There is a fascinating if not unsettling prayer found in the book of Proverbs by a man named Agur.

He asks God for something very peculiar: 

Two things I ask of you;
deny them not to me before I die:
Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
lest I be full and deny you
and say, “Who is the LORD?”
or lest I be poor and steal
and profane the name of my God.
Proverbs 30:7-9

Agur seems to view both poverty and wealth as peculiar trials that may prove the end of him.

James, the half-brother of Jesus, picks up on this ancient wisdom as he writes to some of the first followers of Jesus who have been scattered because of persecution. 

To those who are poor, James wants them to boast in their high position. And to those who are rich, James wants them to boast in their humiliation. 

What does he mean by this? And how does the gospel inform both poverty and wealth? And how should we conduct ourselves as followers of Jesus if we are given the trials of poverty or wealth? 

We'll dive into these questions and more as we join together this Sunday to study James 1:9-12. 

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