Mac G4 Freezes/Shuts Down on Its Own

I have a Powermac G4 that when using, it appears to "freeze". The mouse and keyboard become non functional, and the display looks like it is frozen.
BUT The power light appears to be off, giving the impression that the computer has intermittently shut down.
Sometimes it takes a few attempts at pressing the power button to get it to turn back on. Other times, I've pulled the plug and plugged it back in and it would boot up the first time I press the power button.
Every time I boot it back up, the system clock resets itself and I need to put in the time and date again.
I would guess it is the battery or power supply.. are there any suggestions?

Welcome!
Nearly all Macs have a thermal sensing system that tracks CPU core temps and will shut down the computer if it gets too hot. You can get utilities to monitor the temps, like this:
http://download.cnet.com/Temperature-Monitor/3000-2094_4-41089.html
or, since you are in Tiger, this Dashboard widget:
http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/status/istatpro.html
I'm not sure what the critical temp is for an G4. My MDD 1.25ghz single processor has never posted a temp (via Temperature Monitor) greater than 117F/47C but dual-processor machine can run hotter. I thing the 140GF range is getting close to the danger zone.
If temps are running high, there is a physical action and a software action to consider.
The physical action is to make sue that air intakes and exhausts are not blocked. This mean keeping desk clutter away from the front panel and leaving at least six inches between the back panel and any obstruction. Also open the side door and see if there is a convention of dust bunnies clogging the air paths and fans. A good mucking out with a non-static brush can peel several degrees off the temps. I use a kitchen pastry brush with natural bristles and a wooden handle.
The software item is to see if you have a "runaway background process" demanding too much of the processor. The steps:
1) Quite any user applications so the computer is as normal idle.
2) Find and launch Activity Monitor (in Applications > Utilities.
3) If you've not done so before, set AM's "Show" setting (top part of its window) from "My Processes" to "All Processes."
4) Clip on the header item in the table that reads,"%CPU" to sort the processes by their CPU demands.
5) Let AM run for a minute or so. No process should be taking more than about 5% of the CPU if you've quit all other user apps before starting.
If this shows one or two processes hogging the CPU, post their names and we can guide you through taming or evicting them.

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