposal backed by the US is now filling many in Gaza with caution, fear, and hope. The proposal would see the release of 10 live Israeli prisoners held in Gaza and 18 deceased, in exchange for Israel allowing aid into the enclave and stopping offensive military operations.
Holy God, we lift our voices in prayer as talk of a ceasefire stirs both hope and deep weariness in Gaza and among the families of the prisoners. We know that a temporary pause is not peace, and a ceasefire alone does not bring justice. Lord, grant protection to those who wait in the shadows of war and stir the hearts of those in power who hold life in the balance. We pray for a real and permanent end to this genocide, violence and for justice to come to the oppressed and the weary.
Lord in your mercy…hear our prayer
We join the World Council of Churches in their prayers for the people of Sudan, South Sudan, and Uganda.
Lord in your mercy…hear our prayer