Acts 10:9-10 (NIV)

About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance.

God communicates to His people through the enduring work of prayer. The scriptures records that at noon Peter went up on the roof to pray. It is the praying man that hears the voice of God.

Those who know God the best are the richest and most powerful in prayer. Little acquaintance with God, and strangeness and coldness to Him, make prayer a rare and feeble thing. E. M. Bounds

Peter knew Jesus. He watched Him pray constantly. If there was one thing they understood about Christ is that prayer is where Jesus withdrew for strength. So Peter withdraws from everyone and everything and retreats to the roof. Why the roof? Why not inside a room or in a small corner?

Sometimes it takes getting out of our routines to hear God in a new way. *Pastor Mark Batterson of National Community Church says it like this, “Change of pace plus change of place equal’s change of perspective. We have to disrupt our routine so we can think new thoughts.” If you want to experience God like never before you sometimes have to do what you’ve never done. Some of us are stuck in the “lather, rinse, and repeat” mode. We keep wanting and doing the same things and are expecting different results. That isn’t how God works. God is always doing a new thing and to be a part of that new thing we are going to have to grow in Him enough to discern what it is and then jump on board.