Lately your conversations with God have gotten a little stale. What do you do? Try something new. Here are seven new ways to wake up your prayer life.

You know you’ve got to send God a knee-mail, but you don’t know how to get going again. Read on for some inspiration and a few new ways to pray:

Follow a Formula

Formula prayers are based on acronyms, and you can make up your own or borrow someone else's. A simple ready-made formula prayer is P.R.A.Y., which stands for: Praise, Repent, Ask, Yes. When you use this formula, you offer compliments and appreciation to God (Praise) then apologize for the times you’ve broken His rules and offended Him (Repent). You tell Him what you need (Ask) and you agree to accept His divine answer (Yes).

Read or Recite

When you don’t know what to say, you can recite prayers from memory like The Lord's Prayer, The Hail Mary, The Angelus, or you can pray God’s word back to Him by reading Bible passages (like the Psalms) aloud. For a list of Catholic prayers, see this page at EWTN.

Be Still

Take a few deep breaths and imagine being filled with the presence of God. Just listen. In the Bible, God specifically tells us to use this prayer practice: “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

Be Chatty

If you’ve always taken a formal approach with God, just say what’s on your mind as if you were making a phone call to a friend. Let your inhibitions go; He knows what's on your mind anyway, so just let it out.

If you’ve tried all that and still you feel a little stale, maybe it’s time to really take your prayers up a notch. Try some of these:

Pray for your enemies.

Jesus instructed us to pray for our enemies in Luke 6:27-36. When you pray for your enemies, you release some of the power they have over you, and you experience peace.

Pray for the world.

Pray with Operation World and work with others to create prayer-miracles on a global scale.

Pray a rotation.

Make a list of the people, places, and causes you want to pray for. Pray for a different one every time you get together with God.

Be Different

Wake up your consciousness and change your awareness by praying in a different way. Try praying at a different time of day: instead of at bedtime, pray during your morning commute. Pray in a different room than you usually do or try a different position. Wear a prayer shawl, light some candles, and listen to soft Gregorian chants while praying. Pray while walking. Pray while washing the dishes. Pray in the shower. Get creative.

Pray online

The Internet offers a lot of opportunities to pray online. Sacred Space offers daily prayers and scripture readings online in 22 languages. If you’ve prayed the rosary and want to try something new, you can pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, a prayer which is recited with rosary beads. At OurCatholicFaith.org, you can pray the rosary in English or Latin.

However you choose to improve your prayers, remember that God looks forward to hearing from you no matter how you say it. Remember that Saint Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 "Pray without ceasing." Better get started.