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Dr. Robert A. Schuller:      Prayer, in my opinion, is communication with God.  That is the foundation upon which we have a relationship with our Creator, our God.   I was listening to a documentary on the Dali Lama recently.  The most interesting thing about this documentary was it said that the Dali Lama spends the first six hours of every day in prayer.  Can you imagine that?  He gets up at 3:00 a.m. and prays until 9:00 a.m.  That's the way he begins every day!  So, for him, his understanding of a relationship with God, is prayer.   In this documentary he was asked, "Are you God," because some people look at him as if he were God.  He laughed, and said "that's ridiculous, of course I'm not God."  

What we have to realize is that our relationship with God first and foremost is based upon prayer.  Then, through that prayer we come to a greater understanding of who God is and our relationship to Him.  So, prayer is how we develop a relationship with God.

Dr. Douglas DiSiena:      The only thing that I would like to add is that I know God is a relational being.   Part of God sharing that relationship with us is that communication like you are talking about.  For me, prayer allows us to have that relationship with our Father in heaven and Jesus.

Rick Burnett:  What does the Bible say about prayer?  Is there a model prayer in the Bible and what does it say?

Dr. Robert A. Schuller:  The model prayer in the Bible is the prayer that Christ used to teach His disciples.  The disciples came to Him and said, "Lord, teach us to pray."  And, with that we have the Lord's Prayer - Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.  Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever, Amen.  That's the Lord's Prayer with which most people are familiar.  I think most people are familiar with it.  Many churches, including the churches that I've pastored, recite it on a weekly basis, with rare exception.  There have been outlines written about the Lord's Prayer, which share how to pray the Lord's Prayer taking an hour of time.  For example, you focus a certain amount of time on the phrase: Our Father, and what that means and understanding and worship to God.   For example, taking the phrase "give us this day our daily bread", you'd think about your daily needs and you meditate and pray about what you need for that day.  So, Jesus did teach us how to pray by giving us the Lord's Prayer.

Dr. Douglas DiSiena: The Lord's Prayer is a model for us.  I believe we can insert into that model prayer, from our heart, whatever God gives us to say.

Rick Burnett:  Are there different methods of prayer?  Is any one method better than another?

Dr. Douglas DiSiena:  In the Chapter that Dr. Schuller wrote he talks about the experiences of praying in different locations.  In fact, I was going to ask him a question.  He writes about people who put their prayer requests written on pieces of paper in the Wall. 

Dr. Robert A. Schuller:  Yes, that's in the Holy Land.  According to Jewish Law, it would be the most heinous of sacrileges to step upon the tablets that Moses brought from Mount Sinai.  Those tablets were originally set in the Ark of the Covenant, which was carried through the wilderness and ultimately to Israel and placed in the Holy of Holies on the Temple Mount.  In 72 A.D., Titus came and destroyed the temple area - this is historic record - and, those tablets and the Ark of the Covenant were lost on the Temple Mount at that time.  It is believed that those tablets are on what is currently the Dome of the Rock or the Mosque in Israel.  Now, the old ancient walls of the Temple still exist.  There are parts of the wall that still exist - you can see them. 

They are blocks of stone, which many of them are 4 feet square and up to 12 feet long, or more.  They are huge blocks of stone.  Each one is beveled and they are stacked together perfectly, there is no mortar - just the weight of the stones one on top of the other holding them in place.  This was a huge building.  You can go there today and see some of the tunnels that they have excavated down the side.  When you see what is known as the Wailing Wall in Israel, what you are looking at is what was the outside wall of the Temple area in the time of Christ.  There is a tunnel there where you can see this excavated section. 

The bottom of the Temple area from where you're standing is actually about 40 feet below where you're standing.  That's part of the rubble from the Temple being thrown out there and through centuries of rubble being thrown in there, you'll be standing about 40 feet above the original ground level.  It is believed that those tablets of stone are buried on the other side of the wall.  So when they are at the Wailing Wall, what they are trying to do is get as close to the Holy of Holies and as close to the Temple Mount as they possibly can without desecrating the Law - so that is the Wailing Wall. 

That is as close to the Holy of Holies as they can get.  Then, just to get a little bit closer, they will take a piece of paper on which they've written a prayer and they will stick that piece of paper in the cracks of the wall - that way they can get a little bit closer!  It's become known as "God's Mailbox!"  So, when I went there, I wrote a prayer on a piece of paper and stuck it in the cracks!  You'll see many people, Jews and Christians alike doing that!   It's just another means and way of prayer.

I believe all prayer is positive and good when it's focused towards our Creator, our God, as opposed to another human being, or some force that we try to manipulate.  If we understand that there is one God, no matter what He is called, rather it be Allah, Buddha, or Jesus Christ - there is one God, it doesn't matter what you call him.  However, there is only one truth - and that truth remains the same and I have a perception of what that truth is and I will live and die by that truth.

That truth happens to be founded in the Bible and therefore, my perception of God is that He is a loving, gracious God who extended Himself in the form of a human being called Jesus Christ.  As a result of that,  Jesus Christ told us about Him.  So, for me then, prayer takes on the manner of taking on the triune nature of God; i.e., Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Rick Burnett: The Scripture tells us without ceasing; what does that mean?

Dr. Douglas DiSiena: Well, for me, not only does it mean when I'm at Church on Sunday, or in the morning when I start the day,  it means what I do on a daily basis.  During my day, when I'm seeing patients, I'm in constant prayer with each person that I lay my hands on.  Before we started taping this I said a short prayer, or before I go into a meeting I say a short prayer.  There are all kinds of possibilities and opportunities for us to pray short prayers to God.  So, I encourage people to be constantly in prayer.

Dr. Robert A. Schuller: For me, it means a state of mind, where we have a relationship with God, which is in an ongoing process.  It doesn't mean that I'm going to spend 6 hours in prayer and mediation and don't disturb me in that time.  Instead, of I'm going to be in a constant state of mind of the presence of God.  So, everything I do, all my actions from the beginning of the day to the end of day, are  in effect a prayer, because of my awareness of God and my constant ability to shoot questions and answers in communication with Him.  That's what praying without ceasing means to me!