Briefly, we are going to be meditating together on some of the things that we are already aware of as disciples and disciplers. And the title of what we are looking at is The Catalysts of Effective Discipleship. What are those things that can make our discipleship effective? What are those things that can make our following of Christ Jesus productive and effective. We are going to be looking at a couple of things, and we're going to be reading the Word of God together for a rounded understanding.

 

Now when we are talking about the word catalyst, I believe it's a familiar word, but it has a very simple meaning which I quickly want to show us. The word catalyst actually is an agent. Catalyst is an agent that provokes or speeds significantly, it brings about a change. A catalyst is something that bring about a change. For example, if you add together a number of chemicals, they begin to act as catalysts for each other. So, when we are talking about Catalyst, we are talking about an agent that provokes an action. It provokes a significant change. So, what are those catalysts of effective discipleship? What are those things that can make our discipleship effective? Now we know that the word discipleship actually is a common thing, is a common place. Everybody has heard the word discipleship here and there, but how many people are effective disciples? How many people can actually say yes, in this my discipleship walk or journey, I am effective, or I am doing the right thing. So, we want to look at those catalysts that can make your discipleship effective, and that can bring about the tremendous progress in your discipleship.

 

Now, I want us to begin by looking at the very first one, which is THE HOLY SPIRIT. The very first catalyst of an effective discipleship is the Holy Spirit. Now, when we are talking about the Holy Spirit, we know that the Holy Spirit first and foremost, is the power of God in a disciple. As a matter of fact, Jesus Christ understood the power of the Holy Spirit in discipleship and in the assignments that He committed to His apostles. And the first thing He said to them when He was about departing was that they should tarry. Now, when I was reading that Scripture, I was just thinking about it. How important is the Holy Spirit actually in discipleship that Jesus actually said to His disciples to tarry?

 

Now you begin to wonder what can you possibly learn in three years under Jesus that has to do with discipleship that the apostles did not learn? As a matter of fact, how many years does it take us to earn a degree in the in the university; sometimes three and a half years, sometimes four years. In fact, there are some diploma courses that just in two years, you are done with them. There are some degrees in four years, in five years, you are done with them. So, I was asking myself what exactly is it in discipleship that the followers of Christ Jesus, most especially his 12 disciples, did not learn in three and a half years? Now, despite all their learnings and following of Christ Jesus, when Jesus was about to leave Jesus said to them, tarry! So, this means that there is something about that tarrying that is essential to their effectiveness.

 

Now, sometimes you may have a degree and when you get to the field you may not be effective. But many of us have seen graduates today that are not able to defend their degrees. There are many of them. You know, I remember a time when I went to serve, let me just say this, you know, in passing, I went to serve in Abia state. And I remember when we were doing our orientation, you know, the screening, and all of that at the local government level, a particular lady walked up to me and practically she was asking me the meaning of some of the information on the forms that she was meant to fill, like, what exactly do they mean by the next of kin? What exactly do they mean by this particular thing.

 

So, I was wondering, this is supposed to be a graduate. How come she does not understand at that material time, what a next of kin is? Actually, what I am trying to say is you may have a degree in a particular university or from a particular study, and yet you get to the field and you don't understand what you're supposed to do. Now, Jesus and His disciples were together for three and a half years, I want to believe that everything that they needed to know, in three and a half years Jesus taught them. Jesus taught them self control, Jesus taught them discipline, Jesus taught them how to fast and pray. As a matter of fact, they learned how to pray primarily from Jesus, they came to Jesus, teach us how to pray.

 

But irrespective of all those things that Jesus spoke to them in secret, in the open, when Jesus was about to depart, He said to them, tarry in Jerusalem. Now let's look at Luke chapter 24:49, so that we look at where Jesus actually made that statement, and begin to make his sense of what it means, you know, by receiving the Holy Spirit and being the catalyst of effective discipleship. The Bible says: “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” Now you may be wondering, what does that enduing mean? What exactly do they need the Holy Spirit for? Now, effectiveness in discipleship is not about knowledge alone. Effectiveness in discipleship is not limited to followership. Now, you have followed up until now. But if you're going to be effective, there is a power that you must be endued with. He said, until you are endued with power from on high.

