For two weeks before Gov. Sonny Perdue's prayer for rain on a November morning outside the state Capitol, nary a drop had dripped.

Rain the rest of that month barely wet the pavement. But as the governor said at the time, "God can make it rain tomorrow. He can make it rain next week or next month."

Perdue's spokesman Bert Brantley said he doubted the governor would get into a discussion of whether his prayer worked. "I think it always works, even if there's not the desired outcome," Brantley said.

Perdue's prayer garnered national attention and some ridicule. It set off debate about the appropriate place for prayer.

George B. Wirth, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta, said Friday that praying for rain is "not a bad idea. It's biblical. Elijah prayed for rain ... so why can't we do the same today?"