“The Prayer Team” is a daily devotion written by Fr. Stavros N. Akrotirianakis, written every day since February 2015. Fr. Stavros is the Parish Priest at St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church in Tampa, Florida. It began in February 2015 as an opportunity to write more on the subject of prayer and now has branched into other subjects.
As he passed by, Jesus saw a man blind from his birth. And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be Read more…
In those days, as we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by soothsaying. She followed Paul and us, crying, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim Read more…
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 Christ is Risen! I’ve received several emails about a previous reflection regarding Christ dying on the cross to pay our debt for our sins. I want to Read more…
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber; but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens; the sheep Read more…
Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense: “Thus I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than Read more…
And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the Council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate, and asked for the body of Read more…
So He came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and so Jesus, wearied as He was with His journey, sat down beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. There came a woman of Read more…
Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to none except Jews. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Greeks also, Read more…
Pilate entered the praetorium again and called Jesus, and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about Me?” Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief Read more…
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. John 1:14 Christ is Risen! May 15 marks 27 years since my ordination to the Holy Priesthood of the Orthodox Church. As Read more…
About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught. The Jews marveled at it, saying, “How is it that this man has learning] when he has never studied?” So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me; if any man’s will is to do Read more…
But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working still, and I am working.” This was why the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath but also called God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly Read more…