 

Now what exactly was the power that Jesus was talking about? If you go to John chapter 20 and read from 21 to 23, talking about the Holy Spirit as the catalyst for effective discipleship. The Bible says: “So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” ²² And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Now what exactly was the Holy Spirit supposed to do for them? Jesus showed us in Luke 24 that the Holy Spirit was supposed to endue them with power. So, the very first catalyst for effective discipleship is the Holy Spirit. We cannot be effective disciples outside of the Holy Spirit. We cannot disciple effectively outside of the power of the Holy Spirit. Now, you may have read 10 books on discipleship. You may understand certain principles that make discipleship work. But if you don't understand the power behind discipleship, which is the power of the Holy Spirit, you are going to remain ineffective.

 

So, Jesus breathed on them and said receive the Holy Spirit. And in verse 23, it says: “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” So, the very first catalyst for effective discipleship is not knowledge. It is the power of the Holy Spirit. The power of the Holy Spirit makes the knowledge of discipleship that we receive effective. Let's look at the second catalyst. The first one is the Holy Spirit. We have seen that the Bible says Jesus said they should tarry. So, every disciple is expected to tarry, every disciple is expected to depend on the power that come from the Holy Spirit. And we also saw the Bible says Jesus breathed on them. I don't want us to begin to read a lot of scriptures. Because from this point, if we go to the book of Acts of the apostle, we will begin to see how the Holy Spirit came on them, how they receive the Holy Spirit and how they started their mission. But before this particular mission of discipleship could be started, Jesus said that they should tarry and receive the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

Now let's look at the second catalyst. The second catalyst is PRAYER. Now there is no disciple that can be effective outside of prayer. Now if we begin to look at the relationship of Jesus Christ, with His disciples, and by extension with us, we will discover that Jesus actually was the one who started modelling prayer to us. For example, if you read the book of Mark 1:35, the Bible says Jesus will rise up a great while before morning to pray. The Bible says: “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.”

 

Now, if prayer was not important in discipleship and for the assignment of Jesus Christ, Jesus wouldn't give himself to prayer. You know, sometimes we could be tempted, that we are powerful, and we don't need to pray. Jesus could have, you know, though to Himself, well, I am God in the flesh. I am not just, you know, a man, I am a supernatural being. Jesus could decide to say, well, there is no need for me to pray. After all, I know all things. After all, I can command all things. After all, I can do all things. But the Bible showed us in this particular place, that Jesus will rise up in the morning, early in the morning, it says before daylight, and He will depart into a solitary place to pray.

 

So, if prayer is not important in your discipleship, why did Jesus model this kind of prayer life to us? Now, how many of us know that sometimes it's very difficult to wake up in the middle of the night and pray? It is one of the most, you know, difficult things to do most of the time in the flesh, and that is actually the most potent time to actually pray. Jesus will wake up, go into a quiet place, and the Bible says he prayed. And the Bible says in verse 36: And Simon and those who were with Him searched for Him. They were looking for Him while Jesus had already gone to pray. His disciples were looking for Him. ³⁷ When they found Him, they said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You. ³⁸ But He said to them, “Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth.””

 

Every direction that Jesus followed; he got in the place of prayer. Every move that Jesus made, He made in the place of prayer. Do you remember that when Jesus called the first set of His disciples, He was actually coming from the wilderness. He had been under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit. The Bible says he had fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. The power of the Holy Spirit had come to him, he had prayed, he had fasted, and when he stepped out of his, you know, His retreat so to say, he called his first set of disciples. How was Jesus able to understand that these men are the people that I'm looking for, for this assignment? He got direction from the place of prayer. Are we getting something?

 

The Bible says when Jesus had gone to pray, His disciples looked for him, when they saw him, they said, people are looking for you. Jesus didn't reply them by saying, who are the people looking for me? Jesus told them, let's go to the next town. As a disciple, we get direction in the place of prayer. If you are a disciple that is not given to prayer, you are going to be prayerless. In fact, you are not going to be prayerless alone, you are going to be powerless. The Bible says He said to them, let us go to the next towns that I may preach there also because for this purpose, I have come forth.

 

In the place of prayer as disciples, we understand our purpose. In the place of prayer as disciples, we know the assignment that God has committed into our hands. The Bible says, and as he was preaching in their synagogue, throughout all Galilee and casting out demons. So, Jesus prayed, He told His disciples, let's go to the next town. And when he got there, he was casting out demons, he had received so much power in the place of prayer. You can't be an effective disciple, if you don't pray. We need to give ourselves to prayer. Matthew chapter 26:36, Jesus did something in this particular place and I quickly want us to see it, and pay attention to certain things. The Bible says: “Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.”

