Athletic Arachnids

Anyone who knows me pretty well knows that one of my greatest fears is spiders. I have no idea why. Maybe it was watching "Arachnophobia" when I was a child and remembering that scene where one of them comes out of the shower head. Or maybe it was growing up with a tarantula as a pet. Regardless of the root, I just can't stand them. Its just not right to have that many legs. Well, first day here I see a spider jump from the wall to my suitcase to catch another insect. That's correct. He jumped. And he's not the only one of that species that I've noticed here. So clearly I'm dealing with a special breed. They have athletic abilities that surpass most arachnids.
Last night I was showering and see one on the wall. I'm actually not sure if he was a jumper or not, but who has time to find out? After having a flashback to that scene I mentioned earlier, I just said a simple prayer, "O God don't let him touch me." A few seconds later, he curls up and dies. I'm not kidding. Just like that God zapped him.
Obviously, there's an explanation. His legs were wet or he drowned or something of that nature. It was just coincidence. God doesn't take time to kill little spiders. Or does He? Before I left for India, I was reading a book about prayer with the small group I'm a part of at home. The author talked about being cynical in prayer. That's a concept I never thought of. We don't pray because we don't think God will answer. And when we do pray and He answers, we write it off as coincidence. I'm totally guilty of that. But why not embrace it when He answers a prayer? Why not ask and expect Him to answer?
I have never prayed so specifically and desperately as I have this past week. I don't have the people and things to rely on that I have at home. So its forced me to pray. Which is amazing! I literally need Him for everything, for waking up, for not getting sick, for communicating, for teaching, for eating, for getting a computer to work. I've prayed with such detail, and its blowing my mind the way He has been answering.
Hebrews 1:2, 3, "But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word." I read that yesterday and it has really impacted me. The entire universe was made through Jesus, and He sustains all things by his powerful word. This gives me more faith to pray specifically because He's literally in control of everything. Mosquitoes have been driving me nuts, so I asked Him to keep them away from me. He made them and His word sustains them, so He controls them. Why not ask him to? He can do it. He created that eight-legged guy in the bathroom. Why not ask Him to not let it touch me? I really didn't mean for Him to strike it dead, though. haha.
There's also the side of cynicism that remembers the times we pray and God doesn't answer. Maybe He has answered, but just not the way we expected. Clearly God has the prerogative to say no. But if we don't ask, we don't even give Him that option. And I'm learning that He's way more willing than I thought to answer with something other than "no".
And as far as the spider goes, I left it on the floor of the bathroom as a reminder that my God really does answer prayer. All I have to do is ask.