My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you cry aloud for understanding... then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God (Proverbs 2:1-3,5).

Do you notice the recurrence of the word "understand(ing)" in Proverbs chapter 2?  It's all over the place in there!  Apply your heart to understanding (v. 2)... Cry aloud for understanding (v. 3)... You will understand the fear of the LORD (v. 5)... Understanding comes from the mouth of the LORD (v. 6)... You will understand what is right and just and fair (v. 9)... Understanding will guard you (v. 11)... It's a pretty major theme.

One thing that strikes me about this emphasis on understanding (and the second chapter of Proverbs in general) is the directional flow of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.  That is:  it is something that is received, not earned or attained or used to achieve other ends.  It's received (though this does not, by any means, indicate that it's a passive pursuit!)!  Most of us naturally assume that wisdom, knowledge, and understanding are the result of our diligent study, our concerted effort, our collection of enough experiences, conversations, and relationships.  But it seems to me, from reading Proverbs chapter 2, that understanding comes when we stop pouring ourselves out and deliberately turn our cups over to be in the receiving position.  We actually have to exert a lot of energy to stay in this receiving position and to keep our "cups" in strategic locations, where the wisdom is flowing.  But there's something very powerful and profound about this positioning -- this preparedness for catching instead of throwing, accepting instead of giving, storing up commands instead of dishing them out, opening up our ears instead of our mouths, shouting out "I want to understand" instead of "Why won't you understand me?" and continually, repeatedly trying to understand instead of trying to make ourselves understood.

Imagine what your study of the Bible might be like, if you put yourself in the receiving position.  Or imagine how your prayer dynamics might change, if you stopped trying to pour yourself out before God and started trying to receive -- actively receive -- from God instead.  Imagine how your relationships could benefit from shifting positions from regularly giving input to regularly soliciting and receiving input.  Proverbs chapter 2 indicates that this posture could yield wonderful results.  But we'll never really know unless we give it a try.