Sabeel Wave of Prayer: Week of April 28, 2025

Canadian Friends of Sabeel invites the public to a special Solidarity Evening & Art Auction on Saturday, May 3 at 7:00 p.m. ET via Zoom. The evening will feature prayer, poetry, music by Palestinian Canadian musician Samia Odeh, and an online auction of over 20 art pieces, including Palestinian embroidery, ceramics, and artwork from Canadian allies. Funds raised will support CFOS’s work amplifying Palestinian voices for justice and peace. Registration and auction details are available online at CFOS’s website. 

God of justice and compassion, we lift this Solidarity Evening and Art Auction as a gathering of hearts committed to peace and dignity. Bless the creativity offered as a testament to resilience, hope, and the longing for justice. We pray for the people of Palestine, that their voices may be heard and their stories honored. May this event and the work of Canadian Friends of Sabeel deepen our solidarity and advocacy. In our grief and in our hope, may we be moved to act with your courage, humility, and unwavering love.

Lord in your mercy…hear our prayer

April 24th was the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. On April 24, 1915, the Ottoman Empire began its systematic genocide of the Armenian people. Today, the Armenian people still face injustices and dispossession, including the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh/ Nagorno-Karabakh by the Azerbaijan government and land encroachment of the Armenian Quarter in Jerusalem by Israeli settlers. 

Divine Creator, you are the God who remembers your people throughout generations (Psalm 105:8), even as the world turns away from the oppressed. We lift up the Armenian people, who have endured unimaginable suffering, and we lament the injustices they still face today. Strengthen those who stand for truth and dignity, and stir the hearts of the world to stand against oppression in every form. May the memory of those who perished call us to defend the living, and may your justice roll down like water for all peoples.

Lord in your mercy…hear our prayer

April 24 marked Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, a time when people in Israel and around the world honor the sacred memory of the six million Jews, along with millions of Roma and Sinti, people of Slavic and Polish descent, persons with disabilities, Soviet prisoners of war, Jehovah’s Witnesses, those persecuted for their sexual orientation, and countless other innocent victims who were brutally murdered by the Nazi regime and its allies. 

God of compassion and justice,  we lift up the families of all Holocaust survivors.We honor their resilience and pray for their continued healing. We ask for hearts around the world to be awakened:  that no injustice, no hatred, and no call to genocide will ever be tolerated again.  May we stand together against the evils of antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism, and the dehumanization of Palestinians or any people. Strengthen us to be a people who remember, who resist hatred, and who build a world rooted in dignity, compassion, and peace for all.
Lord in your mercy…hear our prayer

Figures released from the Jerusalem Governorate showed that 13,064 radical Israeli extremists forced their way to the mosque in the first quarter of 2025. In addition, governments and international groups have raised alarms of renewed calls by Israeli organizations to attack and demolish the mosque and construct a temple in its place.   

Holy God, in this time of heightened tension, we ask for your presence over our Muslim siblings who seek to worship in peace. We mourn the repeated violations of this holy place and the disregard for its sanctity. We pray for the preservation of the historical and legal status quo, which safeguards the Muslim administration and custodianship of Al Aqsa, as recognized under international law. Grant wisdom and strength to those who uphold justice, courage to leaders to act with compassion and integrity, and resolve to all who stand for dignity, religious freedom, and peace. May your spirit of protection surround every sacred space, and may all people be free to worship without fear, obstruction, or oppression. 

Lord, in your mercy… hear our prayer.

Amid ongoing massacres and bombardments in Gaza, the director of Al-Aqsa Hospital warned that Gaza has entered the fifth and most severe stage of malnutrition, according to World Health Organization standards, as a result of the Israeli siege.  

God of Mercy, we come before you in grief and outrage. In their hunger, their fear, and their relentless suffering, we ask you to be near the people of Gaza and to answer their cries for freedom, safety, and daily bread. We repent for the ways so many of us living in excessive abundance have turned away from their pain; nourish us spiritually, O Lord, that the world might be awakened from its complacency, stirred to true solidarity, and moved to seek justice and peace. Grant daily bread not only to the hungry but also to the powerful, that their hearts may be fed with compassion and courage to act. 

Lord in your mercy…hear our prayer

Last week, during Earth Day, Sabeel hosted a Kumi Now session focused on food sovereignty and the political economy of agricultural resistance with Fathi Nimer from Al Shabaka. The recording can be accessed on Kumi’s YouTube channel here. 

God who provides, we thank you for the gift of the earth, for the soil that nourishes, the crops that sustain, and the hands that tend to the land. We repent for our failure to care for your creation as we should, and for the systems of power that exploit the land and its people for profit and greed. Holy Spirit, help us to restore dignity to the earth by taking us out of our comfort and complicity in these systems. May we work for a world where food sovereignty, sustainability, and fairness are accessible to all. 

Lord in your mercy…hear our prayer

At least three Palestinians, including two children, were killed last week by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank. The fatalities bring the total number of children killed by Israeli troops in the West Bank to 192 since October 7th 2023. 

Holy God, we grieve for all the lives lost in the land we call holy. We pray especially for the children, whose lives are often cut short by violence. As we mourn the deaths, we ask for your comfort and healing for those who are left to carry the pain. Holy Spirit, help us to be like the persistent widow (Luke 18:1-8), never stopping to call out injustice wherever it takes root. May we not grow weary in our prayers but rather, let our relentless pursuit of justice mirror your unyielding love for the poor, the marginalized, and the oppressed of this earth. 

Lord in your mercy…hear our prayer

We join the World Council of Churches in their prayers for Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia.

Lord in your mercy…hear our prayers

Holy God, we grieve for all the lives lost in the land we call holy. We pray especially for the children, whose lives are often cut short by violence. As we mourn the deaths, we ask for your comfort and healing for those who are left to carry the pain. Holy Spirit, help us to be like the persistent widow (Luke 18:1-8), never stopping to call out injustice wherever it takes root. May we not grow weary in our prayers but rather, let our relentless pursuit of justice mirror your unyielding love for the poor, the marginalized, and the oppressed of this earth. 

Lord in your mercy…hear our prayer