Keep Yourself From Idols

"13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
16 If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.

18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them. 19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. 20 We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

21 Dear children, keep yourselves from idols."

1 John 5:13-21

There is a lot of meat in this passage but what I want to focus on here is that I can trust that as I am praying God's will, He hears me and will give me what I ask for. Verse 21 struck me this morning. "Dear children, keep yourselves from idols." After talking about praying the will of God, John gives this admonition. After I pray for the will of God, I need to trust His word that He will take care of it and then I need to be focused on HIM and not what I've prayed for. If I just keep focusing on what I want God to do, I won't be focusing on Him. I haven't exegeted this yet but I believe that is what John is trying to say. Pray. Trust. Move on. Don't make the prayed for things more focused on than who you're praying to and trusting for His answers.