THE NATION - Gov. to God: Send rain! - Southeast drought spurs an Atlanta prayer vigil. Critics fault Georgia's conservation efforts.

"Oh father, we acknowledge our wastefulness," Perdue said. "But we're doing better. And I thought it was time to acknowledge that to the creator, the provider of water and land, and to tell him that we will do better."

Hundreds of Georgians -- ministers and lawmakers, landscapers and office workers -- gathered in downtown Atlanta for the prayer vigil. Some held bibles and crucifixes. Many swayed and linked arms as a choir sang "What a Mighty God We Serve" and "Amazing Grace."

As Perdue described it, "We have come together, very simply, for one reason and one reason only: To very reverently and respectfully pray up a storm."

"It's got to be worth a shot," said David Mais, 34, an Atlanta resident who is worried his carpet cleaning business could suffer from the drought. "I do think we need to do a lot more, but hopefully prayer will unite us."

As metropolitan Atlanta's water supplies drain to record lows, many across the Southeast have criticized Perdue and other Georgia officials for failing to introduce more stringent conservation measures.

Perdue, who wore a green suit and brown cowboy boots, seemed to acknowledge that the drought afflicting Georgia was a man-made, as well as natural, problem. Georgians, he said, had not done "all we could do in conservation."

While many hoped that a miracle could end the drought, repentance was a recurring theme.

"We've been so busy industrializing that we've forgotten how to spiritualize," Gil Watson, senior minister at Northside United Methodist Church in Atlanta, told the crowd. "We've been so busy with our economy and what we can have and what we can possess that we've forgotten that you possess it all. Great God, this is your land. We till it for you. We are entrepreneurs for you, dear God."

Gary Tacon, a businessman who had traveled from New York for the prayer vigil to promote a product called the Wataire Atmospheric Water Generator, was moved. His product creates pure, filtered drinking water from moisture in the air.

"The governor sounded good," he said, pausing briefly from handing out leaflets to congregation members. "I don't put a lot of store in prayer, but if it helps to unify, that's great. People need to be informed."