I want to try praying and not eating like everyone says is good to do but I have a concern about it. If you repeatedly pray and selfabuse by not eating for a month does this make your brain expect something and make you think it is all true?
I used to fast for three or more days fairly frequently. It helps one achieve an altered mental state that is conducive to self-exploration. It is no doubt due to the induction of starvation ketosis. This occurs once hepatic stores of glycogen (glucose storage form) are exhausted, when the body begins metabolizing fats for energy, a process that generates ketones, and later, acidosis (low blood pH). Acidosis potentially dangerous (ketoacidosis can cause death in type I diabetics, but these people are very sick unlike the fasting person). Acidosis from starvation is much less likely to generate an acidosis than that due to insulin deficiency.
Incidentally, when the ketosis appears is about when the hunger ceases.
When I was doing this, I would monitor my urine for acidity and the presence of ketones using urine dipsticks to determine when I was there. In that state, I was more contemplative, and things seemed more profound, like some other drug-induced mental states. And I don't think of it in terms of self-abuse. How about self control and self-exploration?