 

Now, how many of us have actually wondered, there are a few occasions if at all, that Jesus actually prayed with His disciples. I'm not sure there is a recorded place in the Bible where Jesus held the hands of his disciples and they begin to pray. In fact, the closest that they came to him in the place of prayer was this place, and Jesus actually asked them to wait for him while he goes to pray by himself. “And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. ³⁸ Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” Not together with them. He told the three of them, Peter, James, and John; you stay here and watch with me. In other words, while I go to pray over there, you also stay here and pray. And the Bible says, He went a little farther from them, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, oh, my father, even it's possible, let this cup pass from me. It says, Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.

 

So, Jesus was beginning to be distressed by his assignment. And the Bible says he prayed. When discipleship, you know, is getting to a point where... because the assignment of discipling can be overwhelming. Do we get the point? Sometimes you don't even feel like it. Sometimes you just want to disciple yourself alone. And whereas, God has sent us to nations to disciple them. How exactly do we disciple nations if we don't give ourselves to prayer? Jesus showed us. The Bible says he prayed. And when he came back, the Bible says he found his disciples sleeping. Then verse 40-41 says: “Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? ⁴¹ Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.” If you are a disciple and you don't pray, Jesus said you will fall into temptation, you will enter it. That's what it says. It says, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

 

So, what makes us powerful? Prayer. What makes us not to be ruled by the flesh in discipleship? Jesus said we should pray. The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak. There is never a time that the Bible showed us that the flesh is powerful. As a matter of fact, the Bible showed us that the flesh and the spirit they lust against each other, they fight, they are always at loggerheads. One way by which we will not give in to the desire or the longing of the flesh is by praying. A disciple is expected to pray. The Bible says in verse 42: “Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, your will be done.” ⁴³ And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. When He came the third time and He found still sleeping, He said to them; ⁴⁶ Rise, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand.”

 

So, prayer is a very effective weapon for discipleship. If you want to be an effective disciple, you must give yourself to prayer. If you read John chapter 17, from verse five to the end, the Bible showed us Jesus was praying for his disciples. Jesus took almost an entire chapter in John chapter 17 to pray. If prayer was not important, why was Jesus praying for His disciples? So, the catalyst of an effective discipleship is prayer, we must give ourselves to prayer.

 

The third one I want to show us is FAITH. We have looked at the Holy Spirit, we have looked at prayer. The third catalyst is faith. Mark 1:16-20. The Bible says: “And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. ¹⁷ Then Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” I am not sure that they had met Jesus up until this time. So, Jesus said to them, follow me. And I will make you fishers of men. In verse 18, the Bible says: “They immediately left their nets and followed Him.” So, what exactly did those guys see in Jesus? That is faith. You see, faith and discipleship are not the same thing. But they are so important. If you're going to be an effective disciple, you must have faith. Have faith in the one who has called you into discipleship. Have faith in Christ, have faith in God. Faith is what we require to be effective. The Bible says they immediately left their net and followed Him. In fact, they didn't even take permission from their father. Because the Bible showed us that, you know, their father Zebedee was there, they left their father with the net and they followed.

 

If you are going to be an effective follower in discipleship, you must have faith. You must be a man of faith; you must believe in what Christ Jesus came to do. You must believe in the purpose of Christ in the assignment of Christ. And that is why we are following. As a matter of fact, we are not just Christians for being Christian sake. We are a follower of Christ Jesus because of what He did. We believed in His assignment, we believed in His mission, we believed in His purpose, and we chose to follow His path. That is faith. It takes faith to follow Christ. In verse 19: “When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets. ²⁰ And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him.”

 

So sometimes when I read this place, I ask myself, what exactly did Jesus say to them? But the Bible says they didn't just follow, the left their business, their means of livelihood to follow a man that they were probably meeting for the first time. So, what exactly did Jesus say to them, there must be something that they must have seen in Him and they believed, and they followed. And it was in the process of the whole thing that they start discovering that this followership is not easy, but the faith that they had in Him made them to stay. So, faith is very, very important in discipleship.

