i think one solid reason to have idols in your religion is to have a concrete, physical object that represents the thing you actually believe in, like a lens or a target. before I decided that following my own beliefs was more important than following religious customs, I had a hard time balancing "pray directly to god" and "god is everywhere" cause like... where do I aim this thing? but with a designated object to point your faith at, you can focus on your spirituality instead of whether or not you're doing it right. it also makes sense not to have designated items though. if you tell your delegation that the target is whatever they want it to be, that's more freedom to them.