Matthew 13:19 “From everyone who hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the wicked one comes and catches away what was sown in his heart: this is he that is sown by the wayside.”
So according to Jesus “does not understand” is not a good thing. So what is understanding? Well according to Job “turn from evil is understanding” and Soloman says in Proverbs that the “fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge”. So understanding begins with the fear of the LORD and leads to repentance and thus it is required for hearing and understanding the word of the kingdom. We should indeed fear the God of the universe who created everything with a word. To fear Him is acknowledging that He is so holy that we would burn up in His presence due to our sin nature. Repentance is realizing our depravity and how deserving of hell we are and thus turning from ourselves and sin to Him humbly requesting mercy. Fearing God and living in a level of repentance should be part of our daily lives.