Ezekiel 14:1-5: in context

Some of the elders of Israel come and sit down in front of Ezekiel, in the posture of men seeking a word from God, wanting the prophet to inquire of the LORD on their behalf. It looks like piety. But God sees what is actually in them and says something startling: son of man, these men have taken their idols into their heart, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity right before their faces. Should I let myself be inquired of at all by them? Here are men going through the motions of seeking God's guidance while their hearts are quietly set on something else entirely, on idols they have taken in and will not give up.

Notice that the idols are in the heart. These elders have not necessarily set up statues; the idol is whatever the heart is truly fixed on and unwilling to surrender, and they have carried it inside while approaching God with the outward form of devotion. And God's response is sobering. He will not be used as one more consultant by a heart that has already given itself to a rival. I will answer him, God says, according to the multitude of his idols, meaning the idolatry itself becomes the answer, exposing where the man's heart really is. You cannot genuinely seek God's direction while your heart is committed to something you have no intention of releasing.

That presses on the honesty of my own praying. I come to God asking for guidance, for help, for a word, and it can look devout. But often my heart has already decided what it wants, has already set itself on the money, the outcome, the relationship, the control I am unwilling to surrender, and I am really asking God to bless the idol, not to lead me. God sees the idol behind the pious request. When I come to seek God, is my heart actually open to him, or have I carried in an idol I refuse to give up and simply want him to approve?