“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.
I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together. Psalm 34:1-3 I wonder how many of us Read more
And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you; for this is My blood of the New Covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Matthew 26:27-28 And He took a Read more
Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of Christ Jesus for you. I Thessalonians 5:18 With our thoughts turning to the feast of Thanksgiving this week, I wanted to send out a reflection I wrote a couple of years ago, which is now part of my Read more
Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly sanctuary. For a tent was prepared, the outer one, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence; it is called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain stood a tent called the Read more
The Lord said this parable: “The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully; and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and there Read more
But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and made us sit with Him in Read more
The righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite, but the belly of the wicked suffers want. Proverbs 13:25 Everyone knows at least one person who never seems to be satisfied, who is always wanting more of something. I think in today’s world, we are being conditioned to want more and Read more
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:16 Every year, it seems, new “jobs” are created that didn’t exist in the past. I put “jobs” in quotes because some of these new Read more
As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and He said to him, “Follow Me.” And he rose and followed Him. And as He sat at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Read more
For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you will be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” Isaiah 30:15 November 15 marks the beginning of the Nativity Fast, or Advent, in the Orthodox Church. The rest of the Christian Read more
For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are Read more
And behold, a lawyer stood up to put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, Read more