“You know God didn’t say ‘I want you running,’ ” Perry said Monday. “There were certainly things that I tested God on before I made the decision about this.”

Perry, whose campaign has struggled in the polls for the past several months, added that his decision to run for president has strengthened him spiritually.

“I’ve matured as a Christian in the last six months as I’ve gone through this process,” said Perry, speaking at a town-hall event sponsored by website CafeMom.