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Dr. Robert A. Schuller:    I think that we are in a very loud world.  It's hard to go any place without noise.  When people get in their car, the first thing they do is turn on the radio.  Then they get to work and immediately people are asking them questions, or they get on the phone.  So, times of silence are fairly rare in our society.  I think that before the days of radio, stereo, and recordings there was naturally much more silent time than there is in today's world.  In the times of the horse and buggy, you'd have to ride from your farm to the town with no radio, no buses, no tractors, just the clippty-clop of the horse and the birds singing and you're alone.  What a fabulous time for prayer, meditation and personal reflection.  For someone to do that today is unheard of!  How often do you have two hours of quiet meditation?  For me, one of the places I have found to do that is to go out on the ocean.  All I have is the "purr" of the engine while I fish and that's it - it's just me, the water, the fish and God!  I guess people who sail would probably say the same thing - in fact that may be even quieter because they turn the engines off!  So, I think it's important in our society to have times of silence in our world today.  Possibly in the evening when you turn the television off and just allow yourself time to think and then that becomes a time of prayer and meditation.

Rick Burnett:  That leads us to the next point - "meditate on what God says."

Dr. Douglas DiSiena:  For me, I like daily devotionals.  Every morning I read a daily devotional.  It's amazing that sometimes that devotional is meant just for me that day!  I read the devotional and try to memorize the bible verse for the day.  Typically, I workout in the morning and go in the steam room for about 15 minutes and the silence and quiet of the steam room is perfect for me to be in meditation.  It's a perfect atmosphere for me to stop by brain from everything that's going on in the world and let God's word speak to me through that bible verse of the day. 

Dr. Robert A. Schuller:   I think it's important to have something with which to meditate.  Because if all we do is open our mind to God and allow any thoughts that come in to be the thoughts of God - there may be things in your life that come up which may not be divine.  So, I'd suggest giving a little more impetus in bringing divine thoughts to the mind's forefront.  The way I encourage people to do that is to take a bible verse, or like Doug said, a devotional which gives a little more direction than simple opening our minds to whatever thoughts may come our way.  So, I think it's important for us to mediate upon bible verse, or similar references such as a devotional to help guide and direct our thoughts.

Dr. Douglas DiSiena:   I'm so appreciative of Robert.  He probably won't remember this, but eleven or twelve years ago when I was in the New Members Class, he taught us exactly what he just said.  Sometimes the word "meditation" has different connotation - sometimes, new Christians are uncomfortable with that word.  I really appreciated in that New Members Class Robert's explanation of meditation.  He said to get something biblical, something positive and meditate upon that, so that the things you allow to come into your mind are divine and are from God.  That way there are not other outside negativity coming into your brain that you might act upon.  So, if you get divine, positive thoughts, we will act upon them and live a positive life - it's what we call Possibility Living!

Rick Burnett:  In Chapter 7 you also talk about the importance of memorizing a positive verse from the bible.

Dr. Robert A. Schuller:   It's a good thing to memorize scripture!  What will happen is if you start meditating upon a scriptural verse, it won't take long and you'll have it memorized.  It's not uncommon for me to tell the story of my sister, Carol, because she had memorized the 23^rd Psalm.  As young children, my sisters and I memorized a variety of Psalms and we would recite them at the breakfast table each morning - one of them was the 23^rd Psalm.  When Carol was in a serious motorcycle accident, she lost all of the blood from her body, yet she was still conscious when the ambulance picked her up and started giving her blood.  They were amazed that she was conscious!  They concluded that the thing that saved her life and kept her conscious was the fact that she was reciting the 23^rd Psalm - in effect keeping her mind active and alive!

Rick Burnett:   In the past we've talked about living our lives A.D.I.O (Above, Down, Inside, Out).  Is there a relationship between prayer and living A.D.I.O.?

Dr. Douglas DiSiena:  In terms of prayer, sometimes God will give you a thought to pray for somebody.  Some people also call that a word of knowledge.  God will give you some information about a particular person and you can pray about that - which is one aspect of A.D.I.O.  God gives us a thought for a need that someone might have and then you pray with them, for them - they don't even have to be in your presence, and you still pray for them.  My feeling about A.D.I.O. is that having scripture and having devotionals, there are certain times where God will lead you.  God speaks to us in many, many ways.  If we listen to God, that is one way we can have a Possibility-filled life by following His path and will for our lives - and, that works through A.D.I.O.

Dr. Robert A. Schuller:   It's important to realize that it is through prayer that we get the Above, Down, aspect taking place in our lives.  Without that, we can't do the Inside, Out aspect!  I think I've mentioned the 12141 address of the Crystal Cathedral.  That is the A.D.I.O. principle - 1-2-1 -, which is prayer.  God to us - 1-2-1.  That prayer is for a purpose and a reason.  We don't want to be constantly receiving without giving.  If you constantly receive, even in spiritual matters, and even in gifts of love, what happens is you become like the Dead Sea that only receives and never gives.  It is the lowest point on earth; therefore the water just sits there and continues to accumulate all the minerals and it has come to the point where fish can't live in it and it's known as the Dead Sea.  That's what will happen to your life if all you do is take and never give.

Rick Burnett: What role does prayer play in Possibility Living?

Dr. Robert A. Schuller:   You have to realize that Possibility Living is not just a physical thing, it's not just a mental thing, it is a wholeness thing.  It's body, mind, and spirit.  It's living with the possibilities of what we can do when the power of God flows through us.  Obviously, if you don't have prayer you won't be tapping into the tremendous power of God to flow through you.  You won't have the 1-2-1,  let alone the 4-1!  Either that or you're going to have the 4-1, but there will be nothing coming in, therefore you have nothing to give, so you'll run dry!  So, prayer becomes a fundamental foundation upon which our living takes place.  Without prayer, Possibility Living just crumbles and you run out of steam, you run out of energy, you run out of love, you run out of everything!  So, prayer is a fundamental aspect of Possibility Living.

Dr. Douglas DiSiena:   I agree, prayer is getting connected to the source of Life, the source of Love, the source of Peace - that is what Possibility Living is all about!