 

Let me show us the next one. As we begin to tidy things up. The next one is FASTING. Another catalyst for effective discipleship is fasting. Now I was thinking about a particular Scripture and that was what made me to, you know, list this particular point. Why is it important for us to fast? As a disciple, why is it important for us to deny... because fasting is not just saying, well, I deny my belly of food. Fasting is actually holistic. Why is it important for us in this time that we live in to fast as disciples? Now look at this Scripture because it will make us to understand the importance of fasting in discipleship, denying yourself of the cravings in order to be a good follower of Christ Jesus. Look at Matthew chapter 9:14-16. The Bible says: “Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?”

 

So, what exactly is the understanding that we can get from here? When the disciples of Christ Jesus were with Him, they were not fasting, they were busy eating. Recently I was sharing with my wife that Jesus actually took care of his disciples. Because the Bible says in three and a half years, they were just enjoying themselves, which means they were eating, so which means Jesus was taking care of them regularly. When they needed to eat, they ate. Because it says the people came to accuse them before Jesus that your disciples don't fast, how come? How come they eat everything, anywhere we see them, they are eating. Those guys are enjoying. But look at what Jesus said for you to know that fasting in this modern-day discipleship is compulsory.

 

Verse 15 says: And Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. This is the time that Jesus was talking about. Fasting is compulsory for discipleship. While He was with them, they had fun. They were just fine, eating. In fact, Jesus was hungry at some point, they went to buy food. But the time Jesus said the time will come which is now that they will fast, nobody will tell them to abstain from food. Nobody will tell them to abstain from you know, whatever it is that is the distraction. He says they will fast, they will understand how enormous the assignment is.

 

You know that time, it may be almost impossible for them to understand. Sometimes, Jesus will be telling them very soon I will be gone. And Peter will be wondering, where are you going? It is good that we are together now. You know, when Jesus said very soon, I will be taken away and Peter said where; and Jesus said Get behind me Satan for you do not understand, you know. So, they thought it was going to be like that forever. You know, they had access to whatever it is. Jesus' ministry had a pause. So sometimes, they will say “Jesus, today we are eating fried rice and all that...” Just as an example, with plantain. But Jesus said, leave them, a time will come that they will fast. And when that time came, they did fast, nobody told them. Nobody told them, they fast. At some point, the Apostle said, we will give ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word. For that to be effective sometimes requires fasting.

 

For several months, Paul was fasting, he was not eating. The apostles really fasted. And that was the time... He says the time will come, which also include the time that we live in, because that time started from when Jesus was taken away. So, that time extended to this our time, we must fast. And not just only food, we must first anything that is the craving of the flesh. So fasting is essential for our effectiveness in discipleship in this time that we live. Fasting for us is to seek the face of God, to understand the next level, to understand the assignment, the scope, what exactly will God have us do? Fasting bring us to that place where we know the will of the Father, where we know what to do, where we know where we ought to go. There are certain places Jesus says this particular place don't go. This is where I want you to go. It takes consecration in the place of fasting to understand the will of God for our discipleship. So fasting is very important.

 

The last catalyst for effective discipleship is FOLLOWERSHIP. If you are going to be effective in discipleship, you must learn to follow. Discipleship begins from the place of followership. Every one that Jesus discipled, those 12 men and every other person that followed after them; were following a life. Were following a pattern, an example that Jesus laid behind. So, if you have chosen to be a disciple, indeed, you must have asked yourself, Am I truly following? What am I following? Whom am I following? What exactly is the goal of discipleship? Everything is in followership. You see, if we don't define the goal of our discipleship, we will not understand if we're effective or not. So, we must be able to understand the goal of discipleship. How do you know the goal of discipleship? It is in followership? What exactly did Christ want us to follow? Is it the miracles, is it the signs and the wonders? Is it the merriment in discipleship? No, it is His life.

 

Jesus actually wants us to model His life. So, if you are a disciple anywhere you find yourself you must understand, what are you following? Paul said: Follow me as I follow Christ! You must understand what you are following for anyone and everyone coming after you to follow. Luke 9:23-27. Look at what Jesus said. The Bible says: “Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” So, part of following is denial. There are certain things that I don't do right now just because I know there is somebody who is going to say, well, why do you do it? Or what is the motive for doing this? And that's an example of what it means to deny himself.

