“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. On Monday through Friday, Fr. Stavros writes various topics (recent units have included “Go-To Verses from Scripture”, “The Ten Commandments”, and “Building Authentic Relatoinships”), each beginning with scripture and ending with a prayer. On Saturdays and Sundays, he writes reflections on the Sunday Epistles (Saturday) and the Gospels (Sunday). Each devotion includes a verse from scripture, a commentary from Fr. Stavros, and a short prayer that he writes to match the topic.
Fear and Love Cannot Coexist SUNDAY EPISTLES & GOSPELS SATURDAY OF THE FIRST WEEK Falling Asleep of St. John the Evangelist and Theologian No man has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that Read more…
CONCLUSION PART XIII: Who is Going to Take the First Step? Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in Read more…
FEAST DAY EPISTLES & GOSPELS Conception of St. John the Baptist Some Historical Background from the Old Testament For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, the Read more…
CONCLUSION PART XII Practical Ways We Can All Make a Difference As Jesus went ashore He saw a great throng; and He had compassion on them, and healed their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This is a lonely place, and the day is Read more…
CONCLUSION PART XI: Swimming Against the Current On the way to Jerusalem, He was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as He entered a village, He was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” Read more…
CONCLUSION: PART X The Encouragement Walk Experiment: The Gift is You So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. And Judas and Silas, who were Read more…
Gospel from Sunday After the Holy Cross Jesus said, “If any man would come after Me, let Him deny Himself and take up His cross and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save Read more…
Dying to the Law & Living for Christ SUNDAY EPISTLES & GOSPELS Saturday After the Holy Cross Brethren, knowing that a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith Read more…
I Wish the Best For You CONCLUSION PART IX May you be blessed by the Lord, Who made heaven and earth! Psalm 115:15 There is nothing wrong with competition. When we compete against other people, it drives us to be better. For instance, if you are running a race against Read more…
Part VIII: Positive In, Positive Out. Negative In, Negative Out. Nothing In, Negative Out. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. Colossians 3:21 One of the most critical points to take away from this study on “The Heart of Encouragement” is what happens when we are indifferent Read more…
CONCLUSION Part VII: It’s Not Goodness, but Godliness We Are Aiming For A ruler asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why to do you call Me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do Read more…
Gospel of the Feast of the Holy Cross When the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no crime in Him.” The Jews answered Him, “We have a law, and Read more…