Governor Rick Perry has now filmed a video urging people to join him for the prayer rally he is organizing with the American Family Association and various Religious Right activists in Houston in August, saying prayer is needed now more than ever to fix this nation’s spiritual problems:

This is Governor Rick Perry and I’m inviting you to join your fellow Americans for a day of prayer and fasting on behalf of our nation. As an elected leader, I am all too aware of government’s limitations when it comes to fixing things that are spiritual in nature. That’s where prayer comes in, and we need it more than ever. With the economy in trouble, communities in crisis and people adrift in a sea of moral relativism, we need God’s help. That’s why I’m calling on Americans to pray and fast like Jesus did and as God called the Israelite to do in the Book of Joel. I sincerely hope you will join me in Houston on August the sixth and take your place in Reliant Stadium with praying people asking God’s forgiveness, his wisdom and provision for our state and nation. To learn more, visit TheResponseUSA.com then makes plans to be part of something even bigger than Texas.

You know, if Perry really wanted people to “pray and fast like Jesus did,” he probably wouldn’t be urging them to join with him in this massive public display: