About | Generous Prayer

It Started at a Hackathon

In 2013, the idea for Generous Prayer was born at a hackathon. The first version was built in 48 hours — a scrappy prototype that proved the concept and planted a seed that never went away.

From that moment on, the vision never left. In 2016, an attempt to build a more powerful version started — but the development team kept falling apart. Year after year, the idea persisted. Every year felt like it could be the year.

Twelve Years of Waiting

During those twelve years, plenty of prayer apps launched — many of them good, well-intentioned tools. Guided devotions, reading plans, meditation timers. They served real purposes and helped a lot of people.

But the app I wanted to use didn’t exist. I wanted something focused on the act of prayer itself — hearing someone’s voice as they ask for prayer, being notified the very moment someone is actually praying for you, measuring whether your prayer life is growing. Real, human, authentic connection through prayer.

Something less like a reading app and more like a fitness app for your prayer life — and eventually, for your entire spiritual health. I kept waiting for someone to build it.

For over a decade, God wouldn’t let me forget about it. I kept waiting for someone to build this app. I guess it was always meant to be me.

— Mark Stephan, Founder

Well, this is the year. With advances in technology and a relentless conviction that this needed to exist, Generous Prayer is finally here — built across web, mobile, and more, designed to make prayer a habit that sticks.

Welcome to Generous Prayer. Finally.

The Founder

Mark Stephan is a tech leader, entrepreneur, and above all, a man who loves Jesus and people. He spends a lot of time in prayer — getting to know God, and bringing the needs of those he loves before Him so He can bless them.

That personal practice is the heartbeat of everything Generous Prayer does. This isn’t an app built by a product team chasing a market. It’s built by someone who prays — and wants to help others do the same.

Mark also founded Radical Advocacy, a 501(c)(3) US non-profit dedicated to building radical advocacy for nonprofits and their causes by utilizing technology to its fullest. Generous Prayer is a product of Radical Advocacy.

The Bigger Vision

Generous Prayer is the first product in the Generous ecosystem — a platform designed to help people develop, grow, and encourage others in true generosity: selfless thinking, love, thoughtfulness, and sacrifice for others.

It starts with prayer — because generosity begins in the mind, in the act of lifting someone else’s needs above your own. More is coming to the ecosystem, but this is where it starts.

Our Mission

We believe prayer is one of the most generous things you can do for another person. Taking time to hold someone in your thoughts, to lift their needs, to show up consistently — that’s generosity at its most fundamental level.

Generous Prayer exists to give people the tools, the structure, and the community to make that generosity a daily reality.

Built for Everyone

While Generous Prayer is rooted in Christian faith, it’s designed for anyone who prays. The act of prayer — however you practice it — connects people, builds empathy, and creates communities that care.