 

So, Jesus said, if you are going to follow me... because that's what we do in discipleship, we follow. Jesus said “let him deny himself.” So, there is self-denial in discipleship. When you choose to come into discipleship, there are certain things that you must of necessity and compulsorily deny yourself. You must deny yourself of comfort, self-comfort. For three and a half years, the disciples that followed Jesus denied themselves of their comforts. Many of them couldn't go back to their homes. A few that went, maybe Peter, there was a time Peter went back home and found his mother-in-law sick and Jesus healed her and say this will not distract you. Let's go back. So, Jesus says, “don't just bother, mama, get up.” And the same mama rose up and went to cook for them. And he said, guys, it's time to go. That is self-denial.

 

For three and half years, they didn’t even know how their business were faring. Maybe in those three and a half years, some of their businesses even collapsed. That is self-denial. So, following in discipleship begin by first and foremost, denying yourself of some certain things. It says: and carry his cross daily. So, in discipleship, you take up your cross daily. And daily means that there are certain things that you nail on that cross daily. In discipleship, you don't carry your cross because it is necessity for you to carry it. Of course, it's necessity. There are certain things that you daily drop off from your life that you nail on the cross. You know, to die on the cross means to crucify, crucifying the flesh.

 

Today, I'm following Christ Jesus, it means I have to drop off hatred. So, you carry that hatred and nail it to the cross. Today, I'm following Christ Jesus, I have to deny myself of some certain comfort. Like for example, today is supposed to be a day that we don't eat that we fast. So, you carry today's food and nail it to the cross. So today, you carry the desire of the world, because as a disciple, you can't be following Christ and still love the world. The Bible says do not love the world, neither the things that are in the world, for everything that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, he says they are not of God, they are of this world. So, you carry them and nail them to the cross. You carry discouragement, nail it to the cross, and then you follow daily.

 

So, every day of your discipleship, of your following Christ, there must be certain things that must be dropping off your life that you know, yes, this is a transformation that is happening in me. This is a change that is happening in me. That was what Jesus is saying. Deny yourself, carry your cross daily and follow me. In verse 24, He says: “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it...” So, in discipleship the moment you make up your mind to follow Christ, it means that your life is hid in Christ Jesus, that life no longer belong to you. Your life belongs to Christ Jesus. So, Jesus is simply saying, don’t be looking forward to saving your life. Because it will simply mean that you cherish your life more than following Christ Jesus. And as a matter of fact, if you cherish your life more than following Christ Jesus, you will not follow effectively because there are certain things that will be demanded of you in discipleship that if you are not able to let go of your life, you will not be able to let go of those things.

 

So, “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.” So, it is in losing our life or ready to lose our life for Christ Jesus that our life is preserved. You know, saving there simply means preserved. So, when you let go of everything, you let go of your comfort, you let go of everything for the sake of Christ, He says your life will be preserved. “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? ²⁶ For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels. ²⁷ But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God.”

 

So, discipleship is till we see the kingdom of God. But before we see that kingdom of God, it says, we must deny ourselves, we must carry our cross daily. How do you do this? You do this in the place of followership. So, you must be following Christ. You must be modelling Christ. As you are following Christ, there are people following you, you model Christ to them. Paul said to the Philippian church, he says, as much as I desire to leave this world, he says, for your sake, I'm still remaining. I'm still standing. Because there are a few things that they must still learn from the life of Paul, from the ministry of Paul before the man departs. Discipleship is about sacrifice, it is about self-denying oneself, it is about dedicated followership.

 

So, these are the catalysts of effective discipleship. If you want to be effective as a discipler, as a disciple of Christ Jesus, you want to make your discipleship meaningful, you must understand the place of the Holy Spirit, you can't do discipleship outside of the Holy Spirit, it is not possible. Because whatever we need that makes life comfortable and convenient in discipleship is supplied by the Holy Spirit. Paul said in Him, we live and move and have our being. Our being in discipleship is in him. The next one is prayer. We must give ourselves to prayer. The Apostle said we will give ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word. The third one is faith. The fourth one is fasting. And the last one is followership. I pray that the Lord is going to help us mightily in the name of Jesus Christ. The catalyst of effective discipleship.

Thanks for the gift of your time, We are Obayomi Abiola Benjamin and Lara Gboyega Adedeji!

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