pray with understanding

When we pray, we don't turn our brains off.

We are to love God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength, indicating that our interaction with God, particularly in prayer, is more than just a heart and soul venture.  Throughout the Book of Acts, you can watch as the believers earnestly sought God for His direction, even as they seriously thought through the matters about which they prayed.

St. Paul puts it this way:  I will pray with the spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding (1 Corinthians 14:15).  The context has to do with speaking in tongues in public worship vs. doing so with prophetic interpretation.  Paul wants to ensure that we engage God intelligibly, particularly for the benefit of those who have yet to know Jesus.  

The principle is clear: we pray to the Lord, we even sing to Him (1 Corinthians 14:16) with our minds included, with everything we have, including our understanding.  Elsewhere Paul says, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's Will is (Ephesians 5:17).

So as we pray, let's engage every aspect of how we have been created and recreated, including putting to good use the renewed minds which God has given us in Jesus Christ, such that The Will of The Lord will be evident to us and through us.