Sabeel Wave of Prayer: Week of June 21, 2016
Wave of Prayer: This prayer ministry enables local and international friends of Sabeel to pray over regional concerns on a weekly basis. Sent to Sabeel’s network of supporters, the prayer is used in services around the world and during Sabeel’s Thursday Communion service; as each community in its respective time zone lifts these concerns in prayer at noon every Thursday, this “wave of prayer” washes over the world.
Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are being deprived of their most basic need – access to water – as the Israeli national water company Mekorot restricted the water supply to villages and towns in the northern West Bank. Palestinian homes have had no running water for more than two weeks. Factories have been shut down, gardens and plant nurseries have been ruined and animals have died of thirst or been sold to farmers outside the affected areas.
Lord, open the heavens and let your mercy rain down upon our fields and mountains in this dry land, as our neighbors have stolen our water and left us thirsty yet we will never despair of your mercy. Lord in your mercy…
Five Palestinian athletes will represent Palestine at the Summer Olympics in Brazil August 5th – August 21st. Palestine has been participating in the Summer Olympics since 1996.
We rejoice that the Palestinian flag will be raised and five Palestinian athletes will participate in the 2016 Summer Olympics; their persistent excellence in the face of significant obstacles to their dreams serves as a model to all young Palestinians. May the games be a safe and joyous time which inspire and unify participants and spectators alike. Lord in your mercy…
On June 20 each year, the world commemorates the strength, courage, and resilience of millions of refugees. World Refugee Day was first marked in 2001. Tens of thousands of people around the world take time to recognize and applaud the contribution of those forced to flee
Compassionate God, our refuge and defense, we remember before you those made refugees for so long in the camps of the West Bank and Gaza, in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, and those dispersed throughout the world. Strengthen the will of the international community to work for their repatriation and compensation, for the sake of the One who was made a refugee, and now lives and reigns forever. Lord have mercy…
The Israeli cabinet voted Sunday in favor of an increase in the budgetary supplement for West Bank settlements due to their “unique security situation.” The addition of $18.6 million joins another ($87.9 million) already allotted to settlements as part of coalition agreements.
God of justice, we pray that instead of preserving the status quo and defending its occupation practices, Israel will set its eyes on peace, abide by international law and its illegal occupation and settlement building on Palestinian land. Lord in your mercy…
We pray alongside the World Council of Churches for the countries of Botswana and Zimbabwe. Lord, in your mercy…