Stan Parks, who has studied disciple-making movements around the world, makes a striking observation: "I have never seen a disciple-making movement without first seeing a prayer movement. One group reported that the average member spends 2 hours per day in prayer."

Two hours a day! That might sound overwhelming, but here's what I've discovered: extraordinary prayer isn't about dramatic spiritual experiences or perfect technique. It's much simpler than that.

I was once bemoaning to some disciplemakers how hard prayer can be at times. They said something that revolutionized my thinking: "Well, extraordinary prayer is simply our ordinary prayer plus something extra! When that becomes ordinary, we add something else extra. That way we are always growing in prayer!"

Ordinary Prayer + Extra = Extraordinary Prayer

This was revolutionary to me. If I want to have an extraordinary prayer life, I just have to keep adding something extra. When that new thing becomes ordinary again—add something extra again! Gather enough people around me doing the same thing and you have yourself an extraordinary prayer movement!

E.M. Bounds captures the heart of this beautifully: "Prayer is no dreary performance - dead and death dealing. But it is God's enabling act for man. Living and life giving, joy and joy giving. Prayer is the contact of a living soul with God. In prayer God stoops to kiss man, to bless man and to aid man in everything that God can provide and man can need."

Four Ways to Add Something Extra

There are four practical ways we can add something 'extra' to our prayer life:

1. Pray Intentionally

This is about being deliberate with when and how we pray:

Prayer walking: Take your prayers on the road. Walk through your neighborhood, your workplace, or your city while praying for the people and places you encounter.

Prayer clock: I used to set my alarm to go off at 10:38 to remind me of Acts 10:38 - "how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power." For years I prayed for more of God's power this way, and that simple daily reminder transformed my expectation of what God could do through me.

Add prayer to activities you're already doing: Driving, walking the dog, doing household chores—these become opportunities for conversation with God rather than simply the task at hand.

2. Pray Specifically

General prayers often get general results. Specific prayers help us see God's specific answers:

Keep a prayer journal: I once went through a friend's journal at the beginning of a new year with her. Every item she'd prayed for was written down, and the ones answered were crossed off. It was incredible to see God's faithfulness documented in black and white.

Use prayer reminders: Sometimes I set up a task that pops up every day for a period of time to remind me to pray for something specific. Technology can serve our spiritual growth!

The Prayer Calendar: This is the most multipliable tool I've learned. A young man I'd been in training with messaged me to see if there was anything I'd want prayer for. I noticed he did it month after month on the same day of the month—even though I hardly knew him! I asked him why and he said, "Has no-one ever told you about the prayer calendar?"

He then trained me in this simple but powerful tool: Take a blank 30-day calendar and alongside it write down the names of 15 Christians you want to become disciplemakers and 15 not-yet Christians that you want to become followers of Jesus. On the odd days write the name of a Christian—on the even days write a non-Christian. Then on that day, message them and ask them if you can pray for them. If that would feel odd—just ask them how they're doing - and then pray for them.

I've since trained many other people to use the prayer calendar—it's such a simple, multipliable tool!

3. Pray Through Scripture

Scripture transforms our prayers from human wishful thinking to divine conversation:

Truths: Pray through the character of God revealed in Scripture. When you read "God is faithful," pray that faithfulness over the people you're discipling.

Promises: Take God's promises and pray them specifically over your people of peace. "Lord, You promise to draw all people to Yourself—draw [name] to You today."

Guidance: Let Scripture guide your prayers for wisdom in discipleship situations. When you're unsure how to help someone, pray through passages about Jesus' methods.

Poetry: The Psalms become your prayer book. David's cries for breakthrough, his celebrations of God's faithfulness—these become your words when you can't find your own.

Sign up for daily devotion emails: Let someone else's study of Scripture fuel your prayers. When you read their insights, turn them into prayers for your people of peace.

4. Pray With Friends

There's power in agreement that multiplies our individual prayers:

Spontaneously: When someone shares a struggle or celebrates a victory, stop and pray with them right then. Don't just say "I'll pray for you"—pray with them in the moment.

Planned prayer gatherings: There's nothing more powerful than gathering with 3-4 others to pray for disciplemaking to keep you inspired and motivated. I pray weekly with a few others—we spend 15 minutes telling stories of disciplemaking (successes and challenges) and 15 minutes praying. It's amazing how this simple rhythm keeps the fire burning and the vision clear.

Building Your Prayer Movement

Here's the beautiful thing about adding these "extras" to your prayer life: they're contagious. When people see you praying intentionally and specifically, when they experience being prayed for regularly, when they see you praying through Scripture and with others, they want what you have.

Start with yourself. Choose one "extra" from the four areas above and commit to it for 30 days. Maybe it's setting a prayer alarm, maybe it's starting a prayer journal, maybe it's creating your first prayer calendar, maybe it's finding a prayer partner. Don't try to do everything at once—just add one extra element to your ordinary prayer.

When that becomes ordinary, add something else extra. Before you know it, you'll have developed an extraordinary prayer life that naturally overflows into the lives of others.

Remember: every disciple-making movement begins with a prayer movement. Every multiplication miracle starts with someone who learned to pray beyond the ordinary.

What's your next step?