Importance of murti pooja and shivaling?

[indian]

What is the importance of murti pooja? if i worship a deity, and do murti pooja, does that mean my prayers wont be accepted? also, if I follow shiva and i dont to shivalingam pooja, but meditate n the divine, will my prayers be accepted?

indian.

[Eastern Mind]

What is the importance of murti pooja? if i worship a deity, and do murti pooja, does that mean my prayers wont be accepted? also, if I follow shiva and i dont to shivalingam pooja, but meditate n the divine, will my prayers be accepted?

indian.

As always there will be several opinions. What do you mean by 'accepted'? Do you mean heard, or do you mean answered. In my opinion, God would always hear your prayers, but he wouldn't fulfill them unless they were beneficial to you spiritually.

Aum Namasivaya

[RamaRaksha]

God can hear you wherever you are. All these Murtis, Temples, Pujas are for our benefit. What God wants is for you to come to her with a clean heart. There is a story in Hindusim - there were two people - one was a businessman who went to the temple every day and implored God to help him succeed in his business, but never gave money to the poor or help his fellow man. The second was an atheist, who mocked the very concept of God, but spent his life helping his fellow man. It is the latter that Rama welcomed into his heaven!

All you can ask God for is strength and guidance, but you have to solve your problems yourself.