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We are constantly being bombarded with images. A lot of them are marketing and advertising messages that we see on TV, billboards, or in the paper. And when it comes to the Internet, advertising is everywhere from email to almost every web page you visit. But when it comes to our lives and our faith, it's the images in our minds that have the greatest impact on us.

Advertisers and marketers have long understood the power of imagery. If they can get a person to imagine a certain feeling, and then associate that feeling with a product, they have a much better chance of selling the product to that person. The use of the proper images is extremely important because of the emotions they cause.

And once they get someone emotionally involved with something, once they have created or intensified the desire, the product is sold. The simple truth is that most of us will more readily buy something that we feel we really want over something that we just think we need.

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A couple of years ago my wife was tired of driving around in our minivan. She really liked the Mazda commercials with the cute little boy that said, "Zoom, zoom!" And started talking about wanting a little "zoom, zoom" car. About that time she got refrigerator magnet that had one of those 3-D pictures that goes back and forth between two things. The one picture was of a van and the other of the Mazda.

Not long after that she was visiting some of her family and noticed how her nephew, his wife, and their baby, car seat and all, were crammed into their little car. They talked about it and decided to trade straight across, our minivan for their Ford Probe. What we found out later was that the Ford Probe was actually built by Mazda. She had gotten her little "zoom, zoom" car and didn't even realize it.

What would happen with our faith if we would do the same thing that the marketers do, but substitute the desires that God has given us$%: Would we find that our desire for the things of God would increase if we marketed them to ourselves$%: And would we experience greater faith if we had a clear picture in our minds of the things we are asking for$%: The answer is yes.

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But a lot of Christians have a problem with the idea of visualization. The problem comes up because the New Age movement has tried to convince everyone that they invented the concept. The truth is that visualization, picturing things in our minds that we are seeking from God, is an old biblical truth and not a New Age phenomenon.

There are times when we "throw out the baby with the bathwater," and we really shouldn't do that with visualization. If we look at the Old Testament example of Jacob in Genesis 30, he used branches that he made to look like spots and streaks in order to help him get a picture in his mind. He had asked God to help him provide for his family. He came to an agreement with Laban, his father-in-law and boss, that he would be able to keep all the spotted and speckled livestock. The branches helped him keep his request in mind, and God prospered him because of his faith.

Is your faith struggling because you can't imagine God actually answering your prayers$%: The answer may be to take some time and visualize, see yourself receiving your requests from God. The boost that your faith will receive could change the way you pray, and your life.