Prayer #7: Light for Gaza

This prayer was written by Dr. Sheila Klassen-Wiebe, associate professor of New Testament at Canadian Mennonite University, Winnipeg, Canada. She wrote this prayer for a Mennonite Action-organized Interfaith Prayer Vigil on the banks of the Red River at dusk, September 28, 2025, at a time when a Global Sumud Flotilla was attempting to break Israel’s seige on Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid.

Mennonite Action Prayer Vigil, Winnipeg, MB. September 28, 2025. Photo by Joe Ackerman.

Merciful and compassionate God, hear our prayer.

In the dusk here by the water, we remember our brothers and sisters in Palestine and, especially, in Gaza.
We hold up to you those who live by the water but do not have access to water,
who dwell in the dusk between hope and despair.  
God have mercy on them.

We pray for the children.
Our hearts ache for all those who cannot play because they no longer have energy to run, for those who go to bed terrified by the roar of rockets and blasts of bombs,
whose future and childhood are being stolen from them by forces over which they have no control.
We pray for the children who have lost parents and playmates and siblings,
who are dying of malnutrition and preventable childhood disease,
who cannot go to school or soccer games or birthday parties.  
God, have mercy on them.
Shine your light into the dusk between hope and despair.

We pray for the mothers and fathers, grandparents, aunties, and friends.
Our hearts ache for parents who cannot feed their children,
whose homes have been destroyed, whose livelihoods have been torn from them.
We pray for those who did not choose this suffering and yet have to endure it,
who look for life, food, flowers in the midst of rubble.
We pray for those who yearn for a small plot of land to grow vegetables,
for those who cherish seeds and soil from a place that was once home,
for those who plant olive trees again and again and again.
We pray for those who courageously and stubbornly choose life even when death is all around them.
God, have mercy on them.
Shine your light into the dusk between hope and despair. 

We pray for those who have the power to stop the suffering and bloodshed and, instead, choose violence, death, and destruction.
Soften the hearts of powerful leaders who hold the lives of others so lightly in their hands.
Prod and provoke them to repent, to turn away from cruel policies and actions.
Open the eyes and hearts of men and women on the ground who follow orders but do not see the people they are destroying.
They too are your children but they have forgotten what that means.
God, it feels like asking for a miracle, but throw a pebble into the cogs of the war machine so that for one moment the bombs will stop.
Help one soldier right now see the humanity of the person in front of them and not shoot.
Make a way out of no way, as you did for your people long ago, suffering under oppression. God, have mercy on those who kill and make decisions for death and bring them to justice. 
Shine your light into the dusk between hope and despair.

We pray for the peacemakers and troublemakers who courageously persist in speaking truth to power.
We pray for the Global Sumud Flotilla, that their nonviolent action may bear fruit in justice. Guide and protect them on the way.
We pray for all the international organizations and individuals who do not give up in their efforts to bring aid into Gaza, despite constant blockades.
We pray for those who dare to defy orders and choose instead to listen to your call for justice and peace.
God, have mercy on them.
Shine your light into the dusk between hope and despair.

We pray for the land, which once exulted in sustaining life and now lies charred and desolate.
Give nourishment to the blades of grass and the flowers that persist in pushing up through the cracks, giving glimmers of hope.
We pray for the waters that yearn to flow clean and clear and instead are polluted by your children’s warring madness.
We pray for the animals that suffer collateral damage because of humanity’s sin.
The earth groans under the weight of human wrongs and cries out to you for justice.
God, have mercy on the land and its creatures.
Shine your light into the dusk between hope and despair.

Finally, we pray for ourselves.
Forgive us when we give in to despair, when fear and apathy crowd out courage, when we are knowingly or unknowingly complicit in wrongdoing.
Empower us today and every day to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with you.
Pour your divine Spirit out on us that we may speak boldly against injustice, be creative and daring in our peacemaking, and not lose hope in the struggle for a true and lasting peace in Palestine.
God, have mercy on us.
Shine your light into the dusk between our own hope and despair.

 God of compassion,
We pray that the light and warmth of your love
may seep into the lives of suffering people in Gaza and Palestine,
warm the hearts of those hardened to truth
and ignite the fires of justice in our own lives.

In the name of the Prince of Peace we pray,
Amen.